Obit: Gross, Alice Marie
(1920 - 2019)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Gross, Virnig, Blum, Kuchenbecker, Welinski, Geffers, Husman,
Kreiner, Brooks, Cortez,
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 10/23/2019
Gross, Alice Marie (7 March 1920 – 15 October 2019)
It is with great sadness that the family of Alice M. Gross shares the news
of her passing on October 15, 2019 at the home of her daughter and
son-in-law, JoAnn and Craig Blum. Alice had been lovingly cared for by her
family for the past year. Even at 99.5 years of age, dying wasn’t Alice’s
idea – she still had a great love of life and was not ready to leave her
earthly family.
Alice was born on March 7, 1920 in a log cabin on a farm near Lastrup,
Minnesota to John Adam and Kathryn Virnig. On October 28, 1941, she married
Clifford Gross at St. John Nepomuk Catholic Church in Lastrup. During WWII,
she followed the love of her life, Cliff, with their infant daughter to
Colorado and Florida where he was stationed with the US Army.
Alice & Cliff moved to Neillsville on October 29, 1950 because of his job
and embraced Neillsville as their home. After being a sales representative
for Foxbilt Feeds, in 1952, Cliff started Grassland Feeder Pigs which he
later sold and bought the Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership in 1956. After
Cliff died on September 20, 1976, Alice became an owner and officer of Gross
Motors. She was proud to be involved in the family business until the day
she died.
Anyone who knew Alice, knew how much she loved to play cards and dance or
listen to old time music. Being proud of her German heritage, she always
enjoyed a polka and, in her later years, looked forward to watching Mollie
B’s Polka Party on TV. For years, she went on bus trips and made some good
memories as well as good friends. She had a contagious laugh and sharp wit
which she kept up to her last days. She enjoyed the summer weekends with her
growing family at her cabin on Lake Arbutus and especially looked forward to
the pontoon rides. She loved working and being outdoors and tending to her
flowers. Her house always had a warmth and was decorated for every season of
the year. She always found a way to keep busy and cleanliness was one of her
virtues. Some of her other best virtues were that she was not critical or
judgmental. Her family was lucky to benefit from her love of cooking and
baking – especially her cranberry steam pudding, chocolate chip cookies and
best-ever turkey dressing at Thanksgiving. She had a great memory and would
remind us of things and details we long forgot. She sent birthday cards to
all of her children, grandchildren and even, great-grandchildren which
always included a gift. She was thankful for the wonderful friends she had
over the years, especially her close-knit group of girlfriends that she
treasured and looked forward to playing cards with on Mondays.
Alice was a member of St. Mary’s Church and still an active member of their
PCCW. For many years, she helped serve funeral luncheons. She was proud to
be a member of the American Legion Post 73 Women’s Auxiliary and peeled many
potatoes for potato salad for their Friday night fish fries.
Alice is survived by her children, JoAnn (Craig) Blum, Wayne (Peggy) Gross,
Karen Kuchenbecker, and Jerry (Marcia) Gross all of Neillsville who are
grateful for her motherly love, generosity and gentle spirit. She will also
be lovingly missed by her 12 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and 4
great-great-grandchildren and also a brother, Gerald Virnig and his wife
Pat, and sister-in-law, Rosemary Welinski all of Little Falls, Minnesota.
Alice was preceded in death by her husband Clifford, her parents, two
brothers, two sisters and son-in-law, Mike Kuchenbecker.
Services to honor her death and celebrate her life will be held at Gesche
Funeral Home on Friday, October 18, with visitation from 4:00-7:00 p.m. and
then on Saturday, October 19, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at St. Mary Catholic
Church in Neillsville prior to her funeral service at 11:00. Music will be
provided by organist, Vicente Cortez, and the St. Mary’s Choir.
Her pallbearers will be all of her grandsons, Steve Blum. Michael Gross,
Adam Kuchenbecker, Jared Kuchenbecker, Dylan Gross and Roman Gross. Honorary
pallbearers will be all of her granddaughters, Christine Geffers, Renee
Husman, Emily Kreiner, Jasmine Gross, Megan Brooks and Jade Gross.
At the family’s request, memorials may be given to St. Mary’s Catholic
Church, the Neillsville American Legion Post 73 or any charity of your
choice.
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