PETERS, George O. 1866-1931

PETERS, FREESE

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 6/12/2015 at 08:46:33

Death Summons Comes Suddenly To George Peters

End Comes Unexpectedly Thursday Evening After Brief Heart Affliction

Wide Acquaintance Over Grundy County

Came to Iowa 63 Years Ago; Spent All Of His Active Life In This County

George O. Peters died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home in Grundy Center shortly before eight o'clock Thursday evening from a heart affliction. He had been to his farm a mile northwest of Grundy Center the day before where he was taken sick and he was brought to his home. He took to his bed but it was not believed that his condition was anything to be alarmed about. He seemed to be much better Thursday evening and the family felt that the danger period had passed and that the patient would be up again within a day or two. With but a moment's warning the heart attack of the day before occurred again Thursday evening and the end came within a few minutes.

Mr. Peters was widely known throughout the county and his sudden passing came as a shock to his many friends. He was but little past middle age and with his rugged constitution and his temperate habits he was the last of men of his age who was expected to be the first within the new year to answer the final summons.

Funeral services were held at the First Presbyterian church in Grundy Center Sunday afternoon. The many friends of Mr. Peters and his family disregarded the snowstorm and there was not a vacant seat in the large church during the time that services were in progress. Rev. R. B. Fisher, pastor of the Grundy Presbyterian church, and Rev. J. E. Drake both paid touching tributes to the life and the character of Mr. Peters.

Obituary
The following obituary which covers the essential events in the life of Mr. Peters was read at the church by the local pastor:

George O. Peters was born in Eastfriesland, Germany, March 31, 1866. When but three years old he came to this country with his parents. He was the second from a family of fifteen children. After coming to this country the family moved on a Butler county farm. In 1892 Mr. Peters and Miss Sophia Freese were married at the Heinrichs church in Shiloh township. Following their marriage they began housekeeping on a farm in Pleasant Valley township where they lived for nine years after which they removed to a farm a half mile south of Holland. They made their home here for ten years when they came to Grundy Center eighteen years ago and they have resided here continually ever since. For nine years he was connected with Standard Oil company service stations in Grundy Center. He sold this business a few months ago and since that time looked after his farms. Eight of the members of this large family survive.

Mr. Peters was a very friendly man and won in his lifetime a host of sincere friends. This host of friends were greatly shocked by his sudden calling away to the long home beyond. Mr. Peters was sick but a very short time. Everything possible was done but it was to no avail. His passing while especially hard upon his loved ones and friends was really the ideal way to pass from this life. His was not a long time of suffering. Mr. Peters was at heart a religious man and we believe that he was living in a state of readiness to depart although doubtless he was was not expecting the end to be at hand.

The living loved ones are his wife, daughter, son-in-law, Jack Soners, and two grandchildren, Janelle and Jack George. The living brothers and sisters are Henry of Sibley, Peter of Worthington, Minn.; Benjamin of Wellsburg; Mrs. Albert Voss of Sibley; Mrs. Benjamin Cordes, Kamrar; Mrs. Charles Whaylan, Sibley; Mrs. Arthur Neessen, Lake Crystal, Minn., and Mrs. Al Kelso, Wilmont, Minn. Seven brothers and sisters together with the parents have passed to the great life beyond.

Mr. Peters was a lover of the church and it did him good to see and hear his daughter regularly in the choir.

His accustomed place will be missed by the pastor and his brethren in this church. His interest and his family's interest are such as to assist very materially in making a church a possibility in this day of unsteadiness and apparently so much purposeless living.

So today with flowers and befitting music surrounded by a host of sorrowing loved ones and friends we proceed to hold this service in memory of his life and as a token of deep respect and love at this his death. We will lay him away tenderly in our Grundy Center cemetery with the host of other loved ones that have been placed there, to await the great calling of God of all the dead to arise and meet the welcome of the judgment day.

Relatives From a Distance
The following relatives from a distance attended the funeral:
Mrs. H. A. Voss, Henry Peters, Mrs. Chas. Whaylen and Frank Galagher of Sibley, Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. Ben Cordes, Kamrar, Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. Lester Billings, Jewell, Iowa; Mrs. Lena Poppenga, Holland; the six sons of Mr. Peters' oldest brother--Albert, Henry and George Peters of Little Rock, Iowa, Vernie of Beaver Creek and Tom and Harry of Gilmore City; Mr. and Mrs. Ben Peters and son, Glen, and daughter, Norma, of Wellsburg; Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Meyer, Roy, Arthur and Esther of Wellsburg; Mrs. Arthur Neessen, Lake Crystal, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. Pete Peters, Worthington, Minn.; Harold Peters, Marshalltown; Mr. and Mrs. Al Kelso, Wilmont, Minn.; Henry Voss, Sioux City; Mr. and Mrs. Harold Farnham, Cedar Rapids; Mr. and Mrs. Lee D. Koser, Iowa City; VerDene Beckman, Iowa City; Dr. and Mrs. Earl Smith and daughter, Earline, George, Iowa; Mrs. B. Peters, an aged aunt of Aplington, and many cousins and distant relatives.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 22 January 1931, pg 1