Margaret Mae Gross (1924-2010)

GROSS, GARRELS

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 3/6/2010 at 11:38:23

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Tuesday, March 2, 2010.

Margaret Mae Gross, 86, of Ames, was softly placed in the arms of her Savior Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, surrounded by those who loved her. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m., with a farewell service beginning at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, at Adams Funeral Home in Ames. Burial as she wished will be in Highland Cemetery in Churdan.

Margaret Mae was born to C. J. “Dutch” Gross and Margaret Ann “Maggie” (Garrels) Gross Jan. 24, 1924, at their farm location in Greene County, Iowa. She and her family moved to Ames in 1930, where they founded and operated the Lone Pine Dairy and managed other farmland in the area.

Margaret Mae was educated at Clearview School, a one-room country school in Story County, and then at Ames High School, graduating in 1941. In high school, her scholarship awarded her membership in the National Honor Society. On June 2, 1941, she began her long career with the university as library clerk at the Iowa State University Library. Her many talents and skills, all performed with an unusual dedication in the ensuing years were rewarded by increasing responsibilities, first by appointment as executive secretary to the library director, and ultimately to the senior positions of administrative assistant and then assistant to the Dean of Library Services. On June 17, 1974, she was honored with the Superior Service Award from the Iowa State Alumni Association. In 1975, she was recognized by the university’s Professional and Scientific Council with their stellar Excellence Award. President Parks in support of her nomination wrote that “the university library would not be the large and excellent institution it is today if not for the years of selfless devotion given it by Margaret Mae Gross.” The award of a Paul Harris Rotary Fellowship further honored her. In 1987, she accompanied the dean on his dual teaching and lecturing tour in the People’s Republic of China. Her retirement in August 1989 marked the completion of 48 years of devotion and service to the Parks Library and the university. During these decades of intense university growth, she proved herself indispensable to three consecutive library directors, serving each through their long-term administrations, and was admired and respected throughout the university. She was further honored when her name joined those memorialized in the Carrie Chapman Catt Plaza of Heroines.

She is survived by her longtime friend and companion, Warren B. Kuhn, as well as family members and countless friends, including Mrs. Judy (Larsen) Madsen, Mr. and Mrs. David Swenson, Mrs. Diana (Magill) Rupprecht, Charlene Garrels, Mrs. Kay (Richardson) Buchholtz, Mrs. Geneva Anderson, and Lowell, Larry and Douglas Richardson.

She was preceded in death by her mother and father

Memorials may be directed to the Margaret Mae Gross Memorial, Wildlife Care Clinic, College of Veterinary Medicine, ISU, Ames, Iowa.

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