Parishioner Profile Continued... Darrell and Linda Greubel

written by Pat Thompson

Darrell's mother Aretta was the disciplinarian of the family and a hard worker.  She was always washing, cleaning, cooking, baking, making the children's clothes... and all without the conveniences we have now.  Darrell says he still can't imagine how she could do it all.  In addition Aretta enjoyed needlework and was active in the Catholic Church at Bauer.

Darrell had two brothers, Bob and Ray, and two sisters, Darlene and Ruth.  He also had a half brother and three half sisters.  Bob and Darrell always went to ballgames together, but they and the neighbor boys did one thing that was really special.  On their own initiative, they got together and built the Newbern Ball Park.  Like responsible businessmen, they first went to the Marian County Courthouse to see who owned the land on which they wanted to build the ball park.  They discovered that the square block had been originally set aside for the building of a courthouse.  Obviously that plan had fallen through, so the young men were able to build their ball park--with light--and people played softball there for years.

Before he was old enough to be part of something this great for the community, Darrell recalls he played cops and robbers and cowboys.  There's even a photo somewhere of little Darrell dressed up in his big Hopalong Cassidy hat and gun and holster.  When he was around eight years old, Darrell was given a BB gun.  That was a "really big deal."  By age  ten he was hunting squirrels and rabbits with a real gun.  He bought a single-shot 410 shotgun from a neighbor kid for $5.00m and he still has it.  Now that he has no fear of prosecution, Darrell admits that, like most kids, he did some risky things.  Once a neighbor guy and Bob and Darrell went hunting in their car.  There was one boy on each fender looking for rabbits to shoot.  Bob, who was driving, stopped short, and the neighbor boy fell off.  Before Bob realized what had happened, he started driving again and ran over the boy's foot.  Fortunately it wasn't broken.

Darrell attended Fairview School about one block.from his home.  When he got home from his first day in kindergarten, he was really surprised to hear that he had a new baby sister, Ruth.  Darrell never did like school.  In the beginning, he used to tell his teacher that he was sick.  She would send him home, but his mother, who soon caught on, would send him back to school again.  When he attended Chariton High School, Darrell still didn't care much for school, and because he lived so far from it, he didn't participate in extracurricular activities.  He did go out for baseball, but after practice he had to walk twelve miles home, so "that didn't last long."

After high school Darrell go a job as a bookkeeper and scale man at Hess's Rock Quarry.  Soon, though, Linda's dad talked him into taking the postal service exam.  Starting in February, 1962, Darrell worked 31 years for the post office in Chariton and then 6 years as postmaster of Russell.

When he was working at Hess's Darrel would go to Cedar Rapids just about every weekend so he could visit Linda.  Darrell says he really liked Linda's energy.  He laughs now and says, "That went somewhere."  Over the years he has really appreciated how Linda took care of the house and the kids.  He often had to go to work at four or five in the morning, and Linda herself worked nearly forty years on and off fixing hair, yet she tried to make sure the kids behaved themselves, even though, he add, as most parent might, "sometimes it didn't work."  Linda also was kindhearted in caring for Darrell's mother and father when they were sick.

Linda and Darrell's six children include Jeri Reeve, a photographer, who husband Kevin is comptroller for Hy-Vee.  They live in Chariton and have two sons: Christopher and Matthew.  Linda and Darrell's son Marty is employed by Seimen's.  He sometimes climbs 300 feet straight up to work on the big wind turbines.  He and his wife Peggy live in Griswold and have four children:  Brandon, Jamie Corey, and Cody.  Karen, a dental assistant, is married to Derwin Dorpinghaus, who installs garage door for Adams Door Company.  They have two children, Emilee and Allison, and live in Ankeny.  Joe owns Quality Plumbing and Heating and his wife Cindy works for the business.  Thet live in Indianola and have three children:  Taylor, Bailey, and Dylan.  Shelli married Jason Neus, a plant researcher at Pioneer.  He specializes in soy beans.  They live in Champagne, Illinois, and have three children:  Austin, Noah, and Ethan,  Linda and Darrell's daughter Erin Marie Sammler is a contract negotiator for AVIVA and has three children:  Alexa, Caden and Jermaine.

Linda first became interested in the Catholic Church because it was Darrell's Church, but she says that the Church has been a big part of their lives and that they have tried to be faithful in attending regularly.  She says that in times of illness and in dealing with their parents' suffering and death, it has been comforting to know that God has always been there for them.  Linda, too, has been active in various church ministries, most notably helping to create the beautiful quilts that are so much of our Fall Festival fund raising efforts.

Darrell only knew one grandparent, his Grandpa Frueh, who lived with his family when Darrell was jus a small boy.  Grandpa Frueh was a "big guy" and Darrell remembers sitting on his lap and also riding to church with him on some weekday mornings, not every day but perhaps for First Fridays.  Darrell remembers, too, that his grandpa's wake was held in Darrell's family's house.  Thus, Darrell say, "The Church has always been part of my life since my very first memories.  Life has lots of ups and downs, but the Church is always there to help us get through them."