Grace A. James

Grace Ann James, 60, of Mesa, Ariz., died Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Banner Gardens Hospice in Mesa after a long battle with cancer.

Funeral services were held Dec. 10 at Howe Mortuary in Longmont, Colo. Burial was at Loveland Burial Park.

She was born Feb. 17, 1947 in Council Bluffs, the daughter of Roger and Billie Thompson Galer. In 1969, she married Carl B. Wagner; they were later divorced. On May 9, 1992, she married Richard Jain in Chicago, Ill.

After growing up in Mt. Pleasant and graduating Mt. Pleasant High School, she attended the University of Indiana at Bloomington for three years on a full music scholarship and was a talented French horn player. She received her Associate Degree from Rochester Community College and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in nursing from Winona State University. She lived in Rochester, Minn., and worked as a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic for over 25 years. She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and served in the mission field in the Brainerd, Minn., area from 2003 to 2004.

She is survived by her husband; her mother; one son, Roger Wagner and his wife Gail of Springfield, Mo.; two daughters, Laura Poffenberger and her husband Jason of Kearneysville, W. Va. and Carla Mickelson of Rochester, Minn.; two stepsons, Jeremy James of Riverton, Utah and Donald James and his wife Mary of Loveland, Colo.; four brothers, Paul Galer and his wife Rosemary of Riverside, Tom Galer and his wife Regina of Urbana, Ill., and George Galer and his wife Judy of Chickasha, Okla., and Luke Galer and his wife Tami of Rush Springs, Okla.; one sister, Carla Williams and her husband Larry of Marlow, Okla.; one stepsister, Mary Sue Nichols and her husband Bill of Lockridge; and nine grandchildren.

Her father and stepmother Erma Galer preceded her in death.