Anna Homrighausen 1820-1909

HOMRIGHAUSEN, RIEDESEL, STRACKBEIN

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 5/28/2016 at 10:18:58

18 June 1909 - The Lowden News

From Wednesday's Wheatland Gazette: Saturday morning, June 12th, the spirit of "Grandma" Homrighausen was called to rest, and while her dear ones mourned, death had come as a good angel to relieve her suffering. About three years ago she fell and broke her limb which never healed perfectly, since which time she had been confined to a wheel chair. Even then she was cheerful and kept in fair health until about a month ago, the weight of years, combined with her almost helpless condition, brought her to her deathbed. Coming as she did of a race of good Christian people, the many acts of charity and kindness which she performed in the course of her long life will never be forgotten by many, and none can say that such a life is spent in vain.

Anna Elizabeth Riedsel was born April 29, 1820, Wundershausen, Westphalia, Prussia, where she was married in 1844 to Franz Homrighausen. They came to America the following year and located first at Crawford county, Ohio. Seeing great possibilities in the newer land of Iowa and the middle west, they crossed the Mississippi in 1855 and staked their homestead and built their log cabin on the knoll just west of the Milwaukee depot here. This place they later sold and moved south of town where they spent their declining years, and where the husband died a few years ago. Since that time she has made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Louis Strackbein.

She was the mother of eight children, five of whom are living. They are Franz, Louis, John, Maria Strackbein, who are living in this vicinity, and a daughter Kate who lives in the west. One brother, Ludwig Riedesel, also of this place, survives. Twenty-three grandchildren and twenty-four great grandchildren will miss this good old lady. She was an earnest member of the German Reformed church and reared her children to the same belief.

The funeral was held Monday afternoon with short services at the Strackbein home, after which the remains were brought to the German Reformed church. Rev. Gatermann preached a very impressive sermon and the floral tributes were many and beautiful. Burial took place in the High German cemetery.