Two Accept Roles on GRMC Foundation Board

Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s Foundation Board has added two new members. Sig Barber and Leila Maring were nominated to the board, which makes decisions about the hospital endowment and fund-raising efforts.

Barber, former GRMC Board of Trustee Chair, has lived in Grinnell since 1977, when he joined Grinnell College as a professor of German. Maring is a retired home care/public health nurse, who has been involved with GRMC as an employee and later as a board member. Both will serve a three-year term on the 24-member board.


“The GRMC foundation board represents the communities we serve and provides valuable guidance and leadership for GRMC’s fundraising efforts and management of the foundation’s endowment,” says Mindy Uitermarkt, director of development. “Board members also play an important role as liaisons within the community on behalf of GRMC.”

GRMC’s foundation board executive committee serves two-year terms. The 2010 officers are Todd Reding, chair; George Drake, chair elect; Ed Hatcher, past chair; and Julie Gosselink, secretary/treasurer.

Other foundation board members are: Dan Agnew; Orville Bloethe; Warren Bower, MD; Pete Brownell; Jenny Erickson; Jack Gustafson; Joanie Heimsoth; Clark Jensen, OD; Mark Kennett, Sally Lang; Dianne Latimer; Todd C. Linden; Nancy Walters Smith; Sally Smith; Pat Supple; Dave Vander Linden; and Victor Wilson, MD.

The medical center is currently engaged in a handful of fund-raising activities for which the foundation board provides guidance, including the annual fund drive and planned giving activities.

Two Grinnell Organizations Receive Bequest from Wheeler Estate

Grinnell Regional Medical Center and the Grinnell United Methodist Church Foundation have been named beneficiaries of the estate of the late Gail and Margaret Wheeler.

The Wheelers were “quiet saints among us,” says Len Eberhart, church pastor. The Wheelers were married on March 17, 1936, in Malcom, Iowa. Before moving to Grinnell in 1979, they operated a grain and livestock farm southwest of Malcom. Gail Wheeler died in 1992 and Margaret Wheeler died in 2009.

The medical center and the church each received almost $367,000 from the couple’s estate. “The hospital and the church were very important to them. This is the way they always wanted things to be handled,” says the Wheeler’s niece, Mary Bair of Grinnell.

The church foundation plans to place a portion of the Wheelers’ estate into its endowment and another portion will be used for a parsonage replacement fund. Members of the congregation will also enjoy having one of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary restored with funds from the estate. The window to be replaced is directly behind the organ that Margaret Wheeler played during the early Sunday service at the church for years.

“Margaret will be looking down and will be pleased. Her light will shine through the window,” Bair says.

“Margaret and Gail are a blessing to a larger family of which they were a part,” Eberhart says. “We are thrilled to be able to perpetuate their generous spirits through this bequest.”

At the medical center, a portion of the Wheeler estate will be directed to the hospital’s endowment fund. In addition, the GRMC Board of Directors has designated that $200,000 of the estate be used to help improve MRI services at the medical center. GRMC plans to obtain a new MRI and house it inside the medical center to replace its current mobile unit. To do so, an area inside the medical center needs to be remodeled to accommodate the unit, the operations system, and the foundation. The renovation project will cost about $300,000. In addition to the Wheeler bequest, medical center leaders will seek additional support from the community to complete the project. The room with the new MRI will be named the Gail and Margaret Wheeler MRI Suite, in honor of the couple.

Bair says that decision makes “good sense.” Her uncle used GRMC’s services, including its MRI services, for health problems he had many times before his death in 1992.

“GRMC as we know it has delivered healthcare to this community for almost half a century,” says Todd Reding, chair of GRMC’s Foundation Board. “The Wheelers’ gift will help provide area residents with quality diagnostic healthcare close to home for many more years to come. We are honored that they chose to share a significant portion of their estate with us.”

GRMC Auxiliary Announce Scholarship Recipients

The Grinnell Regional Medical Center Auxiliary introduced the 10 $1,000 scholarship winners at the annual membership spring luncheon on April 21. The GRMC auxiliary provides scholarships to new high school graduates as well as adults returning to advanced education in a healthcare field. Recipients come from Brooklyn, Chelsea, Grinnell, LeGrand, New Sharon, Montezuma, South English, and Sully.

“The GRMC Auxiliary is committed to supporting healthcare work force and employees at GRMC advancing their degrees,” says Linda Eichhorn, the auxiliary scholarship committee chair. “Our goal is to support the advancement of healthcare careers and those who have a passion to care for others in a healthcare setting. I think we had another excellent year of candidates.”

The 2010 GRMC Auxiliary Scholarship recipients are:

Brittaney Baker, Grinnell. She is currently a student at Des Moines Area Community College and completing pharmacy tech clinicals at GRMC. She is taking courses for a career in pharmacy/medical laboratory technologist. Her parents are Ray and Lori Baker.

Kristy Brown, Montezuma. She is presently employed at GRMC and is a student at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa. She is working toward her associate nursing degree.

Toshia Creps, Grinnell. Creps will graduate from Grinnell High School in May. She has been accepted into the licensed practical nurse program at Marshalltown Community College. She is the daughter of Richard and Denise Creps.

Terra Figland, Brooklyn. She is currently enrolled in the physicians assistant program at Des Moines University, and is a graduate of Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids.

Tilly Schmidt, South English. Schmidt is in her second year at Mt. Mercy College where she is studying nursing. She is the daughter of Richard Schmidt.

Alicia Thede, LeGrand. She will graduate from East Marshall in May, and will attend Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines to study nursing. She is the daughter of Robert and Tamara Thede.

Tessa Van DeWalle, Chelsea. She will graduate from South Tama in May. She has been accepted into the nursing program at Mt. Mercy College. Her parents are Rick and Jodi Van DeWalle.

Callie Van Genderen, New Sharon. Van Genderen will graduate from North Mahaska High School in May, and will study nursing at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Wray is the daughter of Chris and Sara Wray.

Bailey Zegers, Sully. She is a 2009 graduate of Lynnville-Sully and is currently a nursing student at Mt. Mercy College. She is the daughter of Brad Zegers and Denise Williams.

Congratulations to these 2010 scholarship winners. For more information about the GRMC Auxiliary and scholarship program, call 641-236-2588.