Leach, Susan (Sherman) 1842-1927

LEACH, SHERMAN, SEVERANCE, BECKER, MEYER, PIERCE

Posted By: Sharyl Ferrall - IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 8/5/2021 at 20:31:24

The striking of twelve o'clock, noon, on May 5th, 1927, marked the closing hour of the long life of Susan Sherman Leach, the daughter of Frederick W. and Minerva Severance Sherman, who was born on a farm near the village of Arcade, N.Y., thirty miles from Buffalo, on the 16th day of December, 1843. She was the seventh in a family of twelve children.

In September, 1853 she came west with her parents to Monona, Iowa, where she grew to womanhood and where on May 7, 1858, the mother passed away.

She did her share toward keeping a home for her father and her brothers and sisters, also teaching school until she was united in marriage on October 7th, 1867 with John Milton Leach who had come west with his father from their home in Brockton, Mass., in 1859, and who had served throughout the Civil War.

After their marriage they made their home in Monona until 1872 when they came to Elkader, Iowa, where Mr. Leach served as a county official for twelve years, and later as postmaster until his death on September 27th, 1893 in their home which has been hers for fifty-four years.

She was the mother of two children, Mrs. Minerva L.M. Becker of this city, and Dr. Don S. Leach of Dubuque, Iowa. The grandmother of two, Dr. Henry Donald Meyer of Evanston, Ill., and Gordon Starr Leach of Dubuque; and the great grandmother of little Donald Winters Meyer.

Of all her brothers and sisters there remains but one brother, Theodore Sherman, of Monona, a veteran of the Civil War, and one sister, Mrs. Lucy Ellen Pierce of Omaha, Nebraska Also three nieces and two nephews.

Of the older generation of her neighbors and friends but few remain, but she counted as friends the succeeding generation in which her interest was always keen, as well as the activities of her home town in which she was a worker until very recent years. She helped organize and was a charter member of the Congregational church and the Ladies Guild, and also a charter member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a great reader with a keen interest in history and the topics of the day.

For the past two years or more she has suffered greatly from the malady which caused her death and which to the last she was determined to conquer.

Her children will always remember her pride of family and her indomitable spirit which would not admit defeat. They deeply mourn their mother whose passing breaks the last tie which held together the "old home."

WHERE
She always leaned to wait for us,
Anxious if we were late,
In winter by the window
In summer by the gate;
And though we mocked her tenderly
Who had such foolish care,
The long way home would seem more safe
Because she waited there.

Her thoughts were all so full of us
She never could forget!
And so I think that where she is
She must be waiting yet.
Waiting till we come home to her,
Anxious if we are late.
Watching from Heaven's window
Leaning from Heaven's gate.

Funeral services were held at the house at 1:30 and at the Congregational church at 2:00 o'clock p.m., May 8th, 1927. Services were conducted by Rev.Albert S. Kilbourn. Interment was made in the cemetery at Monona, Iowa, beside her husband.

Her chosen pall bearers were: D.D. Murphy, F.J. Uriell, J.F. Becker, Dr. J.P. Donlon, John Powell and F.G. Leibrock.

~Clayton County Register, Thursday, May 12, 1927