Gloria and Wilbert "Willie" Scheel were fixtures every Sunday at the 10:30 a.m. service at Grace Methodist Church in Paynesville.
She was president of a women's group at the church for years. He was a well-known businessman who took Colorado skiing trips into his 80s, played competitive pingpong and drove the local beauty queens in summer parades in his classic convertibles.
"It's a small community and these people were known by everyone — I mean, all of the Paynesville royalty — for just many, many years," said Linda Liestman, who said she has known the couple "forever."
Forever came to an end this week when the Scheels were found dead in their car on a rural road near Game's Lake in Kandiyohi County. Willie Scheel was 93; Gloria Scheel was 80.
Their grandson, 33-year-old Gregory A. Scheel, remained jailed Saturday in Kandiyohi County on suspicion of DWI, and Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson said in a statement Friday evening that he will face charges of second-degree murder in the killings. No cause of death was given, but an autopsy revealed that the deaths "did not appear to be from natural causes," he said, and a medical examiner ruled the cause of the deaths as homicide.
According to police, a family member called them after the Scheels missed a dinner date on Wednesday night. Their car, with the bodies in it, was found by investigators about 5 p.m. Thursday after a local resident spotted it stuck in the mud.
Suspicion quickly turned to their grandson, who had been living with them for several months and has a long criminal record.
Gregory Scheel was arrested about 9 p.m. Thursday as more than a half-dozen state and local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.