The funeral service for Walter Gramm, 87, is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Hosmer, with the Rev. Pat Hahn leading the service. Burial with military rites follows at Bethany Cemetery in Hosmer.
Visitation is from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at Gramm Funeral Home, 720 N. Sixth St., Ipswich. Visitation continues one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday.
Walter was born June 14, 1925, to Adam and Pauline (Lehr) Gramm on a farm in McPherson County near Hosmer. He was raised there and attended country school. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served during the World War II era, from April 1945 to November 1946.
Upon his honorable discharge from service, he returned to the family farm. He married Gladys Klein Sept. 5, 1949. They made their home on the farm.
Walter was proud of his farm and the work he did with livestock and growing grains. His heart was broken when a tornado ripped through the farm in August 2006 and ruined the only home he had ever known. The damage was so severe that he moved to Hosmer, where he eventually moved into the Hosmer Senior Citizens Home.
Walter was a kind and generous man. He loved to visit with his family and have them active in his life. He enjoyed going out to eat with them and always made sure to pick up the check. He quietly shared his talents helping strangers, too. Always putting others before himself, he had assisted in rehabilitating homes of those less fortunate than himself.
He enjoyed driving anywhere he could and liked to attend auctions, not so much to buy things, but to visit with his many friends.
He was proud to have served in the U.S. Army and to be of service to his country. He continued that service by being a member of the VFW and American Legion. He had also been a lifelong member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Hosmer. He generously shared his time with the Legion and the church by holding several offices with both of them.
Walter died Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, at the Hosmer Senior Citizens Home.
Missing him greatly are his daughter, Miranda (Dan) Scherr of Fargo, N.D.; son, Roger (Katherine) Gramm of Hosmer; one brother, Erwin (Florence) Gramm of Bowdle, S.D.; sister, Emma Martel of Hosmer; four grandchildren: Rebecca (Perry) Blocker and their children, Austin and Emily, of Bath, S.D., Stacy (Randy) Huss and their son, Brady, of Fargo, N.D., Brian Gramm of Aberdeen and Jamie Scherr of Fargo.
His wife, Gladys; parents; one infant son, Scott; and sister, Anna Haselhorst; preceded him death.
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