Gladys M. Grinnall

Gladys M. Grinnall, age 89, of Savanna, Illinois, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at Emeritus Assisted Living Center in Rockford, Illinois surrounded by her family and was reunited with her husband of 60 years, her parents and her brother-in-law. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, March 3, 2012 at the Law-Jones Funeral Home in Savanna. Burial will take place at a later date in the Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois. A visitation will be held from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m., prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in Gladys’s memory memorials may be sent to the Northern Illinois Hospice, 4215 Newburg Road, Rockford, Illinois 61108.
Gladys was born Jan 5, 1923 at the farm home of her parents Edward and Jessie (Law) Dauphin, where she lived her life until recent years. On June 13, 1942, she married Albert Grinnall of Savanna. Her memory will be forever cherished by their four children, Steve (Michelle) Grinnall of Rockford, IL., Cheryl (Doug) Rogers of Marshfield WI., Vicki (Dan) Becker of Platteville, WI., and Daryl (Mary Jo) Grinnall of Omaha NE., and her 12 grandchildren, 8 step grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.
Visitors were always welcome at the farm and no one ever could leave without having a cup of coffee and something to eat. Time around the kitchen table, talking, playing cards or just taking time to enjoy watching the variety of birds feeding at the larch tree outside the kitchen window were some of her favorite things. As an avid reader she enjoyed biographies and political news and wrote more than her share of letters to the many political leaders that served during her lifetime. A shortage of opinion on the political scene was never her shortfall.
Aside from her passion for reading and her love of politics, she nurtured a bountiful garden each summer (we all benefitted from the results of her “green thumb”), playing cards with Albert, her sister Betty and brother-in-law Jack until all hours of the night; and dancing with Albert.
She is survived by her sister Betty (Jack) Mills of Albany and her children, grandchildren and great grand children all raised in her garden of love.