CRIPE, Jess 1875-1929

CRIPE

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 4/28/2015 at 14:12:54

Jess Cripe Dies at Hotel

Jess Cripe died quite suddenly at his room in the Columbia hotel at nine o'clock this morning. Heart trouble was the cause. He had been working at the H. Conradi farm. He had not been well during the past five weeks. He came to the hotel three days ago and took to his bed shortly after. He was taken very sick early this morning.

Mr. Cripe was about forty-five years old. He has been in this community during the past fifteen years, working in town and the country. His folks live in Illinois and it is probably his remains will be taken back there for burial. He was a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Grundy Center and the lodge members are looking after funeral arrangements.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 10 January 1929, pg 1

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Funeral of Jess C. Cripe

The funeral of the late Jess Cripe was held from the M.E. church here last Saturday afternoon, Jan. 12th, 1929, under the auspices of the Odd Fellows lodge of this city, of which the deceased was a member.

Rev. F. O. Winslow preached a most appropriate sermon and the funeral was one of the saddest ever held in this city, more particularly because of the absence of any relatives of the departed. Interment was in the Odd Fellows lot in the Grundy Center cemetery.

Jess Cripe was born October 30th, 1875 in Illinois. He lived at or in the vicinity of Tuscola, Ill., and came to Grundy county some eighteen or twenty years ago. In May, 1920, he transferred his membership in Odd Fellows Lodge, No 928, of Camarge, Ill., to Teulah lodge, Grundy Center. During the years that he lived here Mr. Cripe worked for various farmers and was also with Cole's pool hall for some time in recent years.

He had told some of his intimate friends that his father was killed by Indians near Beatrice, Neb., when he was seven years old, and his mother passed away when he was eleven.

This was about all that was known of his life until a few days ago word was received here from relatives living in Nebraska that he has a brother living at Liberty, that state, and a brother and sister at Bloomville, Neb. It has been ascertained that he was in business at one time at Beatrice, Neb., but left there twenty-five years ago and since then the relatives had lost all trace of him. He also lived for some time with a family by the name of A. L. Skidmore, in Michigan, previous to coming to Grundy Center.

This has been all that could be learned of Mr. Cripe's past life by the Odd Fellows of this place, who have the credit of giving him a respectable funeral and burial and have spared no pains to find the whereabouts of his relatives.

Fred Greenfield, of this city, has been appointed administrator for Mr. Cripe.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 24 January 1929, pg 2

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Jess Cripe Had Wife And Children

Family Learned of His Death But a Week Ago

Jess Cripe, who died very suddenly at the Columbia hotel in Grundy Center on the 10th of last January, had a wife and three children. At the time of his death no one knew that he had been married. The wife and children learned of his death but a week ago and his two sons came here from Dubuque Sunday evening to get full confirmation of their father's life and death here. They had with them a photograph of Jess and his wife and the two sons taken about twenty-seven years ago. The photograph furnished absolute proof that the Jess Cripe who died here in January is the man who the family have been looking for.

Jess was 53 years old. He was born in Beatrice, Nebraska, and was married there when he was 22 years old. He lived there with his family until he left them 26 years ago. There were three children at the time. The oldest was about four and the youngest, a girl, was a baby under a year old. He left home on account of a $300 debt. He left no word with his family where he was going, but a little later they received a letter from him written at Marion, Iowa. That was the last word they had from him.

The family left Beatrice during the same year the father disappeared and moved to Montrose, Mo. They remained there until 1920, when they moved to Dubuque, where they are now living. The sons are C. L. and A. M. and the daughter is Mrs. Ursula Byrnes. Jess's father died at Beatrice in 1919 and the mother passed away in 1927. In 1919 Jess was declared officially dead thru notices published in papers in Des Moines, Omaha and Kansas City. The estate of his father has not yet been closed.

The Cripe family learned of the father's death through a relative in California who wrote them that he died at some place near Des Moines. Through the bureau of vital statistics at Des Moines the information was given that his death took place here. Aside from the wife and three children, Jess is survived by three brothers and two sisters.

The oldest of the two boys took a four year course at the state agricultural college at Ames. He often drove through Grundy Center and believes he was in the pool hall where his father worked, but he did not recognize him.

It was believed by many who knew Jess Cripe that he carried insurance on his life, but it has not been possible to find a policy. He kept some of his documents in a safe that was formerly used in the Grimmius pool hall. The safe was sold to a party at Aplington. The two boys made a trip to Aplington before they left for home to see whether they could get trace of any documents left by their father. Claas Haren, for whom Jess worked for some time, remembers that he usually drew some of his pay in June and claimed that he needed it to pay a life insurance premium. If there is such a policy, premium payment notices will likely come from the company.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 18 April 1929, pg 1