Grover C. German, 65, prominent Fairview District farmer and a descendant of two pioneer Central Washington families, died Sunday evening at Valley General Hospital. Ill for the past two weeks, he had been hospitalized 10 days.
A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John W. (Bill) German, he was born April 15, 1892, and was brought to the Kittitas Valley by his parents on horseback when he was six months old from Twisp in the Methow Valley of Okanogan County.
His paternal grandfather, Grandison German, was one of the first doctors in Central Washington. His father, "Bill" German, was an early day county commissioner. His mother, Pernina Houser, was a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Tillman Houser, Kittitas Valley pioneers and was one of the first white children born in the valley. Her father finished the last three miles of the road over Snoqualmie Pass and drove the first wagon over the route in a 15-day trip in 1868.
Grover German lived all his life in the Fairview District within two miles of the family homestead. He was one of the valley's first commercial potato growers. He graduated from Washington State College where he was a member of Alpha Zeta, agricultural honorary, and was a Navy veteran of World War I.
Long active in community affairs, he served as a member of the Kittitas County Fair Board, as chairman of the Fairview Farm Bureau, was a member of the county Triple A. board, and was a member of the county rationing board in World War II. He also served on the boards of the Fairview and Kittitas school districts. He was a member of the Kittitas County and state cattlemen's Association and the American Legion.
He was married to Ruby Lee Fulton here February 23, 1923. She died August 10, 1943. He was married to Rose Worrell Ford, who survives him, February 7, 1951.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Kirk German of Ellensburg; a daughter, Mrs. Arley (Barbara) Vancil of Ellensburg; a stepson, Bill G. Ford of Kirkland; 11 grandchildren, and an aunt, Mrs. Amelia Churchill of Wenatchee.
Funeral services will be held at the Evenson Chapel Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m., with Rev. Laurence M. Arksey officiating. Burial will be in the IOOF Cemetery.
