GRATIAS, Earl William 1892-1955

GRATIAS, ARZBERGER, ARENDS

Posted By: Diane M Scott (email)
Date: 7/15/2012 at 12:17:56

Earl William Gratias – April 24, 1892 – December 15, 1955

Earl Gratias Is Dead From Heart Attack

NORA SPRINGS – Earl William Gratias, 63, died suddenly Thursday at his farm home west of Nora Springs as the result of a heart attack. The school bus had brought his granddaughter home and was stalled there. He went out and pulled the bus with his car and had gone into the house to telephone when he was stricken.

Funeral services will be held Monday afternoon in St. Luke Lutheran Church, and will be conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Amedee Fredette. Interment will be in Park Cemetery.

Mr. Gratias was born April 24, 1892, northeast of Nora Springs, in Floyd County. He was one of six children of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Gratias. One brother died in infancy. He had been a farmer all of his life, his death occurring on his farm in northeast Cerro Gordo County.

He was married to Ina Dorothea Arzberger of Nora Springs on Dec. 29, 1914. They had one daughter, Dorothy Arvilla, now Mrs. Guy Arends.

Mr. Gratias was a member of St. Luke Lutheran Church, a member of the Brotherhood and of the Friendly Circle and was the first lay chairman of the church board.

He was preceded in death by the infant brother and by his father. Survivors are his wife; his daughter; a granddaughter, Marie Yezek, who made her home with her grandparents; his mother, Mrs. Caroline Gratias of Long Beach, Calif.; two brothers, Roy Gratias of Edmond, Wash., and Clarence Gratias of Luguna Beach, Calif., and Mrs. Paul (Alma) Spotts of Nora Springs; and an aunt, Mrs. Annie Baumgartner of Long Beach, Calif

Mason City Globe Gazette, Saturday December 17, 1955