Wilma P. 'Willy' Grauer, 88, Sanborn

A memorial service for Wilma P. “Willy” Grauer was held Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sanborn. Pastor Joseph Bangert officiated. Interment was in Roseland Cemetery at Sanborn. Sanborn Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements.

Wilma Pearle “Willy” Grauer, youngest of seven children of Robert A. and Ruth I. (Mitchell) Ferris, was born in rural Cherokee, Afton Township, on Aug. 7, 1935.

She received her early education through the country school system, attending Afton #2 along with four of her siblings. While in third grade her parents purchased a farm in Grand Meadow Township; consequently, she completed her education at Grand Meadow Consolidated School, graduating with the Class of 1953. Following high school, Willy enrolled at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, where she earned her teaching certificate. She soon found employment as a first grade teacher with the Sanborn Community School in Sanborn, a position she held until her retirement in 1990.

Willy was united in marriage to Dale Grauer on May 26, 1955, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. They called Sanborn “home” the remainder of their lives and raised their only son, Nicholas Jay, there as well.

Willy wasn’t one to just “sit around.” For several years she enjoyed belonging to a bowling league in town, spent many hours on the golf course and learned to water-walk. She was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church and part of a group that assembled quilts for their mission program. Quieter times gave her a chance to master a jigsaw puzzle, play cards or do some visiting with older neighbors and friends.

Willy passed from this life on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, at the age of 88 years. She now joins loved ones who have gone before: her husband, Dale; her parents, Robert and Ruth Ferris; brothers: John Ferris and Eugene Ferris; and sisters: Mildred Bainbridge, Leone Crane and Helen Downey.

Keeping her memory close at heart are her son, Nicholas, and his wife, Sherry Grauer, of Reno, Texas; grandchildren: Kyle Grauer, Andrew Grauer, CarolAnn Michaels and Aaron Michaels; four great-grandchildren; her sister, Margaret “Peggy” Wilberding, of Melrose; other relatives and dear friends.