Grant Snitker

Grant Snitker, age 80, of Waukon, IA, died on Thursday, September 23, 2021, at the Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah, IA. Funeral Services will be at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 29, 2021, at the Glenwood Lutheran Church, 1197 Old Stage Road with Rev. Stacey Nalean-Carlson presiding. Burial will be in the Glenwood East Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m., on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at the Schluter Balik Funeral Home 604 South Avenue, Decorah and also after 10:00 a.m. at the church on Wednesday morning. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, grandfather, brother and friend, Grant A. Snitker Sr., age 80, of Waukon, Iowa. Grant passed away on Thursday, September 23rd, 2021. In the end, Grant went peacefully to join his loving wife of 54 years, Sharon. Grant was born on July 13th, 1941 in Postville, Iowa, the son of Wesley and Marie Snitker. Grant was raised by his parents in Postville, Iowa, was baptized on the family farm as an infant and attended Postville High School where he earned his diploma in 1959. Grant was united in marriage to Sharon Lee (Wickham) Snitker on June 8th, 1963. The couple initially made their home in Castalia, IA until moving to the family farm in Waukon in the fall of 1973. They farmed the land and raised beef, hogs, and chickens. Here, they also raised two children, Grant Jr “Pete” and Brian. In time, they also welcomed six grandchildren. Grant was known for his relentless work ethic. In fact, most of his life he worked 2 jobs; his day time job and of course the farm before and after work each day. In his early years, Grant worked 18 years at the HyGrade meatpacking plant in Postville then at Interstate Producers Livestock Association (IPLA) in Waukon. In 1980 Grant became a part owner of the Decorah Sales Commission. In his later years, Grant worked for Lange’s Dairy in Decorah before taking on a part-time retirement job driving for Bodensteiner Implement. Grant was a man of strong Christian faith and a member of Glenwood Lutheran Church. He enjoyed being an active member at church as an usher and hardly ever (if ever) missed an opportunity to participate in the annual Lutefisk and meatball supper. One of the things we always liked to say about Grant was that he was a man of simple tastes when it came to food preferring to have a meal of “meat and potatoes with Lutheran seasonings” (salt and pepper). Grant received a lot of enjoyment from many different activities; golfing at Silvercrest where he was a member for almost 35 years, fishing and going on fishing trips with his boys and grandchildren, going on family vacations to Northern MN, cheering for the Cubs, Bears and Hawkeyes, listening to “real country” music, playing cards with friends, Gator rides with his loyal dog Penny and attending Friday afternoon “safety meetings” at the local bar. His favorite thing to do was to spend time with Sharon, his family and his friends. In the last few years, he spent countless hours with his right hand man and best friend, his youngest brother Gordy. They just don’t make them like Grant anymore. He was such an inspiration to all those around him. Not only was he one of the longest living kidney transplant patients from the Mayo Clinic, but no one worked harder than Grant to earn his way in this life. He was kind-hearted, generous, handsome, had an uncompromising level of integrity, and had an infectious personality that made you want to be around him. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Grant Sr. is survived by his Two sons; Grant Jr./ “Pete” (and Paula) of Owatonna, MN and Brian (and Karen) of Oskaloosa, IA. Six grandchildren: Trevor, Samuel, Colin, Sarah, Mya and Griffin. Special friend Kara Schulte. Brothers and Sisters and In-laws; Gary (Nancy) Snitker, Judy Barnhouse, Karen (Sonnie) Ashbacher, Sandy (Leon) Felke, (Pam) Bender, Karla (Terry) Fisher, Greg (Mary) Snitker, Patti (Rick) Hughes, Gordy (Mary Moen) Snitker, and (Phyllis) Wickham. Grant was preceded in death by his loving wife of 54 years Sharon Snitker (November 30, 2017), Parents Wesley and Marie (Hangartner) Snitker, Father-in law and Mother-in-law Rodney and Lucille Anderson, Brothers - Gale and Gorman Snitker, Sisters - Katheryn Vaupel and Janet Larson, Sister-in-law Janie Snitker, and Brother-in-laws Frank Wickham, Fred Barnhouse and Clark Larson.