Lois Mable Gruber

Lois was born on October 25, 1920 in Tenghsien, Shantung, China.  She passed away in her home in Cedar Hills, Utah on July 27, 2021 surrounded by a few of her loved ones. 

Lois was the fourth of six children born to Roy Melville Allison and Edith May Early while they served as Presbyterian missionaries in China from 1911 to 1942. Lois and her five siblings were born and raised in China. Her first time in the United States was on missionary furlough with her family as a three-year old.  Her teenage years in China were during a time of Japanese occupation and she remembered turmoil and hardships.

Growing up, her family lived in a missionary station; a gated, walled compound that was home to five missionary families. Lois played and went to school within those walls with the other missionary children. They had Chinese servants who did all household chores and cooking, so Lois had to learn all her homemaking skills from library books as a young adult in college. 

One of her favorite childhood memories was when the opportunity came for missionaries to build cottages at Iltis Huk, near Tsingtao. Their cottages were on a low bluff overlooking the coast and provided relief from the heat of summer. The five families spent their summer vacations there each year.  Lois remembered how their Chinese servant would walk with them down the hill to the beach.  He used a traditional shoulder pole with its two buckets – one bucket to carry their lunch and supplies and the other to carry her little brother, David.

In 1927, when she was seven, a civil revolution broke out at Nanking.   A telegram came from the American Consul urging all missionary families to evacuate and go to Tsingtao. As soon as the tension ceased, the men returned to their missionary stations, but the women and children were able to go to their summer cottages at Iltis Huk until pirates began causing trouble by looting neighboring cottages that were unoccupied.

Her early education was unique.  The missionaries in China hired a woman from the United States to teach their children.  It was her job to prepare them for high school at the American School of Pyongyang in Korea. For her high school years Lois and the other missionary children would take a Japanese ship that sailed to Korea to spend the school year boarding there.  She remembered taking cold showers and enduring bitter cold nights.   Upon high school graduation in Pyongyang, Lois was fluent in three languages: Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and English.  With Japanese imperialism raging in China, she came to the United States and attended Wheaton College in Illinois where she met Otto Gruber at a Christian summer camp where they were both counselors.    

She married Otto in 1943 and they were the parents of five children.  The family lived in Maryland, Colorado, Washington, and California.   After the children were grown, Lois worked as a secretary in the insurance business where she developed many lifelong friends.  

 She loved learning and working with children.  She earned a degree from Orange Coast Community College in California and was the oldest graduate of that year.    She and Otto were divorced in 1984.  Lois moved to Utah in 2001.

Lois lived a life of faith and service to others. Her children and grandchildren were the joys of her life.  When the children were small, she made the time not only to play with them, but also to teach them Bible Stories using flannel board pictures that she created. Lois was a wonderful homemaker.   She was an excellent baker and cook. She experimented with and perfected recipes which included raised donuts, banana bread, apple dumplings and chow-mien.  Lois played the organ and loved to read. She enjoyed hand work from sewing and knitting to crafts and creative birthday cakes.   Lois was always a hard worker.  She had a competitive spirit and participated in many sports including tennis, basketball, swimming and ping pong. She loved animals and treasured her pet dogs and birds. 

Later in life, she enjoyed dominoes, Rummikub, and making jigsaw puzzles. She was “up” for nearly any “adventure”; long drives, museums, malls, and picnics.  She chose to watch uplifting classic musicals and comedies as her entertainment.  She had a quick wit, and loved weekly outings for breakfast and lunch. 

Secret to longevity:  Be happy and think of others first.

Best Advice:  Believe and trust in God. Be kind to others and expect nothing in return.  Listen to others and be interested in their lives. Never brag.  Share what you have willingly, and always give the other person the larger piece of cake.

Descendants: Lois had 5 children, 24 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-great-grandchildren.