Gras remembers as kind, sincere

Adelene Gras was as kind and sincere as the smile on her face revealed, her son Herman Gras said.

Moreover, daughter Mary LeClear remembers her mother as being understanding, positive and non-judgemental.

“She was a very loving person,” LeClear said. “She never had any bad things to say about anybody. She was my best friend. I could talk to her about anything that was on my mind. I try to do that with my kinds. It’s always good to have someone listen to you.”

Adelene Gras greeted Portales High School students with that same smile when she worked at the cafeteria during the ‘70s for three years, LeClear recalls. She also worked at the Breshears Peanut Mill. She was a representative for Avon and Mary Kay Cosmetics and she was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Clovis.

“She was always in a cheery mood,” Herman said. “She was good with kids and she liked playing cards with her friends.”

Together the couple moved to a farm near Portales in 1949. She helped operate the farm.

“We used to go on some memorable trips,” Herman said. “She loved to sing. She would sing to us on the trips.”

Family members said that she enjoyed playing Canasta, yard work and keeping a rose garden. She also enjoyed step dancing and loved to dance at the senior citizen center.

“It (the yard) was beautiful,” LeClear said. “She did a good job of maintaining it.”

The final 10 years of her life were rough on her family after Adelene endured a car accident in 1993. She suffered head trauma and from Alzheimer's disease, Herman said.

“She didn’t recognize many of her family members,” Herman said. “She recognized me for a while, but this last year, she didn’t remember me. She wasn’t the same after that (car accident).”