G-7.4 Ward Cole Gruner (1866-1952) was the fourth child and eldest son of Wenzel Gruner and Emily Randall. He married Adelia Graf in 1889. They set up housekeeping in a log cabin until they could build this house. It was a larger house than some with eight large rooms. Since this picture was taken, grandson Wilbert, being a carpenter, removed the top floor and changed the house into a modern ranch style home. It is located at the intersection of Tripp, Moser and Gruner Roads, none of which are paved indicating their importance. (Well, we do have a Gruner Road if it is only a one half mile long.) Present owner of the house is Karlton Gruner and most of the land has been sold off to John George, a neighbor.

Ward and Delia had three children, Karl W, Ruth and Mina. Ward had many interests in the community. For a number of years he was Township Highway Commissioner and later became a County Highway Commissioner. He was a staunch Republican and enjoyed lively political discussions. His favorite expression was "By Gadfreyl" His favorite greeting to people was saying "By Gadfrey, It's a good day!" His appointment to the County Highway Commission was likely a result of politics.

Ward had an inventive mind. His most notable invention was a Road Scraping Tool which he had patented. It was very useful to close the ruts left by wagons and automobiles in the mostly dirt roads of the times. Originally intended to be pulled by horses, it worked just as well behind a farm tractor or a truck. A description of it can be found in the Gruner Heritage book.