Melinda “Mindy” Denise Gerrish, 57, of Indianola, Iowa, passed away Thursday, May 7, 2026 at MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines, surrounded by her loved ones. A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, May 30, 2026 at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola.

Mindy was born February 22, 1969 in Columbus, Ohio to Jerald and Glenda (Carter) Cathel. Mindy lived in several states growing up including Georgia, Ohio, Nebraska, Florida, Tennessee, and Maryland before settling down in Iowa.

Mindy served in the United States Navy in Bethesda, Maryland from 1990-1994, during the time of Desert Storm, as a hospital corpsman (similar to a nurse’s assistant or LPN). After discharge, she enrolled in the two-year nursing program at Ellsworth Community College and received her RN degree in 1999. As a nurse, she worked at Ellsworth Hospital in the Emergency Room, Good Samaritan Society, Indianola Community School District, and MercyOne Medical Center in the ICU and Endoscopy units. Her true calling was helping people any way she could, and she impacted a lot of lives throughout her career. Mindy retired from nursing in 2020 due to health reasons.

Mindy was the toughest person anyone had ever met. She battled breast cancer twice in her lifetime, which included many surgeries, hospital stays, and treatments, but she did it all with a smile on her face and an optimistic attitude. She always wanted to fight for more time, even until the very end. Her girls and her grandson were her pride and joy and she fought as hard as she could to spend more time with them. Spending time with family was her favorite thing to do, whether it was for holidays, getting dinner, sleepovers, or just a few minute catchup, she cherished it all.

Mindy also enjoyed hunting and fishing and doing crafts of any kind. She was great at crocheting and could make anything you wanted, you just had to find her the pattern and pick the color of yarn you wanted! She also enjoyed bedazzling, making decals, scrapbooking, making cards, and sewing. Mindy was good at anything she set her mind to.

Survivors include her daughters, Katelyn and Breanna Gerrish; grandson, Sterling Irish; sisters, Tammi Massengale, Amanda Cathel and Mary Griffith; brother, Ronald Cathel; mother, Glenda Cathel; half-brother, Robert Carter; and special friend, Tracey Gerrish. She was preceded in death by her father, Jerald “Jerry” Cathel; brother, Jerry Cathel; and grandparents, Carl and Bernice Cathel and Robert and Jane Carter.

Memorials in memory of Mindy may be made to her daughters, Katelyn and Breanna Gerrish.