Ella Marie Gremmel DuBois, 92, died Saturday, April 18, of complications from Covid-19. She was born on September 23, 1927, on a farm two miles north of Agra, KS. She was the youngest of William and Anna Gremmel’s ten children. Because the farm was so far from town, Marie attended ‘country school’ during her elementary years, often riding a pony with her brother to the one-room schoolhouse where an older sister was the teacher. As the youngest, she was excused from field work, instead assigned to dusting furniture, canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, as well as tending to the chickens. She became known as the family baker, eventually making her own wedding cake when she married LeRoy Clyde DuBois, her high school sweetheart, at age 19.
After graduating from Agra High School, Ella Marie earned $8 a month at her first job in Topeka, and later helped put Lee through college following his naval service in WWII. She was the family editor and a stickler for proper English and correct punctuation. She had a life-long love of anything to do with the medical field, volunteering at The Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, AL for many years and earning her 2000+ hour service pin.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lee, in May 2016, a few days short of their 70th wedding anniversary. Ella Marie and Lee had four children: Dalene Bradford of Kansas City, MO; Marjean Brooks (Ricky) of Birmingham, AL; Dwight DuBois (Janice) of Des Moines, IA; and Doug DuBois of Lawrence, KS. She loved her children, six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren and took great pride in their accomplishments. While residing at assisted living and nursing home facilities after Lee’s death, her eyes would light up when viewing photos of, or engaging in FaceTime calls with, the younger ones. With the loss of both Marie and Lee, her loved ones are saddened to say goodbye to the final members of her generation of the Gremmel and DuBois families.
Marie was a life-long Lutheran and felt special affection for her childhood church of St. John Lutheran in Kensington, KS. She was an active member of Shades Valley Lutheran in Birmingham, AL for many decades.
She was buried in West Cedar Cemetery north of Agra next to her husband on Wednesday, April 22. The family hopes to hold a memorial service at St. John Lutheran Church, Kensington, after travel restrictions have been lifted.
Memorial contributions may be made to the St. John Lutheran Church or the Children’s Hospital of Alabama c/o Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, P. O. Box 563, Phillipsburg, KS 67661.