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Dalia B. Griggs

1900 - 2004

July 13, 1900 - February 15, 2004

Dalia B. Griggs, 103, of Garner, died on Sunday, February 15, 2004, at the Concord Care Center, Garner. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m., on Wednesday, at the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, with the Rev. Darrell Weber officiating. Music will be provided by Margaret Jass who will accompany soloist, Gary Moore and congregational hymns. Ushers will be Allan DeWitt, Alan Jass and Roger Schmidt.

Honorary bearers will be David Gillespie, Jeff Reising, her granddaughters and great-grandchildren. Casket bearers will be Wendell Davison, Andrew Davison, Collin Davison, Ryan Davison, Jeff Kruse and John Gormley. Burial will be in the Concord Township Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, at the church until the time of service. The Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner is in charge of the arrangements.

Dalia Bertha Griggs, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Ax) Stromer, was born on July 13, 1900, at the farm home west of Klemme, in Liberty Township. She was baptized and confirmed at the Immanuel Reformed Church in Klemme. She completed grade school at Liberty No. 7 and graduated from the Klemme High School in 1919. She attended Waldorf College in Forest City and Ellsworth College in Iowa Falls for advancement in her teaching career. Dalia taught in Hancock County rural schools for 20 years. During those years she was an active member in the church choir and taught Sunday School and Bible School.

On December 27, 1938, she was married to Fernon Griggs at the church parsonage in Klemme. They farmed east of Klemme one year and in 1940 moved to their farm near Miller. She continued to reside there until she became a resident of the Concord Care Center in January of 1994. She was a member of the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church in Garner and was a charter member of the Happy Birthday Club. Dalia will be remembered as a farm homemaker and mother who enjoyed cooking and doing handwork and quilting. She always had an interest in teaching and learning. It was important for her to keep up on new and current events. In later years, a great source of enjoyment was her love and interest in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her daughter, Jane Davison and husband, Willis of Garner; daughter-in-law, Janan Griggs of Garner; grandchildren, Jolene Griggs of Garner, Jennifer Kruse and husband, Jeff of Pella, Wendell Davison and wife, Brenda of Garner, Susan Reising and husband, Jeff of Willcox of Arizona, Sara Gormley and husband, John of Omaha, Nebraska and Dr. Julia Gillespie and husband, David of Las Vegas, Nevada; great-grandchildren, Andrew, Collin and Ryan Davison, Leah, Luke and Taylor Reising, Jason Christopher, Katherine and Dean Gormley, Jacob Gillespie and MaKayla Kruse; a foster son, Ronald Wood of Fort Dodge; sisters-in-law, Hallie Stromer and Nellie Burk and husband, Gerald; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Fernon in March, 1999; son, Jay in May, 1995; her parents; sisters, Drusilla Hueneman and husband, Victor and Norma Bienert and husband, Rudolph; and a brother, Paul Stromer.


 

source: Garner Leader & Signal, 18 Feb 2004

 

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