Lenora Barenfus Specht 1866-1846

SPECHT, BAHRENFUS, STAAB, KREIM

Posted By: Michael J. Kearney (email)
Date: 12/9/2016 at 16:06:55

The Clinton Herald Tuesday May 7, 1946 p 10 Mrs. Henry Specht, 80, well-known Clinton seamstress, died at 11:20 p.m. yesterday in Mercy hospital where she had been a patient since Feb. 10. The body will repose in the Delaney funeral home until Thursday when it will be taken to the family home, 244 North Sixth street. Lenora Barenfus was born Feb. 14, 1866, in the same home where she resided at the time of her death. She was a daughter of Andrew and Margaret Geese Bahrenfus, pioneer family of Clinton. The home was built by her father following the Camanche tornado. She married Henry Specht in Clinton April 11, 1888. They observed their Golden Wedding anniversary on April 11, 1938. He preceded her in death. As a young girl, Mrs. Specht started work as a seamstress, going from house to house as was the custom at the time, but later she established her dress making shop in her home. A growing business necessitated hiring of 50 girls to assist her. She catered to a trade that extended from the Philippines to Europe and few Clinton weddings were complete without gowns designed by "Madame" Specht. Most of Clintrons matrons have gowns designed by Mrs. Specht. In earlier days a dress of six yards was considered skimpy and dozens of yards of lace, trimming and tuck were used. A great many of her patrons never were seen or known by Mrs. Specht. She was a charter member of the Turner auxiliary in which she took an active part for many years. Surviving her are a son, Benjamin; a granddaughter, Jeanne Elizabeth, both of Clinton; a brother, Walter Bahrenfus, of Sac City, and a number of nieces and nephews including Mrs. Kral Staab, of Lakeview, and Mrs. Frank Kreim, of Dixon, Ill. Her pareents, her husband, one sister Wilheomina, and one brother, William, preceeded her in death.