Gruber, Merrill Bev 1933-2007

BACON, GRUBER, LARKIN, EWING, HAGENSICK, TILLINGHAST

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/11/2007 at 09:42:12

Merrill Gruber

Merrill Bev Gruber, 74, of Monona died Thursday, May 31, 2007 at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, WI. Funeral services were held Monday, June 4 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, with Rev. Richard N. Eick officiating. Burial was in Oakland Cemetery, Waukon.

Merrill Bev Gruber was born April 26, 1933 on the Union Prairie Township, rural Waukon farm of his parents, Merrill Henry and Leone Eunice (Bacon) Gruber. He was baptized and confirmed at Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon and attended the rural Eells School. He graduated from Waukon High School in 1952, working hard on the farm all during this time. Following school he moved to the Cedar Falls area where for 25 years he owned and operated Gruber Trucking and Excavating.

During the same time he raised registered dairy goats, which he showed and sold all over the country. To process the milk from his goats as well as the goats of other farmers in a dairy goat association he was president of, he started and operated a cheese plant in Shell Rock. During the mid-1970s he bought a farm and moved to Monona. Although he initially brought the goats, he soon sold them and began a 300-head dairy farming operation with registered Jersey and Holstein cattle. He also crop farmed many acres in several counties and re-established Gruber Trucking with his fleet making hauls all across the country.

Merrill truly loved his work and spent long hours making his many operations successful, but he also liked the opportunity to visit with his many friends and business acquaintances across the Midwest. Some of his favorite times were spent with his sister's family at holidays and special events throughout the year.

Survivors include his children, Ron, Jeff, Mark and Dawn; a sister, Shirley (Cyril) Larkin of Waukon; nieces and nephews, Jackie Larkin-Meyer, Judy (Tom) Kemp, Ian Kemp, Jordan Kemp, Coletta Meyer, Cyrilla Meyer, Max Kemp, Tashina Meyer and Adelina Meyer, all of Decorah, and Daniela Larkin of Mauston, WI; special friends Loren and Brenda Plozel and their children Jason and Katie of Monona; and aunts and uncles, James and Doris Ewing of Postville and Lois Hagensick of Decorah.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Gustave and Matilda Gruber and Claude and Ruby Bacon; his parents, Merrill H. and Leone Gruber; and his aunts and uncles, Ray and Delores Tillinghast, Verton Gruber and Joe Hagensick.

Casketbearers were Tom and Ian Kemp, Jim and Bob Tayek, Dave Lundquist and Larry Moore.

Waukon newspaper, The Standard, June 6, 2007