GRONINGA, Durwood H. 1923-1992

GRONINGA, GETTING, RUBENDALL, HOOVER

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/6/2013 at 10:02:26

Bud Groninga Services Held

Bud Groninga was born on January 26, 1923, the son of Luke John and Grace Getting Groninga at Parkersburg. He passed away on Saturday, January 4 at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center of cancer. Bud attended schools in Minnesota and Iowa.

On December 7, 1942 he was united in marriage to Virginia Rubendall in the state of Indiana. To this union two children were born. Virginia passed away on September 20, 1970.

On June 14, 1976 he was united in marriage to Barbara Hoover in Nevada and became stepfather to three children.

In June of 1943 he enlisted in the Army and served during World War II. He was a veteran of more than 30 high altitude combat missions with the German bombing Eighth Airforce as a tail gunner. He was five times decorated and holds the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters for meritorious achievement on some of the biggest attacks on Nazi Europe. He was a member of the 490th Bomb group, which was a unit of the Third Air Division and was cited by the President for its historic England-Africa shuttle bombing of Messerschmitt aircraft plants at Regensburg, Germany.

Bud was an electrician until his retirement in 1987 and with his wife Barbara spent part of each year in Oklahoma and part in Iowa.

He was a member of IBEW, 1141 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, member of Douglas Blvd. United Methodist Church, Midwest City, Oklahoma, attended Pleasant Valley United Method Church, Wellsburg, a member of Meadowbrook Golf Course in Wellsburg and was a 32nd degree Mason, Guthrie, Oklahoma.

He was preceded in death by his parents and first wife, Virginia; one brother Virgil Groninga of Wellsburg.

He is survived by his wife Barbara of Wellsburg; two children, Steve Groninga and wife Janet of Abilene, Kansas, and Becky Groninga Pike and her husband David of Champaign, Illinois; three step-children, Kathy Smith and husband Jerry of Midwest City, Oklahoma, Johnny Hoover and wife Kelly of Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Steven Hoover and wife Kim of Mustang, Oklahoma; step-mother, Edith Groninga; one sister, Mrs. Lawrence Lutterman of Wellsburg; and 12 grandchildren.

Funeral services were conducted by the Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church, Wellsburg and were held at the Second Christian Reformed Church, Wellsburg. Rev. James Beranek and Rev. H. Charles Kooger officiated. Pallbearers were Herman Groote, Al Blythe, Harold Eekhoff, Harm Aukes, Harold Aukes, and Lawrence Bausman. Burial was in the Shiloh Township Cemetery, Wellsburg with full military rites by Amvet Post #91 and American Legion Post #213 both of Wellsburg.

The Doyen Abels Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 9 January 1992, pg 12