Grout, Wilma F. (Walker) 1923-2023

GROUT, WALKER, SHEPPY, DAVIS, POND, DAVIS, UNGER, KOGER, BUSH

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/21/2023 at 16:49:48

Wilma F (Walker) Grout
February 13, 1923 ~ March 17, 2023 (age 100)

Wilma F. Grout, 100, of Newton, died on Friday March 17, 2023. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the First United Methodist Church in Newton. The family will greet friends from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service on Saturday at the church. Memorials can be made to Newton Community Schools directed to the unpaid school lunch program or a memorial of the donor’s choice.

Wilma was born February 13, 1923, in rural Newburg, Iowa. She was the daughter of O.P. and Bertha (Sheppy) Walker. Wilma graduated from Newburg High School in 1941. She attended A.I.B. business school in Des Moines. She was united in marriage to Alva Grout on June 12, 1949, at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Des Moines, where they had met.

After high school Wilma went to work at Grinnell College. Due to the start of WWII, the federal government established a food rationing program, where she worked for the local rationing board until the end of the war. She then moved to Des Moines where she worked in the corporate office of Paramount Pictures and later at the Iowa State House. A few years after their marriage, Alva and Wilma purchased their insurance business in Newton, Iowa, Alva L. Grout Insurance Agency, from Wilma’s parents. Wilma assisted Alva in doing the secretarial work for the 39 years that they owned the business.

Wilma enjoyed being a homemaker and loved being with her family. She always said in her later years that getting to spend time with her great-grandchildren was such a great joy. She also enjoyed reading, traveling, genealogy and being active at the Newton YMCA for 49 years, attending swimming classes well into her 90’s, where she got the nickname “Inspiration” from her classmates who admired her dedication to her health. Wilma was a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1954, a former member of the Newton Square Dance Club and secretary for the UB Cemetery Association of Newburg for 45 years.

Wilma is survived by two daughters, Janet Davis of Des Moines and Carolyn Pond of Ft. Collins, Colorado; son, Allan Grout of Newton; five grandchildren, Michael (Sarah) Davis, Christopher Davis, Brian (Angie) Davis, Kathryn Pond, and Laura (David) Unger; several great-grandchildren, Jacob and Sophie Davis, Christopher and Brady Davis, and Tyler, Nathan, Nicholas and Cole Davis; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Alva; infant son, Dennis; a brother, Loren Walker; her sisters, Winifred Koger and Helen Bush; three nieces; one great-niece; and one nephew.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Wilma F (Walker) Grout, please visit our floral store.

Services
VISITATION
Saturday
March 25, 2023
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
First United Methodist Church
210 N 2nd Ave E
Newton, IA 60208
Send Flowers to Wilma's Visitation
Guaranteed delivery before the Visitation begins
FUNERAL SERVICE
Saturday
March 25, 2023
11:00 AM
First United Methodist Church
210 N 2nd Ave E
Newton, IA 60208
Send Flowers to Wilma's Funeral Service
Guaranteed delivery before the Funeral Service begins ~ The Wallace Family Funeral Home, Newton, Iowa 17 March 2023.