John B. 'Jack' Gravert

JOHN B. "JACK" GRAVERT

Cedar Rapids

John B. "Jack" Gravert, 83, of Cedar Rapids, died Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, at St. Matthew Catholic Church. A visitation will be on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, from 2-5 p.m. at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Burial: Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Sharon; his children, Jennifer Henderson of Tipton, Iowa, Jacqueline (Scott) Stuhr of Omaha, Neb., Juliet (Theodore) Tenley of Anamosa, Iowa, John (Erika) Gravert of Omaha, Neb., Joyce (Mathew) Saur of Marion, Iowa, Joanna (Kyle) Fries of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jolene (Christopher) Snyder of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Joseph (Jacqueline) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; his grandchildren, Jacob, Kayla, Veronica, Vanessa, Monica, Courtney, Gabrielle, Rachael, Jackson, Alexandra, Nicole, Tyler, Lily, Rozlin, Finnegan, Leopold, Bailey, Carley and Grace; his great-grandchildren, Joshua, Izabel, Chloe, Oliver and Parker; and his siblings, William (Dorothy) Gravert of Tipton, Iowa, James (Frances) Gravert of Red Bluff, Calif., and Thomas (Debbie) Gravert of Stanwood, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents; son-in-law, William Henderson; siblings, Delores, Dennis and Katherine; and in-laws, Richard and Teresa.

John "Jack" Bernard Gravert, son of the late Irvin and Katherine Gravert, was born Nov. 2, 1938, in Davenport, Iowa. Jack attended Holy Family and St. Alphonsus for elementary and middle school and graduated from St. Ambrose Academy in 1956. After graduating high school, Jack worked as a banker in downtown Davenport.

Jack was always a practical man, but one summer he saved enough to take a trip to California. He loved the experience so much he moved out close to Los Angeles. Soon after Jack enlisted in the United States Army in 1961, where he served his country honorably overseas in Vietnam.

Upon his return, Jack settled back into his life in southern California where many of his friends were getting married and having children. Still a bachelor, Jack was once asked how many children he was going to have. Annoyed with all the talk of settling down and having kids, Jack exuberantly proclaimed that he was going to have eight kids and he pointed in the direction of the San Gabriel Valley and said he was going to marry a girl from there.

As fate would have it, John married the Valley's own, Sharon Lee Lance, on Dec. 21, 1968. After a few years together in Southern and Northern California, Jack and Sharon relocated to Tipton, Iowa, where he worked for Cedar County for 28 years as the Secondary Roads Assistant. There, he and Sharon would raise their family of eight kids in a grand three-bed, one-bath estate.

Although space was scarce, love was abundant in the Gravert household and Jack worked hard to provide for his family. A man of few words, Jack led by example and was held in high esteem by each of his children. Slow to anger but quick to agitation, Jack mastered the art of herding cats as he was always able to get his family to Mass and other appointments on time in his blue station wagon.

Even with work and raising a family, Jack had many hobbies, most of which could be fulfilled from the comfort of his rocking chair. As an avid reader, Jack loved detective novels and always loved "Mystery" on PBS, particularly Agatha Christie's "Poirot." Jack also dabbled in politics, was a firm believer in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and enjoyed listening to conservative talk radio. Jack often boasted that the last democrat he voted for was John F. Kennedy and he would always complain that the mainstream media was biased. Jack also was a huge Hawkeyes and Cubs fan. Believing he was bad luck, he could not watch them but was truly elated when the Cubs won the World Series on his 78th birthday.

Jack was a loving and faithful husband and father and will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. We know that he will always be with us and will forever be in our hearts. We hope that heaven has a grocery store close by so he can carry the milk home.

Please leave a message for the family on our webpage www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries. Memorials may be directed to the family.