Elisabeth Pietig, 1894 Obituary

PIETIG

Posted By: David Reineke (email)
Date: 9/13/2004 at 00:52:37

I translated the following obituary from Der Carroll Demokrat, a German-language newspaper published in Carroll, Iowa, between about 1874 and 1920. The obituary was originally published on Friday, 9 March 1894. I have not changed the name or place spellings. Any information in brackets or notes at the end is my own explanation. It reads as follows:

Elisabeth Pietig

Elisabeth Pietig, whose maiden name was Maus, died at 11:30 Sunday morning, March 4th. The deceased had been ill for some time, and according to the doctor’s report she suffered from enlargement of the liver. Later, she was also afflicted with dropsy, and although the patient was still only at the youthful age of 33 years old, she bore her heavy suffering with patience and resignation to the will of the Almighty, and she was only troubled at leaving her dear husband, to whom she had been married since 1881, as well as her beloved children, mother and siblings. Out of consideration for those she would leave behind, she always tried to conceal her true condition and spoke optimistically about an impending recovery, until Sunday morning when she surrendered her soul into the arms of her Creator. The deceased is survived by a deeply grieving husband, four minor children, two boys and two girls, of which the oldest is a 12-year-old boy, and the youngest is a 2-year-old girl, and a grieving mother and two sisters who greatly mourn her premature death.

The funeral took place on Tuesday morning at 10:00, at Saints Peter and Paul Church. The Rev. Father Nacke celebrated the funeral mass and said a moving sermon over the coffin of the deceased. After the service ended, the funeral procession got underway. The many mourners in the retinue provided an eloquent testimony as to how beloved the deceased was and how highly she was regarded. Our deepest sympathies to the survivors.