* Gertrud Gramckow; Co-Founder of Sod Farm

Gertrud Gramckow, a founder of Southern California’s largest sod farm and mother-in-law of Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, died Sunday at her Ventura home after a long illness. She was 73 and had lived in Ventura for 49 years.

Born May 9, 1925, in Celle, Germany, Gramckow immigrated to the United States in 1950 with her husband and 2-year-old son. She left behind the family roofing business, which continues to specialize in restorations of church steeples.

“When they came over, they were penniless,” said her son Jurgen Gramckow, an Ojai resident. “She started life here as a housekeeper and really took a step down from the life she was accustomed to.”

After saving money to open their own business, Gramckow, her husband and Jurgen started Southland Sod Farms in the early 1970s with just 50 acres.

“She was very encouraging,” Jurgen Gramckow said. “She wasn’t one to hold the family back from taking the risk.”

Today, with 1,000 acres in Oxnard, the company is Southern California’s largest producer of sod and is well-known for its Marathon brand.

“It is a family business along the German tradition that she came from,” Jurgen Gramckow said.

“She was very tied to Germany throughout her whole life,” he said. “Her dying wishes were that we not break the tie to Germany.”

Gramckow’s other survivors include son Martin and daughter Heidi Bradbury, also of Ojai; grandchildren Monika, Kurt and Karin Gramckow and Michael and Shawn Bradbury; sisters Liesel Luebeck, Ursella Karl and brother Hermann Bade, all of Bevensen, Germany.

Gramckow and her husband, Werner, divorced in 1996.

A memorial service will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 196 N. Ashwood, Ventura, immediately followed by graveside services at Ivy Lawn Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Ted Mayr Mortuary of Ventura. Contributions may be made to the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica.