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Margaret Gruber
Posted
SUN CITY - Margaret "Peg" Gruber passed away Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016, at Parkridge Assisted Living in Peoria. Peg was born in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 6, 1937, to Dr. William "Bill" Geisel and Margaret Melva (Heimbuch) Geisel. She grew up on the North Side of Chicago, Ill., where her father was an optometrist and her mother was a dental assistant. Peg attended high school at North Park Academy in Chicago, Ill., and then attended the University of Illinois, where she met her future husband, Carl. Peg finished her teaching degree at Chicago Teacher's College, and taught 4th grade in the Chicago public school system and the Champaign-Urbana school system until late 1960. She married Carl on Dec. 26, 1959, and in 1964 they moved to Rapid City, S.D. Peg was an active member of the First Congregational Church in Rapid City, S.D., where she volunteered on various committees and helped coordinate the Sunday school program. In 1972 to 1973, Peg and Carl lived in Norway, where Peg learned a Norwegian decorative painting technique known as rosemaling. A talented painter, Peg taught rosemaling and other art classes for many years in Rapid City, S.D. In 1981, Peg and Carl moved to Minnesota, eventually settling in Le Sueur, Minn., where Peg was active in the Zion UCC Church. After Carl retired in 2003, Peg spent her time with Carl in their lake house in Woodruff, Wisc., and their house in Sun City. During those retirement years, Peg enjoyed painting, arts and crafts, reading mysteries, traveling in the U.S and Europe, and visiting classmates, friends, and family. Peg is survived by her husband, Dr. Carl Gruber, of Sun City; two sons, William Gruber (Erica), of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Scott Gruber, of Tacoma, Wash.; and her stepsister, Elaine (Bloomster) Schimelpfenig, of Batavia, Ill. Memorial services will be held at on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 at 2 p.m. at UCC Church of the Palms in Sun City,14808 Boswell Blvd, Sun City, AZ 85351. A celebration of life will also be held in Chicago, Ill., at a later date. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (www.michaeljfox.org) or another charity of choice.
