GRIM, Alberta Lee (PAYTON)
PAYTON, GRIM
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 12/29/2017 at 08:45:48
Alberta Lee (Payton) Grim
January 24, 1934 ~ October 11, 2017Leon Journal-Reporter
Leon, Decatur County, Iowa
Thursday, October 19, 2017Alberta Lee Grim, the only child of Leo and Gertrude Payton, was born in the midst of a winter storm on January 24, 1934. The Great Depression enveloped Decatur County, Iowa, but the trio was happy on their rural farm. They were not far from family, and had plenty to eat from the garden and clean well water to drink.
Country schools and churches were Alberta’s education as she wandered the farm, playing with the animals and exploring the creeks and timber. She was baptized in a pond behind a country Baptist church on the same day as her dad. Her mother saw to it that Alberta had a proper education in both school and faith.
Her dad also taught her many things, including how to whistle. Really loud. This is the way they would communicate when it was time for her to come home from her exploring.
The first in her family to graduate —with the Lamoni High School class of 1952, she continued her education in Omaha, then returned home to work as telephone operator. Her co-worker Viola had a son named Don who was still in high school. He would stop by the office each day to give his mom a ride home. One day he asked Alberta on a date to the county fair, and thus began the courtship.
Don sold his pigs to purchase a ring, and the couple married on July 27, 1956. They remained best friends all their lives. They were both only children, and had just one child of their own, Timmy Don, in September 1959.
A proud and attentive mom, there was never a doubt that Tim was the star of her life. When he was on the wresting team, he would strive to focus all energy on his opponent, but could always identify that loud whistle coming from somewhere in the bleachers.
Alberta loved Christ and loved her family. Traditions were particularly sacred. She kept a multigenerational prank alive by “buttering” the nose of family members on their birthday. Hours might pass on a birthday with that person poised on defense, but Alberta would always find a moment when the guard was down to slather on the cold butter.
The family enjoyed many cross-country vacations, 60’s style—sandwiches and soda stocked in a cooler while driving with the windows rolled down to the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, the Grand Canyon and beyond.
Alberta enjoyed her work at the Clarke County Hospital and Furnas Electric in Osceola. She made many life-long friends in those years. After retirement, the couple moved back to Decatur County, where she helped her husband with the horses they raised. She also did a lot of knitting. Hundreds of pairs of mittens were donated to a wide variety of children’s charities as far away as Romania.
Retirement also afforded Alberta the luxury of spending time on her writing. The poet Alberta Grim has had many of her works published over the years and she received numerous awards and recognitions for her heartfelt work.
Living in Lamoni brought Don and Alberta to the Methodist church there, where they met many more friends. During her final years at a nursing home in Harrisonville, Mo., she continued to receive letters, calls and cards from close friends—full of hope, news and encouragement. A true judgement of character is reflected by the people you positively touch in your life.
Alberta is survived by her son Tim and wife Cindi of Raymore, Mo., the granddaughters she adored—Luci and Bailey of Kansas City, Mo., along with several cousins and good friends.
Those now welcoming her home are her parents and husband.
Visitation services for Alberta Grim will be held Friday, October 13, 2017 at Slade-O'Donnell Funeral Home in Lamoni. Funeral services follow at 10:30. Burial will be at Elk Chapel Cemetery in rural Decatur County.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2017
Decatur Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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