Dawn Thyra Grams

Dawn Thyra O'Hara was born in Neillsville, Wisconsin, to Paul O'Hara and Genevieve Berrett O'Hara, October 13, 1938. She went to be with the Lord September 19, 2021, surrounded by loved ones as she passed.

Dawn’s family made their home in Neillsville until Dawn was a little over one year old. At about that time, Paul moved his small family to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he attended a cable-splicing school. He was then employed by AT & T as a cable splicer, a job that took him to a number of locations for approximately a three-year period; Gen and Dawn migrated around the country with him. They apparently lived in motels and apartments, as Dawn recalls. Then, for whatever reason, Paul and family returned to Greenwood, perhaps in 1942, where Dawn was happy to be living near her many cousins..

Unfortunately, in 1943, Paul and Gen's marriage ended in divorce. Dawn was five at the time. Following divorce from Paul, Gen and Dawn continued to live in Greenwood. Gen married Emory Voie May 30,1946.

Dawn attended grade school at Greenwood elementary school, where her fifth and sixth grade teacher was her aunt, Geneva Berrett.

Emory became a plumber, and the family moved to Fond du Lac in fall,1951. Emory worked as a plumber for the remainder of his career, until retiring in 1983. He died in November 1985 at age 70.

Two sisters came along after Gen and Emory's marriage. Mary was born in 1947 and Karla in 1951, just months before the Voie family moved to Fond du Lac. Dawn was very happy to have two little sisters to help raise.

When the family moved to Fond du Lac in 1951, Dawn was beginning eighth grade and enrolled in Roosevelt Junior High. Then she moved on to Goodrich High School for grades 10 through 12, learning such office skills as typing and shorthand, which served her very well in the years ahead.

Dawn and I (Robert) met when we were 13 years old in 1951, as a result of a special event in which we both participated.. Our churches collaborated on sponsoring a float in the Christmas Parade, an annual event in Fond du Lac. At the time, Dawn's family attended the Fond du Lac Assembly of God Church, while my family attended the Gospel Tabernacle. Dawn was "Mary" and I was "Joseph" on the float -- was that prognostic or what? Dawn "saw the future," she says, at that point in time -- that idea never entered my mind then!

At some point in the 1950's, my family migrated to the Assembly of God church. As I recall, that occurred after the A of G moved into a building on Third Street and Marr. Our parents became friends and visited one another socially. Of course, that meant that Dawn and I would see one another on those occasions.

So in the fall of 1956, I enrolled at Oshkosh State College, as it was known at that time. Then it happened! Dawn invited me to go out on a date - we went bowling as her 18th birthday celebration in October, 1956. She reminds me that we then went to Lakeside Park to "watch the submarines come in!" And the rest is history.

We decided to get married two years later. June 14, 1958 -- that was the big day! The wedding party included my cousin Dick as best man and my sister Carol as maid of honor. Dawn's cousin Carol Berrett served as maid of honor, and another cousin, Jim Berrett, was the groomsman. Ushers were cousin Phil Grams and friend Dan Grahl. Mary Voie, Dawn's sister, was the singer. This was a small wedding party by today's standards. Pastor Oliver Apple performed the ceremony. The next day we headed toward Niagara Falls.

As Dawn says, she worked most of her life! While growing up, she always had chores to do around home. While in high school, she had her first job outside the home as a sales clerk at the Woolworth Dime store. Right after high school graduation, Dawn obtained her first job as an office clerk at the Smith Construction Company. She was able to use her shorthand and typing skills, at which she had excelled in high school. After about five months, the A C Nielson Company opened a branch in Fond du Lac. Data processing was its forte, and Dawn learned data entry -- or as it was called in those days, key punching -- and launched her computer-related career.

Dawn's time with Nielson's lasted nearly three years. Then came marriage in 1958. Motherhood followed in 1959, and Dawn became full-time employed in our home for about the next 14 years.

In the late 1960's and early 70's, after we had relocated to the Milwaukee area, Dawn returned to work with a part-time job at Carroll College in Waukesha, again utilizing her data entry skills.

After our move to Arizona, she again sought work and was able to do temp jobs for a period of time, including working at the office of a temp agency. She spent approximately three years working in data entry at Honeywell in the 1980's and then landed at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, beginning as a temp, then became an employee of the State, first as a "seasonal" and then as a full-timer. She spent 22 years with G & F, and upon her retirement .in 2007, had earned full retirement benefits.

Our four offspring were all born in Fond du Lac: Roxy in 1959, Tammy in 1960, Todd in 1962 and Troy in 1965.

Roxy’s Offspring:

April Dawn Grams 4-17-1986

& Ethan Nichols (father of Alyssa)

Alyssa 10-11-2004

Tammy’s Offspring:

Douglas J Reimers 12-25-1980

& Michelle – married in 2010

Sydney 7-20-2001

Stella B 7-14-11 D 2-24-13

Tiffany Lynn Reimers 3-17-1984

& Joshua Colaw (father of children)

Jasmine 12-27-2005

Joshua Jr 5-1-2008

Jett 10-17-2011

Jaxx 10-11-2013

Stoney 10-18-2019

Axell 1-26-2021

Todd’s Offspring:

& Dawn Goddard– married 1989

Ashley Grams Ohlman 1-23-1990

& Thomas Ohlman – married 2010

Bryan 3-23-2011

Alex 9-24-2013

Alliette 12-7-2020

Amanda Grams Martinez 1-11-1993

& Jose Martinez – married 2017

Alisabeth Grams 11-24-1998

Dawn’s sisters:

Mary Jane married Ed Wiegert in 1966. They have one son - Joel.

Karla Jean married Steve Peterson in 1972. They have two sons - Kyle and Kraig.

Memorial Service at Shadow Mountain Mortuary, 2350 E Greenway Road, Phoenix 85022, at 12:00 pm Saturday, October 2. Pastor Jim Black, Phoenix Dream City Church, officiating. Social time / luncheon to follow service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dawn’s honor to: Phoenix Dream Center * or American Brain Foundation**

*www.phoenixdreamcenter.org

Phoenix Dream Center 3210 NW Grand Ave Phoenix, AZ 85017. Mailing Address: Phoenix Dream Center P.O. Box 55226 Phoenix, AZ 85032.

**www.americanbrainfoundation.org