Sara Lynne Grimlund

Sara Lynne (Rothganger) Grimlund Sally was born on September 3, 1940, to Hy and Marge Rothganger, in Kansas City, Missouri. After the close of World War II, the family moved to Colorado in 1946 and she attended Fowler schools from first grade through high school, where she was active in various clubs and activities. Following her graduation in 1958, she attended college at Phillips University, in Enid, Oklahoma, and Colorado University School of Nursing, in Denver, Colorado. Her nursing plans changed, however, in the summer of 1960, when she met a young man from Washington, who was farming with his brother-in-law in Fowler and driving a black 1955 Chevy convertible. She married Gary Grimlund on December 18, 1960, and they moved to Washington state, where both their daughters, Cindy Lynne and Cheryl Lynne were born. They returned to Fowler in 1968, where Sally lived for the rest of her life. They initially farmed for Burton Fedde, but soon purchased the Frank Henry farm and later the Bersagel farm, which was her home until she moved to her heavenly home, on 07/19/2021. She was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband Gary.

When the Rothgangers moved to Fowler, they were trying to decide whether to attend the Methodist Church or the Christian Church. Sally, never shy about voicing her opinion, said “I can’t say Methodist, so let’s go to the Christians!”. And so they did, and she was raised in that church, serving in many capacities through the years. She accepted Jesus as her personal Savior at an early age and continued in relationship with her Lord throughout her life. That faith shared in many ways and through many means, including volunteer work with the Caring Pregnancy Center in Pueblo and with International Students at CSU Pueblo. Quite a few students from Nepal, India, and other nations went home with a different view of American farming and of American Christianity after being hosted at the Grimlund farm.

Though Sally never worked a 9 to 5 job or punched a clock, being a farmer’s wife, she did put in some hours on the tractor and swather, kept the farmer’s schedule working until “dark thirty”! In addition to being a wife and mother, she returned to college and received a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Regis University. On any given day of the week, you could find Sally busy sharing her joy with those around her. If she was not finding treasures at a garage sale, she was visiting friends and family at their homes and workplaces. If she could not find them there, she would call with her classic opening of “what doing?”. One thing is sure, there was never a question that she was thinking about you. She did not reserve herself only for loved ones. She was first to help out a stranger or someone in need and more often than not if you took her on a trip she would wander off and could be found talking to a street musician or becoming fast friends with anyone she could find sitting long enough to catch her eye.

Grandma Sally enjoyed riding the 4-wheeler, which was the backdrop for photos of the increasing flock of grandkids, until they got too big and too numerous to all fit on it; she loved the times the grandkids would gather at her house to write and act out original plays. She always kept the kitchen full of Tang and Lipton iced tea, homemade applesauce, and ice cream shakes for her grandchildren as well as the best pancakes ever made. In the quiet moments, Sally would sit in the corner of the living room in her “prayer chair” reading and journaling daily and writing letters with all the family updates. Sally’s dining room table served as both a place for her family to gather for holiday meals ending with her homemade Wienerbrød (a Danish pastry) and a place for her to spread out her pastels and create her beautiful portraits and landscapes which hang on the walls of so many homes.

In her last few years, Sally was challenged by declining health, but she never lost her smile, her sparkling big brown eyes, and her beautiful curly hair. She will be missed by many friends in the community, as well as family.

Sally is survived by one sister, Susan (Terry) Lais of Albany, Oregon, her daughter, Cindy Baca of Fowler along with her children Amanda Baca of Denver, Colorado, Vanessa Baca (Brandon) of St. Paul, Minnesota, Janika (David) Gines of Saint Louis, Missouri, and Levi Grimlund of Fort Collins, Colorado, and daughter Cheryl Genandt of Avondale, Colorado, with her children Joshua (Erika) Sharon of Manhattan, Kansas, Jonah (Sarah) Sharon of Fowler, Colorado, Jazmine (Kevin) Jaco of Alexandria, Virginia, Jillian (Tyler) Young of Fort Lee, Virginia, and Jansen Genandt of Pueblo, Colorado; great grandchildren, Delilah Mason of Fowler, Colorado, Layton Sharon of Fowler, Colorado, Henry Thole of Denver, Colorado, Bo and Brock Young of Fort Lee, Virginia as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family request any memorial gifts be made to: A Caring Pregnancy Center, 50 Colorado Ave, Pueblo, CO 81004, acpcpueblo.org

Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements. www.peacockfh.com