Inez Abraham

Inez Pauline (Gunem) Abraham went home to meet her Heavenly Father on September 18, 2025, and was welcomed by the waiting arms of her husband, family, and friends who have gone before her. With great trepidation, we her children, will attempt to construct an obituary with which she would be satisfied. We know that she would never say in five words what she could say in five paragraphs.

Inez was born to Elvina (Eide) and Gilbert Gunem on February 1, 1926, in their family home in Osseo, Wisconsin. Within weeks of her birth, she was baptized at Osseo Lutheran Church, thereby starting a lifelong connection to the church, a connection that supported her throughout her life. She was confirmed at Osseo Lutheran Church at 13. She attended Lincoln Hill High School in Osseo, graduating as Valedictorian in 1943 at age 17. After graduating, she became a student at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, attending on a scholarship. She enjoyed her time as an Ole so much that her younger sister Beatrice joined her as a fellow Ole two years later. Inez graduated in 1947 with a double major in English and Business with the goal to secure a teaching position at a high school. On the suggestion of her friend Henrietta Hillestad (St. Olaf ’46 and better known as Henri Nelson), Inez visited Houston, Minnesota, to assess whether the school and community would be of her liking. Henri took her to church at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, and Inez, due to that service, felt that the Houston community could be a good fit.

Inez was offered the job of an English and Commercial teacher, since the school board did not feel they could have a woman teaching Business. (Those who knew Inez would not be at all surprised to find that this misogynist name change still rankled her almost eighty years later.) A teacher’s salary did not afford her the opportunity to rent a private apartment, but like all the other teachers at the time, she could only afford to rent a room in a home in Houston. She rented a room from Ina Abraham. When looking at the room, Ina pointed out the picture of her son, Arlow, in his Navy uniform. Ina told Inez that the picture was only there to scare the mice away. Inez took the room anyway. During her years at Houston High School, she taught, among other courses, the journalism class, which was responsible for writing a double-page spread in each week’s Houston Signal paper. She also petitioned the school board to allow the students to create a hard-covered yearbook. The board finally acquiesced the fall of 1949, and Inez and her students started on the journey to create the first Houstonian yearbook. Many of these students continued to reach out to Inez throughout their lives and let her children know the positive impact Miss Gunem had on them. In 1950, Inez took a job in Black River Falls to be closer to home. However, Inez would come back to Houston, not as a teacher but as Arlow Abraham’s wife, marrying him at Osseo Lutheran Church on June 8, 1952. Arlow clearly had not scared her away but really needed to work to win her over. The stories of his attempts to prove worthy of her hand in marriage became lore in the family.

In 1959, Arlow suffered his first heart attack. Inez--the mother of a five-year old, three-year old and a one-month-old infant—threw herself into nursing him back to health. Her faith and the comfort of Rev. Braaten supported her through this time. After Arlow’s recovery, Inez sought to repay Rev. Braaten for his assistance. Rev. Braaten asked her if she could produce a monthly newsletter from the church; thus began the Parish Visitor, a newsletter that still finds its way into the homes of members of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church.

When Arlow decided to run for city clerk, Inez not only supported him in his run for office but also assisted with the water bills and the bookkeeping that went with the job after he was elected. She also assisted in fulfilling Arlow’s dream of opening a restaurant on the site of his father’s closed gas station. Together they opened the Village Inn the summer of 1969. Arlow developed recipes, and Inez created the names of the sandwiches and was responsible for the bookkeeping. A year later, the restaurant was expanded to accommodate the customers who kept coming. After closing each night, taking garbage to the city dump outside of town became their date nights. Unfortunately, Arlow died in 1973, leaving Inez with four children, a restaurant, and the position of city clerk. Never shying away from any challenge, Inez kept the restaurant going and thriving, became the first female city clerk in Houston, and raised her children, trying to be both mother and father.

The Village Inn family grew through the years; each new person hired became a part of the Abraham/ Village Inn family. Even in the last years of Inez’s life, the stories from the Village Inn never left her, and she could recount with great clarity some of the favorite stories of her time with those who worked there. Inez sold the Village Inn in 1994, but the Village Inn family continued to reach out her entire life.

In 1975 Inez took the job as bookkeeper for the Houston Public School District, a job she held until her retirement in 1991. Once again, in her time there, she proved herself to be capable, exacting, and thorough.

Inez’s greatest accomplishment, in her eyes, was not her work nor the multiple positions she held through the years but instead her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her grandchildren were the best children, ever; all you had to do was ask her.

Inez is survived by her children: Mark (Joan), Dirk, Ann (Brad Rugg), and Krin; her grandchildren: Craig (Danielle) Peterson, Whitney (Paul) Gilbert, Erin (Dontae) Strickland, Paige (Adam) Markegard, Nate (Danielle) Abraham, Morgan (Brian Corcoran) Lehmann, and Taylor (William) Wolfe; and her great-grandchildren: Hudson and Hattie Peterson, Jacob and Reagan Gilbert, Alani and Akeem Abraham, and soon-to-be baby Markegard. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews, her good friends Ron and Rae Evenson, and her Village Inn family.

Inez was preceded in death by her husband, Arlow; her parents; Arlow’s parents, Sam and Ina Abraham; her siblings and their spouses: Omer and Janice Gunem, Elenore Gunem, Beatrice and Fred Holland, Hope and Bruce Fiedler, and Lyman Gunem; her sister- and brother-in-law, Fran and Luther Berven; her nephews Lee Fiedler and Blake Berven; and her niece Lynn Fiedler.

The family would like to thank the staff at Emplify Hospice, especially nurse Suzy, and the staffs at Heritage Court—especially Mary, Tiffany and Linda—and Valley View Healthcare and Rehab.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be given to Cross of Christ Lutheran Church—Window Restoration Project. With this project, generations of parents will be able to emulate Inez as they use the windows to teach their children the stories of the Bible, explain the prismatic qualities of the panes of glass, and point out the geometric shapes that are fitted together to form the stained-glass windows.

A funeral service will be held at 11am on Saturday, October 11, 2025 at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Houston, MN, with visitation starting at 9:30am until time of service.

Service will be livestreamed. Please follow the link below to watch remotely.

https://view.oneroomstreaming.com/index.php?data=MTc1ODMwOTc3MDM4MTI0MyZvbmVyb29tLWFkbWluJmNvcHlfbGluaw==