Ellen Gravley

The funeral service for Ellen Gravley of Monticello, and formerly of Wadena, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2013, at the Johnson-Schuller Chapel in Wadena. Friends may call one hour prior to the service. Ellen Darlene Esther Gravley passed away peacefully to the arms of Jesus at the Pam Jones Adult foster care home in Monticello, MN on February 26th, 2013. Ellen Gravley was born in Wadena, MN on September 8, 1929 to Emily (Levine) and Walter Hertzberg. She was raised on the family farm in Deer Creek. She thrived on the close knit family community. Her younger years were the best years of her life. Ellen graduated from Deer Creek High School and later from St. Cloud Teacher’s College obtaining her teaching degree. Her first teaching job was at Jordan, MN. She met Oliver Gravley on one of her visits home. They married August 14th, 1951. She worked along side her husband at their night club, Four Seasons, in Deer Creek. During this time she taught at an old fashioned one room school house teaching children of all ages. In the summer of 1954, Ellen was pregnant with her first child. The night club burned to the ground. They moved to Wadena, where her husband ventured in many successful businesses. Ellen & Oliver had four children: Kurt, Rita, Vicki and Terri. Ellen enjoyed being involved with various activities in town with and for her children: Girl/Boy Scouts, dance, ballet, theater, card groups, church choir, ladies guild, Sunday school teacher, snowmobiling, and numerous other activities. She enjoyed their Ottertail Lake home they built to their design with breath taking views of the river and lake. Numerous weekends were spent at the lake and entertaining family and friends. Ellen was a devoted member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches. She had been a member at the following churches over the decades: Trinity Lutheran Church, Deer Creek, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Wadena, Redeemer Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, and Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Mound. Ellen moved with the children to Prescott, AZ the fall of 1969, then three months later to Scottsdales, buying homes in each city. Oliver stayed in MN attending to business. Summers were spent at the Ottertail Lake home. In the summer of 1970, Oliver & Ellen ended their marriage. Ellen moved her children to St. Cloud. Kurt was a senior in high school. He was killed July 9th, 1972 in a motor cycle accident near their Ottertail Lake home. The marriage break up, her son’s death, and other family tragedies took a hard toll. Ellen moved to Mound, MN in 1988. In Nov. 2010, Ellen’s daughters, Terri & Vicki needed to step in and help Ellen due to the diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia. Ellen and her daughters were blessed when Pam Jones accepted Ellen into her foster care home. A special thank you to Pam Jones and her daughters for the exceptional care, love, and devotion provided. Ellen was preceded in death by her parents, Walter & Emily Hertzberg: children Kurt Gravley 07-09-1972 and Rita Gravley Weden 05-04-2007; sisters Karen Katzke, Marilyn Coady, and nephews Michael Coady and James Knutson 12-24-2012. Ellen is survived by her two daughters Terri (Russell) Strachan, Houston, TX and Vicki Gravley, St. Cloud, MN. Grandchildren Erin Strachan, Tyler, TX, Kiersten Strachan, Norman, OK, and Morgan Strachan, Houston, TX; sister Virginia Knutson, Stillwater; along with nieces, nephews, friends, and other relatives. Ellen will be buried next to her son in the Wadena Cemetery across from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wadena, MN.

Ellen Gravley

September 8, 1929 - February 26, 2013