Luella Gupman
May 2, 1928-April 29, 1922
Luella Gupman, fondly
called Grandma Lu by
those she knew and loved,
was filled with the Joy of
the Lord. To know her is
to love her. Her warm
smile, soft hands, and
loud free laugh could
draw anyone in. If you’ve
ever heard her laugh, you
could pick it out of a large
crowd with ease. It was
truly a treat to hear, and
you knew she was laugh-
ing really hard if the hand
went up to her mouth to
try and control the
volume, but it never suc-
ceeded in its mission.
Grandma Lu was a mas-
ter with her embroidery
and cross stitch, even if
she never thought so her-
self. She could be found
sitting in her glider rocker
in the corner of the room
with the sun shining on
her, stitching, mumbling,
grumbling, and ripping
out stitches. In the end it
would be a beautiful work
of art stitched with love
and perfection. And when
we say perfection, we
mean the back of the work
looked exactly like the
front!
She detested flies; liv-
ing on the farm she would
often be heard yelling
“Shut the door! You’re let-
ting the flies in!” All sum-
mer long she could be
found with a fly swatter
within an arm’s reach to
rid the house of those pe-
sky flies. Her nemesis, the
fly, would have her com-
ing unglued, especially on
hot sticky days when they
refused to leave her alone.
The love she would
readily give to those
around her was simply a
reflection of the love she
had received from her
Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. It was pure,
honest, and never with
expectations of return.
She accepted people for
who they were, even if
she didn’t agree or under-
stand where they were
coming from. She loved
with her whole heart
while trying to guide us
all in the right direction.
She loved her chair in
the corner of the room
where her Bible and devo-
tional books could always
be found within easy
reach. She loved to ob-
serve the coming and go-
ing of all the activity in
the house. If you thought
you could get away
without a Grandma kiss,
you thought wrong. If you
know what the “Grandma
Kiss” is, you were blessed
with the longest, loudest,
shiver inducing kiss on
the cheek that you have
ever had in your life! Her
corner will feel empty
without her smile and
wave. To sum up Grand-
ma Lu, She loved, and she
loved well!
On May 2, 1928, Luella
was born to John and
Rose (Wiege) Magstadt on
the home farm in Adams
County in SW ND. She at-
tended a country school
until the 7th grade, and
then went to New Leipzig
through high school. She
was a cheerleader, loved
to be in anything having
to do with singing and
acting. She wanted to be
another Minnie Pearl!!
At the age of 18 she re-
ceived an emergency
teaching license, and
taught country school for
3 years.On June 5, 1949,
Luella married her best
friend, Philip Gupman.
She worked on the home
farm, was a mother to 4
children, and 10 foster
children. She was a 4-H
leader, active in
Homemakers club for 50
yrs, active and held office
in the local and state Un-
ited Methodist Womens
Ministry, Sunday School
Superintendent at Zoar
church (which was her
church for 80 years),
Home Health Aide, CNA
at Five Counties Nursing
Home, Physical Therapy
Aid, and secretary at
Dakota Herald Newspa-
per. Life was not all work.
She also enjoyed baking
and decorating cakes for
birthdays and weddings.
She loved to sing and har-
monize with songs of
praise to the Lord, dance
and visit with everyone!!
Luella provided excellent
home care for Philip
through several extensive
medical issues.
Philip and Luella
moved to Rugby in 2007,
and lived with their
youngest daughter Ruth.
They made many friends,
enjoyed worshiping at
Calvary E. Free Church
and looked forward to the
community plays and
concerts. She enjoyed
traveling to see her chil-
dren and their families.
She could be found cud-
dling the cats, talking to
the dogs, riding a chair lift
up a mountain so she
could come down on the
Alpine slide! She loved
adventure, and was wil-
ling to try most anything!
Luella loved her family,
singing, cats, flowers,
hugs, laughter, cross
stitch and embroidery and
mostly her quiet time in
the Bible and listening to
Dr. David Jeremiah on her
iPad. She enjoyed using
her iPad to keep in touch
with family and friends,
and of course the weath-
er!
Her greatest desire was
for everyone to accept
Jesus into their hearts!
Those missing her in-
clude her son Mark (Con-
nie) Gupman from Orient,
SD, and daughter Ruth
Stanley, Rugby. Also,
Foster children : Susan
Haberstroh, Hettinger, La-
ban Silk, (WA), Lois Whit-
tet, Omaha and their fami-
lies. 11 grandchildren and
18 great grandchildren,
many other family rela-
tives, and anyone calling
her Gma Lu!
Those waiting with
open arms to greet her
are: her parents and
in-laws, husband Philip,
brother Victor and his
wife Alta, sister Marlys
and her husband Duane,
daughter Deborah, son
John, son-in-law Eugene
and foster son Buddy.
She will be missed by
all, but in heaven there is
much jumping and leap-
ing and praising God with
laughter and singing!!!
The Funeral Services
were Held Friday, May 6,
2022 – 2:00 p.m. Calvary
Evangelical Free Church
Rugby, North Dakota
The Clergy: Pastor Gary
Dorn & Pastor Mike Lund-
berg
The Music By: Rachel
Huwe & Family
The Burial was held Sa-
turday May 7, 2022 –
1pm MST Zoar United
Methodist Cemetery New
Leipzig, North Dakota
Arrangements with the
Anderson Funeral Home
of Towner. Online regis-
try: www.funeralsby
anderson.com