OBITUARY: Katharine (Ahrens) Gratias, 1880-1972, Mitchell County, Iowa





                       Katharine Ahrens Gratias

Funeral services for Katharine Gratias, 92, were held Saturday at Eden
Presbyterian Church north of Rudd.  The Rev. Robert Peters officiated and
burial was made in the church cemetery.  Mrs. Gratias died in the St. Ansgar
Nursing Home.

Mrs. Gratias was born March 19, 1880 to Edward and Catherine (Philipp)
Ahrens near Hermann, MO.  On June 6, 1906 she was married to Hugo Gratias
at her parents farm home near Nora Springs.  The couple farmed until
retiring to Mason City in 1946.  Mr. Gratias died in 1962, and in 1968 she
moved to the St. Ansgar Nursing Home.

Mrs. Gratias was a member of the Eden Presbyterian Church and an honorary
member of the UPW of the church.

Survivors include four sons: Walter, Arthur, and Paul of Nora Springs and
Ralph of Mason City; three daughters: Mrs. Herman (Helen) Quandahl, Mason
City, Mrs. Wilford (Lorraine) Lindeman, Dysart, and Mrs. Harold (Ethel)
Taylor of Marble Rock, IA.  Also surviving are two brothers: Dr. Robert
Ahrens, Bethel, KS and the Rev. Edward Ahrens, Prairie Village, KS, and
two sisters: Mrs. George (Anna) Brandau of Nora Springs and Mrs. Ed (Hulda)
Brandau of Rudd.  Sixteen grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren
also survive.

Besides her husband, her parents, an infant daughter, a grandson, two
brothers, and two sisters preceded Mrs. Gratias in death.



    Copyright 2005 Steve Norby