Flora R. Grabau, age 88, of Preston, Minn., through Christ Jesus, entered heaven on Sunday, March 5, 2017.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 11, 2017, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wykoff, Minn., with Pastor Michael Harman presiding. Burial will be in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, Wykoff. Visitation is from 4-8 p.m. Friday, March 10, 2017 at Hindt-Hudek Funeral Home, 157 Fillmore St. W, Preston, Minn. 55965, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.
Flora was born to Robert Lee and Flora Iva Thelma Tockey Anderson on June 29 1928 at Balko, Beaver County, Okla., in the Oklahoma Panhandle. When Flora was five, the family moved to Berryville, Ark., because of the Dust Bowl. They lived on Pension Mountain. Flora went to school at the Pension Mountain Country School, and later to Berryville High School. She graduated in 1946. Flora worked at the Berryville and Eureka Springs hospitals and for a year in Miami, Okla., at a facility that made overalls and Army pants. In 1949, Flora joined the United States Navy and was an electronics technician. While in the Navy she met her future husband, Joe Grabau and they were married February 28, 1952 in Somers Point, N.J.
After the Navy, Flora and Joe moved to Minnesota and farmed in the Stewartville, Spring Valley, and Preston areas. She was a farmer until she retired in 1989. At that time, Flora and her son James moved to Preston where she lived until moving to Traditions Assisted Living July 1, 2015.
Flora was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wykoff and was a long-time member of the St. John’s Ladies Aid. She was a member of the Merry Meeters Birthday Club for over 50 years. She was an active member of the Preston Area Community Foundation, the Fillmore County Historical Society, the Preston Historical Society, the American Legion Auxilary, the American Legion Post Viall #166, and many other societies across the country. Flora had a lifelong interest in genealogy and very much enjoyed researching family history.
Her favorite sport to watch was football and she enjoyed gardening and crocheting. Flora greatly enjoyed spending time with her family, including her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She had lots of fun trips with her children and their families.
Flora is survived by her children: Dr. Larry Grabau and wife Mary Jo of Lexington, Ky., Rev. Russell Grabau and his wife Hope of Elysian, Minn.; Mary Emma Stackhouse and husband Chuck of Preston, Minn.; and Trudy Wendorff and husband Terry of Winthrop, Minn. She is also survived by her 18 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren: Joseph Grabau, Laura Grace and Charlie Brill, Jonathan and Katie Grabau, Lora Grabau and Baba Tamba, Zane Grabau and fiancée Weiming Hu; Lydia Grabau, Ezra Grabau, Ezekiel Grabau, Craig and Mary Jo Stackhouse and children Hunter, Ryder, Carter, Harper, and Summer; Chad and Leigha Stackhouse and children Audrey and Logan; Bonnie and Nate Rindels and children Olivia, Arianna, and Atley; Brenda and Chris Peterson and children Gavin and Austin; Cathy and Brandon Gossman and son Wyatt; Carl Wendorff and fiancée Theresa Rabbass, Bjorn Wendorff, Aaron and Leah Wendorff and daughter Miriam; Izaak Wendorff, and Emma Wendorff.
She is also survived by three brothers: Paul Anderson, Bob and wife Joan Anderson, and David and wife Betty Anderson, and sister-in-law Lavona Anderson of Harrison, Ark.; sister-in-law Paula Anderson of McAlester, Okla.; brother-in-law Everett Grabau of Spring Valley, Minn., and sister-in-law Beatrice Eickhoff and her husband Everett of Wykoff, inn., nieces and nephews by the dozens, other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband Joe Grabau, her parents Robert L. and Iva Anderson, and sister and brother-in-law Mary and Wayne Richardson, brothers Neal, Donald, and Grover Anderson; sister-in-law Sylvia Anderson, sister-in-law Lois Grabau, brother-in-law Norman Grabau and wife Judy, and by her first-born son James Jerome Grabau.
Memorials are preferred to Mayo Clinic research for cancer and Mayo Clinic research for mental health.
Online condolences may be left at www.hindtfuneralhomes.com.