Burgin, Bernice Mildred (Smith) 1893 - 1938

BURGIN, SMITH, WOODS

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 7/1/2023 at 22:10:32

Clayton County Register, 27 Apr. 1938.

Strawberry Point: Funeral services for Mrs. Bernice Burgin were held at the Methodist church, Tuesday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Hobart M. Grant. A duet, "In The Garden," was sung by Dr. and Mrs. R. W. Dutton, and a solo, "The Old Rugged Cross," by Eldon Stafford. Mrs. H. H. Hofer playing the accompaniment. The pallbearers were Earl Schroeder of Dundee, J. S. Knight, Wm. Knight, Earl Knight, Harold Knight and Earl Stoner. Interment was made in the Strawberry Point cemetery.

As Bernice Mildred Smith, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Smith, was born near Aurora, Iowa, on April 19, 1893, and when less than one year old she, with her parents, came to Strawberry Point and located on a farm east of town. In 1900, they moved to their present home, where she grew to young womanhood. She was educated in the local schools and prior to her marriage taught successfully in the schools of Lodomillo township. Shortly after her marriage to Irving Burgin on Feb. 18, 1914, they engaged in farming, and in 1917 bought and moved to the farm, the present home of the family.

During her early life she enjoyed good health, entering into the activities of the neighborhood with much enthusiasm and sharing with the young people in many a merry gathering. For the past ten years, however, she had been troubled with a stubborn heart ailment, which refused to yield to treatment. Time after time she had suffered those relentless heart attacks, but, owing to her amazing vitality, survived them. She had been unusually well, for her, the past winter, until a week ago, when she contracted a slight cold, which culminated in another heart attack. She gradually declined in strength and Friday lapsed into a coma and passed away that evening, her sudden death being wholly unlooked for. Tuesday, the day of her commitment to the grave, marked her 45th birthday anniversary. She had been active in church affairs and for the past twenty years had been a faithful member of the Methodist church, attending as her health permitted. Surviving her are one daughter and one son, Marjorie of Cedar Rapids, and Robert at home, her devoted parents who gave her such affectionate care during the years of her failing health, four sisters and two brothers, Bess Smith and Mrs. Myrtle Woods of Montebello, Calif., Dorothy Smith and Norma Smith, at Home, Irva Smith of Lancaster, Calif., and Guy Smith of Oshkosh, Wis., besides other relatives and friends to mourn her early passing.