Vern Gripp

VERN ROBERT GRIPP

Cedar Rapids

Vern Robert Gripp, 93, passed away Sunday, March 20, 2016, after being on hospice for one week following a rather sudden blockage in his right leg. He had lived independently and was still driving at 90. His daughter, Susan, son, Bob, and wife, Kathy, had been living with him since his mobility was deteriorating the past three years. Mass of Christian burial will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Andrew Catholic Church. Interment: Laurel Land Memorial Park.

Vern was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1922, and lived a long, productive and interesting life. He proudly remembered getting odd jobs as a teenager during the Depression that helped with family expenses. His favorite job was running the ice rink where he met his would-be wife. He was the star center for his high school basketball team and was offered a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois, but passed up that opportunity to fight for his country when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He served the Naval branch of the armed services where he was awarded a good conduct medal while supporting bombing squad No. 100. He was discharged in good standing in 1946.

After discharge from the Navy, he returned to his home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and soon married Bette Sholly. They were blessed with three children. He rediscovered an old high school talent for art and worked his way into a drafting job at Century Engineering. He eventually saw an ad in the Cedar Rapids Gazette for a technical illustrator's job at now Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. He applied for and accepted a job at then Convair in 1961. He moved his wife and three children, along with their furniture, to Fort Worth by railway. They purchased a home in South Hills in 1964 and made it their home for the rest of their lives.

He worked for the same company as a technical illustrator until retiring at the age

of 68.

Vern and his son enjoyed a mutual passion for bass fishing and spent every spare minute fishing lakes in Texas out of his pride and joy, a Terry Bass boat which is still in perfect shape in his garage. Vern was the consummate perfectionist and it was evident in his work and home and all that he did. He was charismatic and gregarious and was liked and respected by most.

He and his wife were active members of St. Andrew Catholic Church where Vern was active in the Knights of Columbus. His faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church was very strong and he attributed his faith to getting him through the many hardships in life, including the loss of his daughter, Connie Ann, and his wife of 50 years, Bette, in 1995.

Survivors include his daughter, Susan; son, Bob (Robert), and wife, Kathy (Kathryn); grandchildren, Christina Slagle, Angie Burkett, Tony Slagle and Melissa Gasca; and great-grandchildren, Victoria Slagle, Alexandria Slagle, Chandler Floyd, Grace Slagle, Bette Slagle and Lana Gasca Stefen; great-great-grandchildren, Imani Slagle, J.D. Slagle, Jay'lin Slagle, Ayden Stefen and Koldin Stefen; also grand-dog, Shadow, who never failed to boost his spirits.