John Grusing became a naturalized citizen of the United States on November 16, 1914. He was born in Germany in 1873 and came to the U.S. at the age of 19, settling in Franklin County, Nebraska where he met Anna deVries who was also German-born. They married in 1899, and in 1901, the family moved to Oregon. John suffered severely from poor health which had been brought on by spinal meningitis so they moved back to Kansas, arriving in Leoti in September 1908. After a few weeks, the Grusings moved to their homestead 23 miles north of Lakin where they made a cozy home for their growing family, farmed and raised stock. John’s health improved greatly.
Neither John nor Anna came from ministerial families, but they were instrumental in organizing the Lydia Methodist Church and were both very active workers in its various departments with John serving as a trustee for 52 years and superintendent of the Sunday School for more than 20. The Grusings were respected by their neighbors and were characterized by their fervent faith and devotion. Education was also important to John and Anna. They were determined that their children have a better education than they had and insisted on regular school attendance. John was a director of the Eureka School that their children attended about two miles west of their home.
John played the organ, and the Grusing family loved music and singing. Not only did they sing around the organ or piano, but also while at work. On winter evenings, their big barn echoed with hymns and school songs which were sung from memory while doing chores.
John and Anna had 14 children. The oldest, Gracy, died before she was a month old. Of the remaining 13, four became ordained ministers and three of those served as missionaries in one or another corner of the globe. The other nine served their communities as teachers, church or Sunday School officers, or organists. Their children included sons David, Herman, William, Ed, Henry, Ben and Wesley. Their daughters were Grace Grusing, Helen Kysar, Martha Brown, Alice Geyer, Clara Warrington, and Edith Litton. Many of John and Anna’s descendants still reside in Kearny County.
“We were a happy, contented family enjoying our comfortable home and each other. There was a feeling of security and well-being,” recalled some of the Grusing children in Volume I of Kearny County’s history. Daughter Martha, a missionary in Africa, said her parents “taught us to trust the Lord Jesus for salvation, and to live lives of usefulness.”
Both Anna and John died at their home north of Lakin, Anna in January of 1959 and John in March of 1961. They are buried at the Lydia Methodist Cemetery.
His family and his church were John’s life, and with Father’s Day approaching, we pay tribute to John Grusing and all other fathers who have sacrificed unselfishly to provide for their families and raise their children to be respectful and contributing citizens. One of John’s neighbors once said, “If every man in the world were like John Grusing, we would need no armies and no policemen.”
SOURCES: History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; Ancestry.com; archives of the Lakin Independent and Methodist Life; and Museum archives.