Mrs. F.W. Grube (1849-1943)

GRUBE, ROEMER, MANCHESTER, MANN, HIGGINS, NORTON

Posted By: John Davis (email)
Date: 12/7/2019 at 19:54:26

Obit posted in Ottumwa Courier April 1, 1943
Photo posted with obit
Mrs. Grube, Ottumwa's Oldest Native, Is Dead
Was Born In House At Main And Court Streets 94 Years Ago
Mrs. F.W. Grube, dean of Ottumwa native residents who would have bee 94 years old in only seven more days, died at 5:54 a.m. today at her home 322 West Fourth street. Mrs. Grube was born on April 9, 1849, in a house located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Court streets, a territory long since devoted entirely to business houses. Mrs. Grube's parents, the late Mrs. and Mrs. G.A. Roemer, moved early in May of that year to a home situated on the present site of the Iowa Steam Laundry Co. at the corner of Market and Third streets. There Mrs. Grube, as Pauline Roemer, was reared and there she was married on May 4, 1871. Her longest absence from Ottumwa was in 1903 when she spent the months of August an September in California.
In Step With Times
Mrs. Grube defied the calendar and was never an "old lady." While she saw the first railroad train ever to arrive in Ottumwa in the year 1859, yet she saw and knew, every mode of transportation to the point of being present in October 1940, when Mid Continent sent its first passenger airplane onto the runway of the Ottumwa municipal airport. She knew river transportation in the days when the Des Moines river was navigable and she watched the antics of the first automobile ever owned and driven in Ottumwa. She watched bicycles develop from the first high wheel contrivance to the modern streamliner messenger service.
On Son, Three Daughters
Mrs. Grube is survived by one son and three daughters, George F. Grube of Evanston, Miss Florence Grube of Ottumwa, Mrs. Natalie Manchester and Miss Lillian Grube, both of Santa Monica, California. She is also survived by one sister, Mrs. Rose Mann of San Jose, California. She was preceded in death by her husband Frederick William Grube, who died December 28, 1927, and by two sisters, Bertha Higgins and Virginia Norton. She was a member of Trinity Episcopal church and funeral servicers will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday from the Trinity Episcopal church with the Rev. L.H. Mateus in charge. Burial will be in Ottumwa cemetery. The casket will remain at the Lester Jay funeral home until 1 p.m. Saturday when it will be taken to the church.