Louise K. Girmus

Louise Katherine (Brown) Girmus was born to Katherine M. (Burton) Brown and Lewis George Brown on March 9, 1917 at San Diego California. She passed away December 14, 2011 at Heritage Crossings in Geneva, NE. at the age of 94 years, 9 months, 5 days. When she was six, her mother Katherine M. Brown, passed away. She and her brother were placed in a boarding school for 2 years, and with the help of her paternal grandmother were cared for until her father re-married Grace E. Williams when she was twelve years old. She attended Logan Heights Elementary School and Memorial Junior High School Graduating from San Diego High School in 1936. She entered the Broadway School of Beauty Culture at San Diego, graduating and worked for several years as a beautician in La Mesa, California. In 1932, she accepted her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and was baptized in the First Baptist Church, San Diego, California on Easter Sunday. She remained a member all her life. She was also a member of the Chelsea Women’s Club, and the Miriam-Dorcas Circle of the United Methodist Church of Geneva, NE. On November 15, 1942 Louise was married to Emil Girmus, of San Diego, California, formerly of Ohiowa, NE. The wedding took place in the home of the bride’s parents, in La Mesa, California. To this union were born two children; Karen Lynne (Mrs. Don Kimbrough Jr. and Norman Wayne Girmus, both of Geneva. The couple spent their first few years in San Diego, later moving to Lemon Grove, California. There, they bought a small acreage surrounded by lemon orchards, They moved a marine barracks onto the property, remodeling it into their family home. Here they raised goats and rabbits while having a large vegetable garden and raising fruit trees. With the love of farming always on her husband’s mind, the opportunity came where they could come back to Nebraska and start farming with his brothers and they could have a farm home of their own in Chelsea Township. So, in 1956, leaving all of her family behind in California, they loaded up a station wagon including a Grayhound dog and a cat and everything else they owned in a truck and moved back to the Good Life in Nebraska. The winters were hard. And there wasn’t any inside toilet or a wash sink. The only running water she had was the kitchen sink. Sometimes the windmill pump had to have hot water poured down it to thaw it out so it would pump water. In time she adjusted well and enjoyed good neighbors, having her own fresh eggs to bake with, roasting hens to cook up on occasions and even a cow that produced all the cream and milk she needed. She loved to cook and feed people and made sure that the kids cleaned up their plates as she always told them that the people in China only had rice to eat. She had all kinds of farm animals with special names that she nursed back to health. And then there were the cats; Ohhh, don’t leave out the Cats. She loved cats. After Emil retired from farming in 1979 they purchased a home and moved to Geneva. One of her greatest interests there was to baby sit. She loved babies and children and the way she would sing or read to them or fix them something special to eat was just some of the ways that she showed the love for them as well as she had always shown her love for all people throughout her life. Louise enjoyed crocheting, making doilies, center pieces, Christmas ornaments and about anything that could be crocheted. Doing crafts, cooking meals big enough to feed an army, instead of just a few people and giving large portions on Styrofoam plates wrapped in bread wrapper was her greatest delights. She enjoyed doing crafts seeing if she could make something useful or decorative out of nothing. She always enjoyed taking time to visit with family and friends. She particularly loved the Girmus yearly reunions with plenty of food and good conversation. She enjoyed a large garden on the farm and a smaller one in town. She couldn’t stand to see an apple tree have its apples fall to the ground and no one put them to use. She would harvest them as well as other fruit from other tree’s, turn them into pies, cobblers, rolls filled with fruit as well as kolaches; freeze them and wait for company to come so she could treat them. You couldn’t leave her place without taking something home with you to eat. She loved to feed people. Louise left her home and became a resident of Heritage Crossings June 4, 2002. There she continued to crochet and visit with some of her old friends and relatives that were there also. She enjoyed the sing-a-longs and some of the activities offered there. Louise was preceded in death by her parents Katherine and Lewis Brown, stepmother Grace E. (Williams) Brown, a brother Gordon Lewis Brown of Landers California, a step-brother James V. Williams of Highland, California and by her husband Emil. She is survived by her daughter Karen and husband Don Kimbrough Jr. of Geneva, and a son Norman and his wife Sandy also of Geneva. She leaves four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren; Trisha Kay Girmus of Omaha, NE., Russell Wayne Girmus and great grandsons Dominic Russell, and Nelson Russell of Sutton, NE. , Kevin Dean Kimbrough and wife Lisa Marie and great grandchildren, Madeline Marie and Thayne Kimbrough of Ohiowa, NE., Jodi Dawn Jenkins and husband Mike and great grandsons Brendan Fredrick Jolley, Rogan, and Connor, of Fairmont, NE. Also surviving her are sister-in-law Sallie Brown of Landers, California, one half-brother Clifford W. Brown and wife Phyllis, of Ranch Cordova, California, and numerous sister-in-laws, nieces and nephews.Funeral services for Louise will be Saturday, December 12, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Geneva, Nebraska. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Farmer & Son Funeral Home in Geneva. Interment will be in the Geneva Public Cemetery. Memorials are directed to the family.

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Louise K. Girmus

March 9, 1917 - December 14, 2011