Jelaine ‘Jo’ Adeline Gruber, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, sister, and daughter of Hobert and Bertha Smith, died peacefully at her home, cared for by her family on Feb. 9, 2016.
She was born in small town Dallas, Wisconsin, where she went to high school. She left Dallas and worked in the shipyards in Superior, during World War II and after the war, moved to St. Paul, Minn., where she started a family.
In 1959, she moved to Burlington, where she worked as a waitress and made many friends. She worked at Nestles around 1966 and then went to Foster Forbes Glass Co., where she went on to become the first woman supervisor and spend most of her career. She also made many friends at Foster Forbes. She seemed to know everyone in Burlington.
She loved fishing Up North, playing bingo, knitting and crocheting afghans. After she retired, she loved planting flowers, bird watching and working in the garden. She had a lot of her knitting and crochet work entered into county fairs where she won many awards such as Blue Ribbons and Best of Fair. She thought of and cared about others more than herself, was loved by everyone, and will be greatly missed by her family and all of her friends.
Survivors include her daughters, Diane Rasmussen, Bonnie (John) Flitcroft, Patricia Sekeres, Janell (Kevin) Alvarez; sons, Stephen (Carmen) Gruber, Jeffrey Gruber; brothers, Gary, Niles and Terry Smith; and lifelong best friend Pat Querhammer.
She was preceded in death was her son, Michael Gruber and her brothers, Curtis and Marshall Smith.
Services for Jelaine are Friday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m., at Schuette-Daniels Funeral Home, 625 Browns Lake Drive, Burlington, with the Rev. Kristin Rice presiding. Visitation for family and friends is Friday at the funeral home from noon until 3 p.m. Burial will follow in Rochester Cemetery.
Well-wishers can visit www.danielsfamilyfuneral.com.
-
-
-
-
-