Margaret Jewell (Nesselroad) Grimes, age 98, of Luther Manor, was called home peacefully at 12:20 a.m., on Monday, January 7, 2019, at Luther Manor. To honor Jewell’s life, funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon, on Friday, January 11, 2019, at Behr Funeral Home, 1491 Main Street, Dubuque, with Rev. Dianne Grace officiating. Family and friends may visit from 10:30 a.m., until time of service, on Friday, January 11, 2019, at Behr Funeral Home. Burial will be in Dubuque Memorial Gardens.

Jewell, to all who knew and loved her, was a special daughter, wife, mother and grandmother. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa on April 22, 1920, to Charles Raymond and Alma Pansy Andrews Nesselroad of Valley Junction, Iowa, in what is now West Des Moines.

She grew up in rural Dallas County where she attended grade school. She attended high school in Waukee, graduating in 1938. She met the love of her life, Clarence Robert “Bud” Grimes, at a dance in Van Meter. He was in the Army, stationed at Ft. Des Moines. They married on December 31, 1940 while living in Des Moines until WWII began. He was then transferred to Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri where in a small town, Houston, Mo., their family began with the birth of their first daughter, Margaret Ann “Maggie” in 1942. When Bud was preparing for war in the Pacific, they made a home in California for a time. With Bud’s activation to the Pacific and a small child to care for, Jewell returned to Iowa for the duration of the war. A second child, Mary Lee, was born in 1946. Bud served in Japan as part of the Occupation Forces following the war. Their third daughter, Patricia Marie, was born there 1949. Upon their return to the US, Bud was stationed in Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he was assigned until the Korean Conflict took him to war once again. Jewell returned to Waukee with the girls during that time. Following the war, they lived in Oklahoma, Colorado and twice in Germany until after 22 years of military service, Bud retired. Soon after they returned to their roots in Iowa.

Jewell was a loving wife and mother with the inner strength that led her from a young wife to an independent woman who was able to raise her children on her own during various times throughout Bud’s service which required crossing the country and the ocean with 3 children. She was tough, and that toughness saw her through the aftermath of a terrible crash in 1989 that nearly took her 30 years too soon. She and Bud were a team! We fondly called them “attached at the hip.” They became managers at Stuckey’s Pecan Shops where she managed the snack bar and he ran the gas station and shop. They dealt with tornadoes, snow storms, needy families that always got a helping hand, but they were together. They moved to Dubuque in the late 70’s where they lived at various locations between winter stays in Arizona for many years until they moved to an assisted living community before Bud passed away in 2006. Jewell’s final move was to Luther Manor where she lived out her final years.

She is survived by her daughters,
Mary Ivers, of Fargo, ND,
and Patricia (Del) Neises of Dubuque, IA;

her grandchildren,
Bob (Mariah) Chase, Samantha (Michael) Chase Page, Paul Kalvik, Deborah Kalvik Nichols, Craig (Lisa) Neises, Brian (Jenny) Neises;

her great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and daughter, Maggie Chase, her sister, Dorine (Howard) O’Brien of Dubuque, two brothers, Richard (Mildred) Nesselroad of Waukee, IA and Thomas (Leota) Nesselroad of Bettendorf, IA, sons-in-law, Robert Chase and Robert Ivers.

Jewell’s family would like to thank the entire staff at Luther Manor and Hospice of Dubuque for the excellent, compassionate care of Jewell and her family.

Memorials will be accepted by the family to be distributed among her favorite charities.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.behrfuneralhome.com