Fern Oman Obituary

With a mix of sorrow and celebration we share the passing of Fern Oman, of Edgewater in West Des Moines, Iowa, who died peacefully Saturday May 10, 2025. She was 103.

Fern Grover was born October 5,1921 in Frederika, Iowa, the daughter of Raymond and Nellie Breda Grover. She had two older sisters, Vivian and Lorraine, and a younger brother, Elton.

Fern’s father ran a small Main Street grocery store. She graduated from Frederika High School, where she also worked part-time in the principal’s office. Fern soon became a switchboard operator connecting telephone calls in the small northeast Iowa town. Pre-World War II, Fern moved to Waterloo as an operator for its telephone company. She loved the people and work and was disappointed when rules required her to leave the phone company upon marriage to Robert Oman in 1951.

The couple built a new home in Cedar Falls where Fern always shared her joy at living on ‘the north side of Sunnyside Drive.’ She was the consummate mother—loving, caring, firm when necessary—with a husband who worked in the automobile business six days a week for decades.

With their two sons, the Omans traveled around the United States in the late 1950s and ‘60s. Bob and Fern later visited Germany, Norway, other stops in Europe, Canada, and Australia in ‘70s and ‘80s.

Fern was an avid reader, most notably with her weathered Bible. When a new Lutheran Church was built nearby in the 1950s, the Oman family joined. St. Paul’s became a touchpoint for Fern the rest of her life. For decades, she sang in the church choir, also served on the Church Council, and joined the ladies’ circle and quilters group.

After Bob passed away from cancer in 1996, Fern maintained the family home, remained close with her neighbors and ‘church family’, and continued her love of travel.

For decades, Fern worked as a precinct poll watcher in state and federal elections. She enjoyed greeting old friends and making new ones, while doing her part at the grassroots of democracy. Later, while living in West Des Moines, she insisted on always voting absentee, right up to last year.

In 2011, at the age of 90, Fern made the difficult decision to leave the community she cherished and move to Edgewater in West Des Moines to be closer to her sons and their families. When she passed, Fern was Edgewater’s oldest and longest ever resident.

Fern was beloved by the care team at Edgewater. She always said, ‘thank you, thank you’ for every conceivable effort they made for her, no matter how small. Her family thanks the staff and residents at Edgewater for their kindness and support during her 14 years there.

Fern Oman is survived by sons, David, Des Moines, and Mark (Jill) of West Des Moines, and by four grandchildren—Alexandra (Kevin) Bogenreif of Ames, Christopher of McLean, VA, Scott (Mackenzie) of Fort Worth, TX, and Graham, of Phoenix, AZ. Recently, Fern was overjoyed by the arrival of two great-grandchildren, James and Katherine. She is also survived by many wonderful nieces and nephews.

A celebration of the life of Fern Oman will be at 11:00 A.M. Monday, June 23 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2812 Willow Lane, Cedar Falls. A private family burial will be at Waterloo’s Garden of Memories Cemetery next to Robert and stillborn son, Paul.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Robert and Fern Oman scholarship fund at the University of Northern Iowa or St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls.

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