Edith Behrens (1870-1946)

BEHRENS, LANGRIDGE, BROXAM

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 11/13/2009 at 07:59:50

Jackson Sentinel
January 4, 1946

Mrs. Edith Behrens, Pioneer Nurse, Dies At Preston Home

Funeral service for Mrs. Edith Behrens were held Thursday at 2:00 p.m., at Campbell’s funeral home at Preston, Rev. Maurice Powers, of Maquoketa, officiating. Burial was in the Preston cemetery.

Edith Helen Langridge was born Feb. 12, 1870, in Mechanic Falls, Maine, and came with her parents, Rev. and Mrs. R. J. Langridge, to Chicago, later to Iowa, finally locating in Maquoketa in 1885, where Rev. Langridge was pastor of the Baptist church.

After the death of her father, she assumed the care of her mother and younger sisters and brothers. Later she decided to enter nurses training, graduating at a Chicago hospital. For some time she did private nursing, and in 1901 she opened to the public the well equipped Cottage hospital which she operated for 12 years.

She was married in February, 1912, to Andy Behrens, who passed away in July of the same year and since that time she has continued to reside alone on their farm near Preston.

Her sudden death occurred at 9:30 a.m., Monday, Dec. 31.

She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Laura Powell, of Chicago; and Mrs. Maude Mowers, of Maquoketa; and one brother, Ernest Langridge, of Chicago; and several nieces and nephews. One brother, Rev. Percy Langridge, and one sister, Mrs. Alice Broxam, preceded her in death.

TRIBUTE BY A FRIEND

Monday the community suffered the loss of its last pioneer registered nurse, Mrs. Edith H. Behrens, nee Edith H. Langridge. She was a true pioneer in giving Maquoketa its earliest hospital facilities in the early years of the present century.

Many patients will remember having been served with fortitude and efficiency during severe illness and will regret to learn that she has passed to her reward. Dr. J. F. RITTER