Gropper, Wayne L. 1920-2003

GROPPER, TIEDERMAN, MEYER, DOHRN, JOHNSON, CRISWELL, COPE

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 5/13/2010 at 08:46:33

Brooklyn Chronicle (Brooklyn, Iowa) Sept. 10, 2003

WAYNE L. GROPPER, 83

Wayne L. Gropper, 83, of Grinnell, died Monday, Sept. 1, 2003, at Grinnell Regional Medical Center.

Services were held Thursday at the Grinnell Christian Church with the Rev. John Epperson, pastor of the church, and the Rev. John Rens, pastor of the Malcom Presbyterian Church, officiating. Interment was in the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Malcom.

The honorary casket bearers were Gordon Dicke, Maynard Durr, Jeff Gropper, Tom Harris, Gene Kerbel, Mike Kriegel, Wes Meyer, Kenneth Cutter Paul, Dan Slagle and Ted Urfer.

Casket bearers were Cory Cope, Scott Cope, Dean Johnson, and Greg, Jeff, Jeremy, Joshua and Tim Criswell.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Wayne L. Gropper Memorial Fund.

Smith Funeral Home of Grinnell handled the funeral arrangements.

Wayne, the son of Ruben William and Ella (Tiederman) Gropper, was born Feb. 19, 1920, in Malcom Township in Poweshiek County. He was a 1937 graduate of Grinnell High School. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

Wayne married Naomi Meyer in 1946 in Grinnell. He later married Leone Dohrn Criswell on May 4, 1968, in Moline, Ill. He farmed for many years in Poweshiek County. He also owned and operated Grinnell Transport for several years. He was later employed by Grinnell Implement. Most recently, he worked for Sully Co-op.

A resident of Oakland Acres since 1977, Wayne was a member of the Malcom Presbyterian Church, the Grinnell American Legion, the Kaaba Shriners, the Eastern Star, and the Eagles, Elks and Masonic lodges. He was a past Exalted Ruler of the Elks Lodge.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Leone, of Grinnell; his two daughters, Mary Johnson of Harlan and Marilyn Gropper of St. Paul, Minn.; two stepchildren, Karen Schermerhorn of Newton and Fred Criswell of Lynnville; one stepdaughter-in-law, Kennetha Criswell of Searsboro; one granddaughter; nine step-grandchildren; six step-great-grandchildren; and one brother, Earl Gropper of Grinnell.