DESEELHORST, Nellie 1855-1952

DESEELHORST, FENTON

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/18/2010 at 10:23:15

Mrs. L. DeSeelhorst Died Saturday

Mrs. L. B. DeSeelhorst, 96, who was believed to be the oldest resident in Grundy Center, passed away at her home Saturday afternoon. She had been bedfast since last March 7 following a stroke, and her condition had gradually declined since then.

Nellie Fenton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elias J. Fenton, was born in 1855 at Janesville, Wis. She moved to a farm near Eldora with her parents in 1873. She taught school in Hardin and Grundy counties. It was while she was attending a teachers' institute that she met the man who was to become her future husband. Nellie Fenton and Lewis B. DeSeelhorst were married October 31, 1878. The couple began housekeeping on the DeSeelhorst farm in Palermo township. Both continued to teach following their marriage. They remained on the farm until moving to Grundy Center in 1909.

The DeSeelhorsts were the parents of three children, Mrs. Edna Lynn, Grundy Center, who has cared for her mother thru her declining years, and a son Harry of Modesto, Calif., who has been with his mother this summer. A daughter, Mrs. Florence Reed, died during the flu epidemic in 1918.

Surviving in addition to the two children are a sister, Mrs. Jennie Quick, Eldora, six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. DeSeelhorst was a charter member of the Rebekah lodge, and was also a long-time member of the First Presbyterian church. She was an energetic and active woman up to the time she fell three years ago and fractured her hip. She however recovered from that accident and was again able to be up and about. It was not until she suffered the embolism in March that she was forced to become bedfast for the remainder of her lifetime.

Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Gerben Van Putten at the Coffman-Ferree funeral home on Monday afternoon. Interment was in the Grundy Center cemetery.

Present from out of the county for the funeral were Mrs. Jennie Quick of Eldora; Mr. and Mrs. Harry DeSeelhorst of Modesto, Calif.; Mr. and Mrs. Don Wilson and Mrs. Ethel Wilson of Cedar Rapids; Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Diehl, Ames; Mr. and Mrs. Will Davidson of Floyd; Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Lynn, Los Angeles, Calif.; Mrs. Delbert Shirk and daughter of Garwin; Mrs. Roy Luiken and the Misses Virginia Haas and Blanche Hudson of Eldora; Miss Avis Lynn, Chicago; Mr. and Mrs. Norman Gilow and children, Park Forest, Ill.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 31 July 1952, pg 1

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Former Eldora Twp. Lady Buried Monday

Mrs. Louis B. DeSeelhorst died at her home in Grundy Center Saturday, July 26, after an 11 weeks' illness. Funeral services were held Monday at Grundy Center.

Nellie Fenton DeSeelhorst was born in Janesville, Wisc., the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elias J. Fenton. In 1873 she came with her parents to a farm in Eldora township. She taught school for several years in Hardin and Grundy counties. In 1878 she married Louis B. DeSeelhorst. To this union three children were born: Mrs. Edna Lynn of Grundy Center; Harry F. DeSeelhorst of Modesto, Cal., and Florence, deceased wife of Charles Reed of Ringsted.

Surviving are the two children, six grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. Jennie Fenton Quick of Eldora. Mrs. DeSeelhorst visited in Eldora often and will be remembered by many.

--Hardin County Index (Eldora, Iowa), 1 August 1952