Grebin, Eloise (Gossman) 1917 - 2012

GREBIN, GOSSMAN, GRESBRINK, ELLESTAD, BROADWATER, JOHNSON, PALMS, MCKAY, ROMINGER, FIX, LILLIBRIDGE, CONNOR, HOWARD, HARDWICK, ECKERT, PIEPER

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/31/2017 at 19:13:16

Eloise Grebin was born in 1917 of William Walter and Rose Gresbrink Gossman in rural Winneshiek County (IA) and was valedictorian of the Canton (MN) High School class of 1934. She completed Normal Training (for teachers) and taught in a one-room country school before she married Francis Grebin of rural Preston, MN. In 1943 they bought a farm north of Harmony (MN), where they raised five children. Eloise and Francis, active members of the Nativity Catholic parish of Harmony, retired from farming and moved into Harmony in 1974. After Francis suffered a stroke, Eloise was his faithful caregiver for many years until his death in 1993. The couple had enjoyed traveling together throughout the U.S. After Francis’ death, Eloise volunteered at her parish church and at the nursing home; she was a sharp bridge and Scrabble player; and she was an avid reader. Her friends and family remember her as a spirited woman with an active, inquiring mind—and a woman of the Spirit, who prayed her progeny into healthy births and healthy lives. In her final weeks Eloise expressed her gratitude for the kindnesses of the many people who brought her comfort: the fine medical care at the Harmony Community Health Center and the Winneshiek Medical Center; Mgsr. Donald Schmitz and her Nativity Church fellow parishioners; the many friends and relatives who sent prayers, cards, and flowers; and her sister, Gertrude (Trudy) Ellestad, her devoted nieces and nephews and their families, and her children and their spouses, her eighteen grandchildren, and many great-and great-great grandchildren. Eloise died peacefully on June 16, 2012. Her living relatives include her sister Gertrude Ellestad, son Gary (and Wanda Broadwater) – father of Jerome, Sheryl (Johnson), Gregory, and Steven; daughter Rosemary Palms – mother of Amy and Michael; daughter Kathleen (and Richard McKay) – mother of Natalie (Rominger), Brent, Sarah (Fix), and Nicholas; son John (and Jean Lillibridge) – father of Jeffrey, Barbara (Connor), Bradley, Christopher, Corey, and Joshua; and daughter-in-law Carol Benter Howard – mother of Todd and Michelle. Eloise was preceded in death by her husband Francis, son Michael, sister Irene Hardwick, brothers Clair and Louis Gossman, great-grandson Blake Eckert, son-in-law Charles Palms, and daughter-in-law Frances Pieper Grebin.

Cemetery:
Burial will take place in the Calvary Cemetery in Canton.

Source: Lindstrom Funeral Home database

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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