Irma R. Grothen

Hastings resident, Irma Rosalee Grothen, 103, passed away Sunday, November 27, 2011 at Mary Lanning Memorial HealthCare, Hastings, NE. Services will be Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10:30 AM at First St. Pauls Lutheran Church, Hastings, NE, with Rev. Joel Remmers officiating. Burial will be in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings; NE. Visitation will be Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from 9 AM to 9 PM with the family present from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Brand-Wilson Funeral Home, Hastings, NE. Condolences may be sent to the family from www.brandwilson.com. Memorials may be given to the First St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Hastings, NE. Irma was born July 2, 1908 to Frank and Sarah Wilhelmina (Brandes) Toepfer on a farm southeast of Blue Hill, NE. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Blue Hill. She attended country school and graduated from Blue Hill High School in 1925. She attended Hastings College Normal Teacher Training and first taught a one room school in the sand hills of rural Garden County, NE from 1926 to 1928. From 1928 to 1930 she taught rural school in Adams County District 51, northeast of Blue Hill. She married George Grothen, June 3, 1930 at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Blue Hill and moved to a farm southeast of Juniata. There she was a homemaker and volunteer for over 75 years. They retired from the farm in 1970 and they moved to Hastings. Her husband passed away June 30, 1991. She had resided at the Homestead of Hastings since Nov 2005. She was actively involved in church and community affairs. Her involvement in Lutheran Church Womans activities started in 1937 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hastings and continued to the present day. She served as First St. Pauls Lutheran Church LCW vice president in 1965 and president in 1966, she helped host and served in many conventions. She was active in the Oregon Trails Juniata garden club from 1939 to 1953. She was a Sunday school teacher for many years and taught vacation Bible school in Hastings when they used the public schools. Irma had a special love for all kinds of birds and animals, especially chickens. She had a special sense of the seasons, the time to plant and harvest and excellent weather predictions. She loved to play cards and was involved with a bridge club since moving to Hastings. She still played bridge Nov 7, 2011. She is survived by one son Conrad and wife Joyce of Juniata, NE, nine grandchildren, Robyn Petersen of Los Alamos, NM, Scott Zwart wife LuAnn of Rio Rancho, NM, Stephen Zwart of Lexington, KY, John Bunch and wife Mary of Albuquerque, NM, Catherine (Kaeti) Stanley and husband John of Stockdale, TX, Phillip Grothen and wife Kim of Juniata, NE, Andrea Bissen and husband Scott of Overland Park, KS, Mark Grothen of Al Hambra, CA and Julia Grothen of Juniata, NE, ten great grandchildren, Brett Petersen and wife April, of Los Alamos, NM, Brad Petersen of New Orleans, LA, Eric Zwart of Lexington, KY, Allen Zwart and wife Suzanne also of Lexington, KY, John Calvin Stanley III of Stockdale, TX, Rebecca Stanley of Stockdale, TX, Lauren Bissen and Alex Bissen both of Overland Park, KS, and Jimmie Bunch and Kate Bunch of Albuquerque, NM, one sister Loretta Arterburn of Blue Hill, NE, two sister-in-laws, Delores Keenan and Mary Ann Toepfer of Blue Hill, NE and many nieces and nephews and many special friends. She was preceded in death by her husband George, infant grandson, Conrad Grothen, two daughters, Elayne Bunch, and Marnis Dietz, and six brothers, Carl, Ernest, Raymond, Edwin, Frank Jr, and Wilfred Toepfer, and one sister Esther Scholl.