Edward W. Grode, Sr., 65, died October 13, 2013. Cherished and devoted husband of Sandra (Sue) Grode (nee Nefe). Loving father of Christina (Tony) Moreno, Jeff Grode, Ed Grode Jr., Sarah (Jason) Paddock, Lori (Ozzie) Anchondo, and Josh Grode; caring step-father of Tony Vetengl; adoring grandfather of Megean, Jordan, Ed, Tristan, Caleb, Victoria, Devin, Mykala; brother of Leroy, Charles, James, Ronald Manske, Linda (Herb) Bennett, Patricia Culver, Tonie (Phillip) Johnson and John Grode. Edward Grode loved life. In his younger days, his favorite activities were swimming and life-guarding. He even had a few swimming medals of which he was very proud. An interesting thing to note was the time he worked at the Pfister at the same time his mother was a waitress. He also loved visiting his fathers tavern where he would bring his kids from time to time to play Shuffle Bowl. He even attended the first Summerfest in Milwaukee. His enjoyment of life certainly started once he started his family. But it was forever changed on May 25th, 1975 when he was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. As a Witness, his family became much larger with the addition of many spiritual brothers and sisters. For years, he enjoyed his games of Cribbage and Sheepshead with his best friends (his spiritual brothers). He was a hard worker and toiled for 27 years at Square D, to provide for his family. All his children loved him and remember the many times he would play 'car tag' with them in which he would pretend to drive off on them until they tagged the car. We loved the game and loved him, despite the times we were required to sign the "Spanking Paddle". Years later we were still brats and took every opportunity to put on a Shirley Temple movie on for him when he wasn't looking. He HATED Shirley Temple movies. On July 23rd 1988, he married the love of his life, Sue Grode. She loved his romantic nature as he tried to find a wedding date closest to a full moon. Sue quickly found out one of his favorite foods was cold pizza in the morning. Another food both enjoyed was ice cream, but with six kids in the house, it was a luxury they could seldom enjoy until they bought a peppermint flavor ice cream. To their delight, they found out the kids hated that 'Shimmy Dimmy Doo', which is what they called it in disgust. Even during hard times, he tried his best to provide vacations for the family. Mud Lake has come to be one of the most infamous with all the mud puppies and threats from Banjo Joe. When Ed was unable to shop for their 25th wedding anniversary, he assigned the duty to Heidi and requested she purchase something delicate and dainty, which he knew Sue liked, another example of the romanticism Sue loved. Sue loved giving Ed nicknames which stuck for a short while, at least till the new nickname came around. If it wasn't 'Eddie Shreddie' for accidentally shredding one of his paychecks, it was 'sausage slinger' for accidentally dropping brats in the plants before putting them on the grill. On his final day, Ed enjoyed a final Packer game, and somehow managed to find the energy to muster a 'go go go' for the Packers, along with 'who won'? Later on, he was able to listen to his best friend Clint Grant give a Bible discourse on death and resurrection, via a phone hook-up. Though he always worried about dying alone, he was surrounded by his lovely wife Sue, his children, grandchildren, and many of his friends, 24 in total. Special Thanks to the Vince Lombardi clinic for their deep concern and care. Especially Dr. Tarawneh and his nurse Jamie. Thank you to the Zilber Hospice for making Ed's last days comfortable for him as well as for his family. Special thanks to the nurses there Kathleen and Mary. Services will be held Friday, October 18, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 3420 W. Forest Home Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53215. The Day Will Come The day will come we all are young, we will not die from older age. We will be happy, full of joy. No longer deal with acts of rage. The day will come we will not cry, or mourn a loved one asleep in death. The former things will have passed away. No sickness, pain or troubled breath. The day will come I'll smile again. The day will come, but not today. For my dad who's passed away. J.A.Scott