Father Bob Gross began his assignment as priest of St. Francis DeSales in Ossian, St. Aloysius in Calmar, Our Lady of Seven Dolors in Festina, and St. Wenceslaus in Spillville on July 14. Although he has only been in the are for a short period of time, Gross has adopted the area as if it were his life-long hometown. Having grown up in Racine, Wis., Gross arrived at his current assignment after spending eight years serving Dubuque County. (Zakary Kriener photo)

New face hopes to build new relationships

Zakary Kriener

News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

Many may have taken notice of a new face around town. That new face would belong to Father Robert Gross, or Bob as he prefers to be called. Gross is the new priest at St. Francis DeSales Church. Father Gross also shares pastoral duties with St. Alyosius in Calmar, Our Lady of Seven Dolors in Festina, and St. Wenceslaus in Spillville.

“I think I am going to be very busy,” he joked. “The biggest thing will be getting used to the busy schedule, but once we get going, I feel that I can work to continue the strong traditions that have been built in these four fine parishes.”

Douglas D. Falb

Douglas D. Falb, born April 12, 1951 in Elgin, Iowa passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, July 29, 2015.

He is survived by his wife Mary; three children, Jody (Jack) Maher, Rob (Karla) Falb, and Jamie (Mark) Klubertanz; and six grandchildren, Kennan, Olivia, Sophia, Gabriella, Alyssa and Autumn. He is also survived by his brother, Roger (Marilyn) Falb.

Doug was a fun loving guy and enjoyed playing practical jokes on his friends. He will be dearly missed by family and friends.

A memorial gathering was held at ALL FAITHS FUNERAL CHAPEL, 4058 Lien Rd., Madison on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers all donations will be forwarded to Smile Train, Doug's favorite charity.

Working together to help document those buried in the Apostolic Church Cemetery in rural Elgin are (l-r) Rachel (Frieden) Fuhriman, her son Cade Fuhriman, and Rachel’s mom, Deb Frieden. Rachel and Cade now reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Local cemetery going online

Brian Smith
Contributing Writer
bsmith@fayettepublishing.com

In today’s world, technology is growing at a rapid pace. It is now routinely found in areas that heretofore had not even been imagined by our parents, let alone our grandparents. One such area where you may not have considered how technology could be used is in our cemeteries. Yes, that’s right, I said cemeteries. And, of course, it is the youth who lead the way.

            “A couple of months ago I was looking for an Eagle Scout project with some of my friends, and my mom showed me a website called billiongraves.com that basically is trying to record images of gravestones and log their GPS locations. Since I am into using technology, that appealed to me right away,” said Cade Fuhriman, a 16-year-old high school student from Salt Lake City, Utah.

           Cade’s mother is Rachel (Frieden) Fuhriman, daughter of Martin and Deb Frieden, who grew up in rural Elgin and graduated from Valley High School in 1996. When Cade discovered that all the cemeteries in Utah had already been documented, his mother had an idea.

Alan Balk

The family of Alan Balk invites everyone to  a Celebration of Life to be held in the shelter house at Gouldsburg Park Saturday, August 8, 2015, from 4-8 p.m. 

Food and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided.  Bring a chair, beverage of choice and share memories of Alan.