Grace Mae Mossbarger

Family and neighbors in Grand Island mark the death of Grace Mae Mossbarger on January 18, 2026. She was 87. Born in Grand Island on October 24, 1938; Croatian-American cooking and payday thrift set the tone of the house. From the start, she treated promises like tools: keep them sharp, do not lend them lightly. She edged boards until numbers told the truth about barns. An edger push stick worn smooth outlasted three shifts of hurry. Colleagues still mention an edger push stick worn smooth. She and Arthur married in 1965 and raised two daughters and a son without needing an audience. After Arthur's death in 2019, she held to quiet habits—coffee before dawn, a tended yard, a voice on the phone that still checked in. Neighbors remember a rake leaned against a shared fence after a storm. She preferred the hour before a town fully wakes. Grand Island was home enough that she never rehearsed an introduction. The garden will come up next spring without being told.