SENTS, Toopke 1849-1947

SENTS, ABBEN

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 3/2/2017 at 20:50:12

Funeral Services For Mrs. Sents Held Tuesday Afternoon

Funeral services for Mrs. A. F. Sents who passed away Saturday, June 28 at her home north of Wellsburg were held Tuesday, July 1 at the home and later at the Pleasant Valley Evangelical Church. Interment was in the church cemetery.

The services were in charge of Rev. C. F. Lehr of Ackley. Pallbearers were Aeilt Sents, Rudolph Sents, Henry Sents, Edwin Sents, George Sents, Lester Sents. Music was furnished by the Aplington Baptist Quartet. Flower attendants were Mrs. John H. Kruse and Miss Helen Boelman.

Mrs. Sents was past 98 years of age, having observed her birthday on June 14. She was one of the oldest residents of Grundy county and has always lived on the home place in German township. Recently she fell on the floor and broke her leg and due to her advanced age she was not removed to a hospital, but was given medical care and attention in the home.

Mrs. Sents was born Topka Abben. Her husband was killed in an auto accident a number of years ago. She is survived by three children, Fred, Eilerd and Margaret, four children preceded her in death. There are 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 3 July 1947, pg 1

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Mrs. A. F. Sents, Oldest Grundy Person, Is Dead

Mrs. A. F. Sents, who was the oldest person living in Grundy county, died at her home in German township at 2:30 Saturday morning. She was 98 years old on the 14th day of June.

In spite of her advanced years Mrs. Sents had been in good health and she was able to be up and about the house daily and her mind remained clear until she met with an accident in her home about a week before her death from which she suffered a broken bone in one leg. The shock resulting from this injury was too severe for her advanced years. She refused or was unable to take any nourishment after she received this injury. The attending physician could do nothing but assist in easing the pain during her last days.

Mrs. Sents had resided in the same community since she came to America from Germany 71 years ago. She was known and loved by all who knew her. Since the death of her husband she and her daughter Margaret maintained the home on the German township farm.

Came to America When She Was 27
Mrs. Sents' maiden name was Toopke Abben. She was born near the North Sea in Germany. When she was 27 years old she came to America and to Grundy county where relatives had preceded her. Not long thereafter she was married to A. F. Sents. The couple resided on their German township farm until his death 24 years ago. Her husband was killed in an automobile accident while he was away on a visit in Lyon county. Her husband was a former member of the Grundy county board of supervisors from the German-Pleasant Valley district and for a time served as chairman of the board.

Mr. and Mrs. Sents had five children. Two of them with the father preceded the mother in death. The surviving children are the daughter, Margaret, and two sons, Eilert and Fred, who live on farms in the neighborhood where they were born and raised. There are eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services Tuesday
Funeral services were held at the home early Tuesday afternoon and later at the Pleasant Valley Evangelical church. Burial was beside the husband in the Evangelical church cemetery. The services were conducted by Rev. C. F. Lehr, pastor of the Aplington Baptist church.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 3 July 1947, pg 9

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Obituary Mrs. A. F. Sents

Toebke Aeilts Sents, nee Abben, was born June 14, 1849, in Greetsiel, Eastfriesland, Germany, and passed away in her home in Grundy county, near Aplington, Saturday, June 28, 1947, at the ripe age of 98 years and 14 days. About ten days before her death she suffered a broken leg which, at her age, proved too much for her frail body.

In 1879, the departed came to the United States and in that same year was married to Aeilt F. Sents. The young couple settled on a farm in Grundy county where she has lived since. Mr. Sents lost his life in an automobile accident in 1924. Seven children were born to Mrs. Sents, of whom four preceded the mother into that better land.

Before coming to this country, the departed was thoroughly converted and some years later, in 1884, she was baptized upon the confession of her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the Rev. G. Engelman, and received into the membership of the Aplington Baptist church with which she has since been associated and in which she was held in highest esteem. She knew Him on whom she had believed, and in full assurance and confidence in the sufficiency of the sacrifice. He brought on Calvary's cross, she quietly went to sleep in Jesus.

She leaves to mourn her death one daughter, Margaret; two sons, and 5 great-grandchildren, as well as a number of other relatives and friends. These mourn not as those having no hope, for they know their departed one to be at home with the Lord.

Funeral services were held in the late home and in the Pleasant Valley Evangelical church on Tuesday, July 1, with the Revs. Carl Swyter of Steamboat Rock, Herman Lohr of Parkersburg, and C. Fred Lehr, her pastor, of Aplington, participating. The earthly remains were laid to rest in the family burial plot in Pleasant Valley Evangelical cemetery.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 10 July 1947, pg 9