Norman Reuben Graven (1938 - 2000)

Born 2 Jun 1938 in Charles City, Floyd, Iowa, USA

Ancestors

Died 6 Nov 2000 at age 62 in Highland Park, Lake, Illinois, USA

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Biography

Obituary

GREENE - Memorial services for Norman R. Graven, 62, of 324 S. Main St. in Greene, will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene. Inurnment will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Greene at a later date. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Reid's Funeral Chapel in Greene.

Norman Reuben Graven was born June 2, 1938, in Charles City, a son of James H. and Florence E. (Feuerhelm) Graven, and died on Monday (Nov. 6, 2000) in Highland Park Hospital in Highland Park, Ill., from complications of interstitial fibrosis, a respiratory disease.

He was baptized on Jan. 26, 1941, at the United Methodist Church in Greene, and confirmed on July 2, 1952, at St. Peters Lutheran Church in Greene. He graduated from Greene High School in 1955. He attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, and enjoyed taking college courses with his cousin, Lloyd Graven, at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Wartburg College in Waverly in 1962. In 1964 he received his juris doctorate from the University of Iowa Law School and returned to Greene to practice law with his father at the Graven & Graven Law Firm. He was a partner in the law practice until 1976, when his father passed away, at which time he became the sole practitioner and maintained an active practice until his death.

He was united in marriage to M. Ann Benz on July 11, 1964, at St. John's Catholic Church in Independence. Upon their marriage they purchased a house at 324 S. Main St. in Greene. Together they made their house a "home," and under its roof they raised their three children, Kristin, Kurt and Mara.

Norman was always interested in the history of Greene and its families. He loved the chance to soak up the social atmosphere of a big meal shared with good friends and plenty of laughter. He enjoyed listening to lively music and attending theater productions with friends and family members. He reveled in a fun bridge game and enjoyed countless games with his wife, his friends, and his children and their spouses. He and Ann frequently got away for a weekend retreat at the family's cottage in Clear Lake, where he was best able to savor his greatest lifetime hobby of reading.

He was honored to be the attorney for the City of Greene from 1964-present; the secretary for the Greene Housing Board (for Senior Citizens) from 1972-present; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Albrecht Board for the Community Center 1972-1999 (president from 1972-1995); a member of the Wartburg College Alumni Board; President of the Butler County Bar Association from 1968-present; President of District 2-A Judicial Bar Association 1997-98; Member at Large of the Winnebago Council of Boy Scouts of America 1970-present; Board Member of the Greene Historical Society 1996-present.

He will be greatly missed by his beloved wife of 36 years, Ann; their oldest daughter, Kristin Elise Bode and her husband, Ron, of Cedar Rapids; their son, KurtNorman Graven and his wife, Tina, of Clarksville, and their youngest daughter, Mara Ann Brooks and her husband, Paul, of Fitchburg, Wis. His four grandchildren, Rachel and Erin Bode and Dalton and Taylor Graven, will miss Papa Norm's reading sessions, his big warm hugs and his loud laugh. Other survivors who will miss Norm include his only sibling, brother Jim K. Graven and his wife, Barb, of Aurora, Mo.; his Aunt Lorraine (Feuerhelm) Wisgerhof, of La Crosse, Wis.; his step uncle, Harold Feuerhelm, of Palm Springs, Calif.; a loving niece, many caring nephews and cousins, and a beloved friend of the family, Robert L. Williams, of Arlington Heights, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his father, James H. Graven, on Oct. 1, 1976, and his mother, Florence E. Feuerhelm , on Dec. 15, 1998; a nephew, a loving mother-in-law and several close friends who are probably playing bridge with him in Heaven right now.

Burial: Rose Hill Cemetery, Greene, Butler County, Iowa, USA

Sources

• Find-a-Grave Memorial ID 1096389 for Norman Reuben Graven

Acknowledgments

Thank you to John Hoekstra for creating WikiTree profile Graven-78 through the import of hoekstrafamilytree (1).ged on Mar 18, 2013.