Robert H. Grell

Robert Hans Grell was born on a farm north of Cushing, Iowa on April 3, 1926 to Henry and Emma Volkert Grell. He attended school in Cushing and graduated from Cushing High School in 1944. He was drafted into the Army twice; serving near the end of WWII and again with the onset of the Korean conflict. He spent a year in Korea and was discharged in August, 1952.

He married Florence Kruse at the St Paul Lutheran Church in Holstein on November 29, 1953. Florence and Bob farmed west of Holstein, and then moved to the farm southeast of Galva in 1958. Robert truly enjoyed farming. He valued a hard day’s work and took pride in his profession. Bob and Florence retired from farming in 1994.

Florence and Bob had two sons, Paul and Perry. He and Florence loved to travel. They especially enjoyed the bus tours they took with groups from the Emerald Club at the bank. Their son Paul died of brain cancer in 1984. Florence passed away on August 7, 2008. Robert continued to reside on the farm until January 2013 when he moved to Char-Mac Assisted Living in Holstein.

Bob was a member of St John’s Lutheran Church in Galva, serving on church council and holding several positions. He served on the Galva Union Elevator board and was on the Board of Directors for the First Trust and Savings Bank in Galva. He was a 60 year member of the Galva American Legion. He enjoyed having coffee and breakfast with the guys in Galva and was a regular there until he moved to Holstein.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Florence; son Paul; sisters, Edna and Fay and brothers, Vernon and Raymon.

Robert is survived by his son Perry and wife Barbara of Papillion, Nebraska; grandsons Brett and wife Nicole of Papillion and Tyler and wife Chelsea of Leonardtown, Maryland; great grandsons Connor and Colin Grell of Papillion; a sister Wilma Lasher of Fort Dodge, Iowa; sisters-in-law Jan Grell of Holstein and Mary Rohlk of Ida Grove; brother-in-law, Kenneth (Millie) Kruse of Des Moines, Iowa and several nieces and nephews.