John Grewell
Apr 9, 2018He was a man who got things done. He knew that reputation is earned. And he followed the motto that character is doing what’s right when nobody’s looking.The oldest of Lowell and Eunice’s six children, he served three tours in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star. When his father asked him why he volunteered for the extra tours, he said that it was the right thing to do.He was a hard worker. He took a job as a switchman for the Northern Pacific railroad and worked his way up to trainmaster for Burlington Northern, Superintendent and Vice President for Montana Rail Link, and Vice President of I & M Rail Link. In his free time, he raised cows, tended garden, rode his tractor, and sipped whiskey while cooking some of the world’s finest steaks.He looked down on no one, except the lazy and the dishonest.He was a public servant. He served on the school board for several years in Joliet. And he spent the last years of his life serving as a Commissioner for Carbon County.He was a man who sought the Lord. For many years, he and his wife Betty were the primary caretakers of Our Saviour’s Episcopal Church in Joliet. After the church closed, they eventually attended the Joliet Wesleyan Church where they continued their spiritual relationship.Most of all, John Grewell was a family man. He loved his children, Bishop and Jenny, and let them know it. He taught them to fish, to treat everyone with dignity, and to live their lives with integrity. He cheered loudly at their high school sporting events. And his only dream for them was happiness. He welcomed their spouses, Karen and Josh, to the family. And his only regret in life was that cancer kept him from one day dancing at the weddings of his four grandchildren.He loved his wife, Betty, more than he could ever express.He will be missed.A funeral service will be at 11 a.m., Thursday, July 27 in the Joliet High School Gymnasium. Interment will follow in the Rockvale Cemetery. Smith-Olcott Funeral Chapel of Red Lodge has assisted... (Billings Gazette)
