Virginia Dorothy Gruben's Obituary
Virginia Anderson Gruben, 97, died in her sleep on May 31, 2019 at a nursing home in Dallas. She was born on November 12, 1921 as the eldest of four children, and grew up in Chicago during the Depression. After high school, she worked for a year to save money for journalism studies at the University of Missouri, where she met William C. (Bill) Gruben Jr. They married shortly before he joined the USAF and left to fly bombing missions over Europe as a navigator in 1944. After the war, two years in Chicago, and another child, they returned to his home state of Texas and moved around Abilene, San Antonio, Houston and ultimately to suburban Dallas, where she remained after his death in 1979. She began working in civic administration while in San Antonio, and served as City Secretary of Richardson, Texas from 1967 till her retirement in 1986. That year she was chosen “City Secretary of the Year” by the CSANT, and was honored as Grand Marshall of the Richardson Civic Parade. Meanwhile she took up painting and photography, and published several articles in Texas magazines. After she retired, she traveled throughout Europe and North America with her friends, often in themed educational programs in elder hostels. She was also an active volunteer at the Richardson Hospital and the Richardson Public Library. When she stopped driving in her early 90’s, she moved into independent living and ultimately into a nursing home which provided her with attentive and loving care in her last six months. She is survived by sons William C. Gruben III (Nieves) of Dallas and Roger Gruben (Bette) of Kilmarnock, VA, as well as a daughter, Patricia Gruben (Martin Gotfrit) of Vancouver, Canada; eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, her brothers Don and Richard, and her sister Jeanne. We want to thank Emily Grooms, Joianne Garrett, Barbara, Summer, Christina, Alma and the other caregivers at Royal Gardens who have been so kind, so competent and so supportive, not only to Virginia but to her family as well during this final transition. We will miss her generosity, her gentleness, her independence, her energy, her wit, and her love for her family and friends.Services are pending at this time.
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