VINING GRAWBURG, Mary Joyce

VINING, GRAWBURG, WILSON, SLEEZER, CLAYVILLE

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 1/15/2009 at 15:50:50

Mary Joyce “M.J.” Vining Grawburg

Mary Joyce “M.J.” Vining Grawburg, 86, of Cherokee, Iowa died Tuesday January 13, 2009 in the Good Samaritan Society Care Center, Holstein, Iowa, after a brief illness.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday January 17, 2009 at the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Cherokee, Iowa. Rev. Ethan Sayler will officiate. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee, Iowa. Visitation will take place at the church on Saturday prior to the service starting at 9:00 a.m. until the time of service. Greenwood Funeral Home, Cherokee, Iowa is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

Memorials may be directed to the Memorial Presbyterian Church, the Cherokee Public Library Foundation and the Cherokee Educational Foundation.

M.J. was born September 24, 1922, at Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of George E. Wilson and Allie F. (Sleezer) Wilson. She graduated from Cherokee Wilson High School in 1940, then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She later continued her education in Colorado where she met Robert J. “Tony” Vining. M.J. and Tony were married December 28, 1942 at Cherokee, Iowa. Tony and M.J. had two children: James and Nancy. Tony preceded her in death in 1994. In 1996 M.J. married Bob Grawburg, who she had known from her high school years in Cherokee. Bob preceded her in death in 1997.

M.J. lived for most of her life in Cherokee. She gave piano lessons in her home on Cedar Street, and had been employed by McWilliams Drug, Martin Interiors and Nomad Travel. She was a lifelong active member of Memorial Presbyterian Church of Cherokee, had been recognized as a 60 year member of Chapter EE of PEO, was an avid golfer and was known as a kind and compassionate person who would faithfully visit friends in care facilities with a spirit of optimism and concern for others.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Tony (March 28, 1994) and Bob (December 21, 1997); her children, James (June 29, 1985) and Nancy (November 1987).

M.J. is survived by a grandson, Eric Clayville of Buena Vista, Colorado, and many good friends.