Wilma F. Grout, 100, of Newton, died Friday, March 17, 2023. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the First United Methodist Church in Newton. The family will greet friends from 10 a.m. until the time of service on Saturday at the church. Memorials can be made to Newton Community Schools directed to the unpaid school lunch program or a memorial of the donor’s choice.
Wilma was born Feb. 13, 1923, in rural Newburg, Iowa. She was the daughter of O.P. and Bertha (Sheppy) Walker. Wilma graduated from Newburg High School in 1941. She attended A.I.B. business school in Des Moines. She was united in marriage to Alva Grout June 12, 1949, at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Des Moines, where they had met.
After high school Wilma went to work at Grinnell College. Due to the start of WWII, the federal government established a food rationing program, where she worked for the local rationing board until the end of the war. She then moved to Des Moines where she worked in the corporate office of Paramount Pictures and later at the Iowa State House.
A few years after their marriage, Alva and Wilma purchased their insurance business in Newton, Alva L. Grout Insurance Agency, from Wilma’s parents. Wilma assisted Alva in doing the secretarial work for the 39 years that they owned the business.
Wilma enjoyed being a homemaker and loved being with her family. She always said in her later years that getting to spend time with her great-grandchildren was such a great joy. She also enjoyed reading, traveling, genealogy and being active at the Newton YMCA for 49 years, attending swimming classes well into her 90’s, where she got the nickname “Inspiration” from her classmates who admired her dedication to her health.
Wilma was a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1954, a former member of the Newton Square Dance Club and secretary for the UB Cemetery Association of Newburg for 45 years.
Wilma is survived by two daughters: Janet Davis of Des Moines and Carolyn Pond of Ft. Collins, Colorado; son: Allan Grout of Newton; five grandchildren: Michael (Sarah) Davis, Christopher Davis, Brian (Angie) Davis, Kathryn Pond, and Laura (David) Unger; several great-grandchildren: Jacob and Sophie Davis, Christopher and Brady Davis, and Tyler, Nathan, Nicholas and Cole Davis; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband: Alva; infant son: Dennis; a brother: Loren Walker; her sisters: Winifred Koger and Helen Bush; three nieces; one great-niece; and one nephew.
