Lelia Ellen Mathews 1933-1937

MATHEWS, PHILLIPS

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/6/2015 at 00:25:08

Bury Victim of Burns
Lelia Mathews Alpha Minn.
Child Laid to Rest in Armstrong Cemetery
Armstrong – Lelia Mathews, three and a half year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milo Mathews of Alpha, Minn., was brought here for burial on Monday. The child died Saturday [April 3, 1937] afternoon as the result of burns suffered while attempting to put papers in the stove.

Mrs. Mathews and her two children were at home on Saturday and during the afternoon the mother asked Lelia to pick up some papers that were on the floor. While the child was at the task Mrs. Mathews went outdoors for some fuel for her stove and upon her return found the child’s clothing in flames. Before the flames could be extinguished Lelia was so badly burned she could not recover.

The Rev. R.R. Irwin officiated at the services. Burial was in the Armstrong cemetery. Besides her parents the child is survived by one brother, one and a half years old. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, April 8, 1937)

Mrs. Grace Phillips of Des Moines and Maynard Mathews of Buchanan, N.D., were here to attend the funeral of their niece, Leila Mathews, held on Monday of last week.

Leila Mathews, 3 ½ year old child of Mr. and Mrs. Milo Mathews formerly of Armstrong but now living on a farm near Sherburn, was burned so badly that she died in a few hours at a Jackson hospital. She had been playing with some scraps of paper which became ignited as she attempted to put them in the kitchen range, when her mother had stepped out for a few minutes to get fuel. They have one other child, Gene, two years old. The sympathy of a host of friends is extended the bereaved parents. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, April 15, 1937)