Anna Maria (Mueller) Thurlimann 1823-1902

THURLIMANN, MUELLER

Posted By: Joe Conroy (email)
Date: 7/24/2010 at 17:45:30

Carroll Sentinel
Carroll, Iowa
1 Sep 1902
Page 1

Death of Mrs. Thurlimann.

Mrs. John M. Thurlimann died at the home of her son in this city last Thursday morning, August 28, of inflammation of the bowels. She had not been in rugged health for more than a year previously and about five weeks before her death was taken with the last illness, which seemed to yield nothing to the effects of medicine, so that she gradually grew weaker until the end came. The funeral services were held Saturday morning at SS. Peter and Paul's church. Rev. Father Kuemper conducting the services and preaching the sermon. A large number of friends of the family attended the funeral.

Anna Maria Mueller was born in Herrstein, Bavaria, August 26, 1823, so that she was two days over 79 years of age at the time of her death. In 1840 she emigrated to America, settling near Peoria, Ill., near which city she was married in 1851 to Dr. Jno. Martin Thurlimann. For nine years they lived at Springdale, Ill., going from there to Washburn, where Mr. Thurlimann died in 1870, leaving his widow with three small children. She afterward returned to Springdale and in 1882 came to Carroll where she has since resided with the exception of three years spent at Ames to give her children the benefit of an education at the college there. She was a devout christian and a self-sacrificing mother, who devoted her life to her children. The three little orphans whom God left in her care thirty-two years ago have been her constant care and nobly has she responded to the call of duty. The result cannot but have filled the later years of her life with pride, for Edward, Rosalia and Leo Thurlimann are among the best citizens that have gone out into the world from Carroll county, worthy of the noble mother who devoted her life to them. Their many friends join in deepest sympathy for the great loss they have sustained in the death of their guide, counselor and best friend.

The Carroll Herald
Carroll, Iowa
3 Sep 1902
Page 5

Mrs. Anna Maria Thurlimann.

This Estimable Lady Passes from Life at the Ripe Old Age of Seventy-Nine. Her Life Humble and Useful; Her Works Lasting.

A long and useful life came to a close last Thursday when Mrs. Anna Maria Thurlimann passed from earth. The deceased had been ill but a short time, but with the weight of years she was not prepared to bear the ills that came upon her and after a noble struggle she finally succumbed, passing away peacefully as one lies down to sleep. The funeral was held at the church of SS. Peter and Paul's Saturday, Rev. Father Kuemper conducting the exercises. The deceased, whose maiden name was Anna Maria Mueller, was born in Bavaria, August 26, 1823, and was therefore 79 years and two days old when she died. In 1840 she came to this country and settled with the family near Peoria, Illinois. In 1851 she was married to John Martin Thurlimann, at that time a rising young physician. They resided in that section of the state, where Dr. Thurlimann was engaged in the practice of his profession till the time of his death, in 1870. After a residence of three years at Spring Bay, the family in 1873 came to Carroll. With the exception of three years spent at Ames when the children were attending college, the family have since lived in Carroll.

The story of her life is briefly told, but the results of her labor have not passed away. It is not for the woman of the average home of America to attract public notice and receive an extended obituary. There are but few acts in their humble sphere that interest the newspaper reader. But the services rendered home and posterity surpass in value any estimate we can put upon them. She devoted the best efforts of her being to character building in her children; she imparted an ambition to rise in the world and exemplify her ideals of manhood and womanhood. She bent her energies to the development of the richest resources that nature had deposited, and with a mother's devotion she molded and burnished till the dross had disappeared and the young lives responded and made the mother's heart glad with beauty and cheer. This one good mother whose chiefest aim was to bring forth the highest possibilities of manhood and womanhood in her children, to elevate their ideals and make them better and holier for life's great mission made a lasting impression in the community. What greater boon can be given posterity than a noble character, an ideal personality! The wives and mothers who build up these ideals in the homes of this land, raise the children to higher purposes and better ambitions are the real reformers of this generation. The departed mother, whose mission in life was in a humble field, contributed her share of good to the world, and we praise her memory.

Three children survive her, Edward, Leo and Miss Rosalia.