MARY (ZANDER) VARGA

ZANDER, VARGA, HAMILTON, SLADE, DORN, DOBOZY, CODER, KUM, GATCHELL

Posted By: Nancee Seifert (email)
Date: 3/2/2010 at 09:29:03

Decatur County Journal
Leon, Iowa
Thursday, June 11, 1914

MARY ZANDER, oldest child of CHARLES and MARIA ZANDER, was born June 23rd,
at Wallo, Mecklenburg (near Hamburg, Germany) and was christened in the
Lutheran Church, June 24, 1842, and died June 8, 1914, aged 71 years, 11
months, 10 days.

About the year 1852, with her parents came to America, locating on a farm
near Madison, Wisconsin, but on account of the extreme cold winters, they
moved to Mitchell County, Iowa, where they remained until 1855, when to get
a milder climate, they moved to Decatur County, on a farm east of Terre
Haute. Decatur County has been her home continuously the remainder of her
life. She was married to FRANCIS VARGA August 4, 1858. To this union were
born nine children, two of whom died in infancy, and CLARA, wife of JOHN A.
FRAZIER, died June 17th, 1906.

She is survived by six children; STEPHEN VARGA; EMMA, wife of D.E. GATCHELL,
of Omaha, Neb.; ROSA, wife of BYRON HAMILTON; ESTHER, wife of F.M. CODER;
MARY, wife of FRANK N. SLADE, all of Leon, and NELLIE DORN, of Des Moines,
Iowa. She also leaves two sisters, MINNIE KUM and MARIE DOBOZY, and one
brother, JOHN ZANDER.

In her early womanhood she united with the Presbyterian Church and on June
2nd, 1866, was one of the organizing members of that church in Leon, as
appears from a short sketch from the church records:

"On June 2nd, 1866, the committee appointed by the Des Moines Presbytery to
visit Leon and organize a Presbyterian Church, if the way be clear, met at
the M.E. Church in Leon, at 11 o'clock a.m. and after a sermon from Hebrews
2:10, the following persons presented themselves and gave satisfactory
evidence of their church standing, and their willingness to unite in an
organization to be called The First Presbyterian Church of Leon, Iowa,
to-wit: Francis Varga, Mary Varga, W.H. Smith, Thomas Baldwin, Mary Baldwin,
Fidelia F. Thompson, Robert Kinnear, Keturah Kinnear, Margaret Stone, W.P.
Blair, Mary A. Blair, Mary E. Young and Martha E. Avery."

Thus we see that for 48 years Mrs. VARGA has been a faithful member of our
church and has taken an earnest part in its influence and development. Her
hospitable home was ever open for the entertainment of pastors and other
early church workers. By her decease the church has lost one of its most
faithful members and the last one of its charter members.

The family is bereft of a devoted mother, and her many friends have lost a
wise counselor for higher and better Christian living. Her soul has gone to
its reward so richly earned.
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Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
February 28, 2010
iggy29@grm.net