Verna Gerrish

Verna Mae (Dalluge) Gerrish, 95, of Grinnell, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, while in hospice care at Wesley on Grand Health Center in Des Moines, IA.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, August 20, 2026 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Grinnell. A luncheon will follow the service at the church. Interment will be at Hazelwood Cemetery in Grinnell.

The family will welcome friends at a visitation held at Smith Funeral Home on Wednesday, from 5:00 to 7:00 in the evening.

Memorials may be designated to St. John’s Lutheran Church or to the Alzheimer’s Association and mailed in care of the Smith Funeral Home and Crematory, PO Box 368, Grinnell, IA 50112. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family online at www.smithfh.com.

Verna was born on August 18, 1930 in Northwestern Hospital in North Minneapolis, Minnesota as the first child to her parents, Edward F. Dalluge and Hattie Beier. She and her younger brother, Robert E. Dalluge (deceased 2015) were raised in the Lutheran faith, attending Immanuel Lutheran Church School from Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Verna then attended and graduated from North High School in Minneapolis.

After high school, she accepted a job working as a secretary for the Agricultural College at the University of Minnesota. It was there she met a handsome young man, Everett Gerrish, with a funny accent (Maine) who won her heart. They married on June 13, 1953, and moved to Grinnell where Everett was to be employed by Cargill, Inc. Seed as a corn geneticist. In 1971, they built their longtime home at 1940 Manor Circle and lived there for the next 50 years!

Verna was a doting mother and a loving grandmother. In the next several years Verna gave birth to three children: Audrey (Gerrish) Wessling of Minneapolis, Brad Gerrish of Grinnell, and Wendy Gerrish of Urbandale. The kids were raised and graduated from high school in Grinnell, and then all three graduated from Iowa State University. Later two beloved granddaughters were added to the family, Erin Wessling of Leipzig, Germany, and Molly (Wessling) Golubowicz (Alex)

of Brooklyn Center, MN; a sweet great-grandson joined the crew, Mikolai Golubowicz, also of Brooklyn Center, MN.

When Verna's children all reached junior high-age, she decided to venture back into the work force. She happily held the job of buyer at Grinnell Office Supply for 18 years.

Since a major part of Everett's job entailed traveling internationally to develop new hybrids of seed corn, he had the opportunity to make contacts all over the world. Later they spent time traveling to many countries to visit friends. Some of those places included South Africa, Kenya, England, France, Argentina, Brazil, and Hawaii. Together, the family spent several weeks in Maine each summer, which was Everett’s birthplace. Eventually Everett and Verna began renting a rustic cabin in Wayne, Maine and continued the tradition for twenty-five years. They generously shared that space with the whole family, and it became a place that generated countless special memories for all.