Lela M Grimes

In Loving Memory OfLela M. GrimesLela Mary Grimes was born on the family farm 1 1/2 miles south and 2 1/2 miles east of Goehner, Nebraska May 14, 1921 the oldest child of Emmanuel Eugene and Amalia Elizabeth (Schwerin) Wurst. She died Saturday, October 18, 2008 at Sunrise Country Manor, near Milford, at the age of 87 years, 5 months and 5 days. As a young girl she began her education at a country school near this farm and continued her elementary education near Utica after the family moved to a farm four miles south of Utica. She graduated from Utica Public School. In 1936, Francis Grimes began attending Utica High School and dated only Lela. They were united in marriage on December 3, 1941 at the Utica Methodist Church and to this union two children, Harold and Ellen were born. Graduating from high school, Lela worked as a housekeeper for the Miller family which included a bedfast grandmother. Before the days of modern conveniences, everything was carried in and out and all the cooking was done on a wood burning stove. In 1940, when she was 19, her grandmother died and Lela went to Minnesota to be the housekeeper for her grandfather, doing all the housekeeping chores, gardening and canning the produce, cooking for threshers, silo fillers, and helping with the dairy and pigs. That same summer, Francis went to southwest Minnesota to work the small grain harvest. On Saturday evenings when the threshing day was done, he drove the 100 miles to Echo, Minnesota in his Model A Ford to see Lela. Because he had rented a farm in Nebraska for the next year, they decided that marriage was what they wanted and in late November, Francis drove to Minnesota, again in his Model A, and brought Lela back to Nebraska. Pearl Harbor happened just three days after they were married and they never were able to move onto that farm, but lived with both sets of parents until Francis entered military service in August of 1942. Lela followed Francis to training camps in Oregon, Mississippi, Texas and North Carolina. She returned to Nebraska while Francis served in the European Theatre. Francis returned home in 1945 and they moved to a small farm east of Milford where they raised pigs for the owner, had a flock of chickens and sold eggs to a hatchery in Lincoln. In the fall of 1949 they purchased a lot in Milford, built a home which they moved into in 1950, and lived there until health concerns required that they move to Sunrise Country Manor. Lela was a member of the Milford United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday school until she was nearly 70 years old. She and Francis were the church custodians for more than 20 years. They served as church historians and put together many books for the Milford church history including many pictures. She was a longtime member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit #171, the Milford Grange #404 and also the Seward County Historical Society. Lela is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Harold and Dorothy Grimes, Federal Heights, CO, five grandchildren and spouses, Michelle and John Sims, Carrie and Captain Jason Brines, Alicia and Briajn Kilcoyne, Marc and Tina Gebhard, Jason and Amy Gebhard, twelve great-grandchildren, Timothy Gebhard, David Gebhard, Sara Gebhard, Grace Gebhard, Caleb Gebhard, Levi Gebhard, Bryanna Brines, Robbie Brines, Mandy Sims, and Nathaniel Sims, sisters and brother-in-law, Edith and Kenneth Gloystein, York, Carol Stauffer, Milford, brother and sister-in-law, Howard and Marvene Wurst, Milford, several nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emmanuel and Molly Wurst, husband, Francis in 2004, a daughter, Ellen Gebhard, a granddaughter, Bethany Sims, and a sister, Doris Heller A Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 am on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, at Milford United Methodist Church with Rev. Michael Curd officiating. Interment will be in the Utica Cemetery. Visitation is from 11:00 am to 9:00 p.m. on Monday at Lauber-Moore Funeral Home, Milford, and 1 hour prior to services, church. Memorials have been established to the church Sunday school.