Grace Elizabeth Long

Grace Elizabeth Long, of Rockford, passed away peacefully on her 104th birthday, November 20, 2025, at the Nora Springs Care Center. Funeral arrangements are with Fullerton Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. with visitation at 10:00 am on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at Fullerton Funeral Home, 123 2nd St SE in Mason City. Grace will be laid to rest with a private family burial at the Odebolt First Presbyterian Cemetery in Odebolt, IA. Grace was born on November 20, 1921, in Odebolt to Edgar and Eva (Drucilla) Reuber. After graduating from Odebolt High School and a secretarial course in Des Moines, Grace worked as a secretary for Standard Oil. While on a break she literally ran into and knocked Warren Long off a ladder and into her heart. Warren and Grace were married on October 19, 1952, at the First Presbyterian Church in Odebolt. Warren, steadily advanced in rank with the Border Patrol. Each professional advancement required a physical relocation. Grace’s career was to ensure their homes in Texas, Florida, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota Missouri and Iowa were comfortable; filled with carefully crafted quilts, drapes and attire; and pantries were stocked with home grown food stuffs – canned, frozen or carefully stored for eating weeks after harvest. Grace loved her flower and vegetable gardens. She studied magazines to increase her knowledge on new techniques and seeds. Her gardens were engineered to be extremely efficient works of art. She enjoyed bird watching and animals of any kind (as long as they did not eat her flowers). Grace’s nieces and nephews could not decide whether they enjoyed her Christmas candy or Christmas gifts the most as both were legendary. It is hard to capture the essence of Grace, but to those around her - be it to her family, friends or Nora Springs Care Center nursing home staff - most would say Grace’s most important contribution to the world was her quick wit and sense of humor. Grace was so charismatic and kept everyone laughing, even up until her last day on earth. Truly everyone loved her. She had a way of drawing you in, making you smile and making fun of the simple things in life – the things in which we all can collectively laugh. She would say to us today, “I was the most blessed over 100 year old person ever. My advice is to use it or lose it. And, finally, I want you to leave, so - bye now.” Those left to cherish her memory include her nieces and nephew: Sandy (Kyle) McGonigle of Des Moines, IA, Steve (Felix) Schumburg of Cedar Falls, IA, and Janet Schumburg of Rockford, IA. Her great-nieces and great-nephew: Julie Kern of Dolliver, IA, Kevin (Mary) McGonigle of Virginia, Cindy McGonigle of Des Moines, IA and Lori Ewing of Forest City, IA; and many great-great and great-great-great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Warren Long in 2013; parents, Edgar and Eva Reuber; sisters, Dorothy Higby and Helen (Jim) Schumburg; niece, Colleen (Claude) Ewing, great-nephew, Kent Ewing and sister-in-law, Vivian Linderoth.

Grace Elizabeth Long

November 20, 1921 - November 20, 2025

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