Grace V. Rea, 83, of Bowman, ND, passed away on April 2, 2024 at the Southwest Healthcare in Bowman.

Funeral Services for Grace will be held on Monday, April 8, 2024 at 10:00 am at the Krebsbach Funeral Home Chapel.  Pastor Ray Sherwood will officiate with burial to follow in the Bowman Cemetery.  Visitation for Grace will be on Sunday, April 7, 2024 from 12-9 at the Krebsbach Funeral Home Chapel.

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Grace was born in eastern Iowa at Monticello, Oct.11,1940 to parents Fred Kromminga and Virginia (Wehrend) Kromminga. She grew up on the family farm that her grandfather, Ude Kromminga, bought in 1900 from the people that homesteader it. She was the Tom boy at home helping her dad in the fields; haying, picking corn by hand to "open" the fields and throwing the ears of corn in a wagon against the "bang board". Also, helped with shocking corn. She knew how to harness & hitch a team by the time she was nine years old. 4-H club member for eight years.

Went to country school, Castle Grove #6 and then graduating from Monticello High School in 1959. She attended Drake University before transferring to the University of New Mexico.

Grace met her lifelong love, companion and friend, Jim Rea, on a blind date in Albuquerque, NM. She was told that he had a motorcycle and she wanted a ride. They went for that ride the next day. They havebeen together since getting married on September 10,1961, moving to Bowman in 1964, when Jim's Air Force duty ended. They farmed in Slope County for forty-eight years, retiring in 2014.

Grace obtained her pilots license (SEL) in 1967. A Civil Air Patrol (CAP) member, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and Community Cupboard. She was a trustee at the Bowman Methodist Church and member of the Methodist Prayer Group. She was also a 4-H leader.

Elected to the Bowman City Commission in 1984 as the first female on the commission, President of the Bowman City Commission (mayor) in 1988. Sixteen years were spent on the Bowman City Commission. She has been on the city and county zoning boards, library board, director at the Prairie Trails Regional Museum, and Reconnaissance Board. She was also on the board of directors for the Cedar Chest.

Regional Boards include the Southwest Water Authority (SWA), Regional Employment Training Commission (RETC), Roosevelt-Custer Council, and Resource Conservation & Development (RCD).

Hobbies include gardening, sewing, reading, taking courses at Hillsdale College online, and just learning new ideas while meeting people.  Grace also loved dogs and horses, while growing up on the farm. She and Jim also had dogs during their married life.

Preceded in death by her parents, Virginia & Fred Kromminga, her first cousin, John Tiedemann of Florida, and several other cousins.

Survivors include her husband, Jim Rea; daughter Nadine (Rea) Ueno and her husband, Toshiaki 'Toshi' Ueno; sisters Gloria Kromminga and Freda (Gordon) Smith; niece Virginia (Don) Scott; nephew John (Molly) Smith. She also leaves behind her beloved  dog, Lassie.

Grace wanted everyone to remember, "Smile and the world Smiles with you!"