Efnor, Oscar E. 1857-1936

EFNOR, HILLIARD, MUDGETT, MCGREGOR, BELL, ERVIN, MOBERLY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 5/23/2010 at 14:34:10

OSCAR E. EFNOR DIES TUESDAY IN BOONE HOSPITAL

Former Newton Resident Dies One Week Following Operation

Funeral Services to be Held in Newton Thursday Afternoon: Burial Here

Oscar E. Efnor, 79, well-known former Jasper County resident, died Tuesday at 11:45 p.m. at a Boone Hospital, following a 10-day illness.

Mr. Efnor, who lived at the Eastern Star home in Boone, was taken ill Sunday, April 26, and submitted to an operation for obstruction of the bowels the following Tuesday.

At his bedside were his daughter, Mrs. Grace Hilliard of Denver, Colo., who arrived Thursday, and his son, Claude O. Efnor, who arrived Saturday from Minneapolis.

Body in Newton

The body was brought to Morgan funeral home in Newton and funeral services will be held here Thursday at 4 p.m. from the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rev. R. E. Hodgson, pastor of the Methodist Church at Reasnor, will be in charge. Interment will be in the Newton Union Cemetery.

Mr. Efnor, son of Orin V. & Frances Ann (Mudgett) Efnor. Efnor was born in Multon County, Illinois, April 9, 1857. He was one of a family of three children of whom Mrs. Nettie McGregor of Reasnor, is the only survivor.

To Iowa in Fifties

The family came to Iowa in the fifties, but a few years later moved to Kansas, where the father died in 186_. The mother and three children returned to Iowa to Live.

Mr. Efnor was united in marriage to Lita Bell in 1882, and to this union five children were born. Maude died at the age of 21 years; Earl died in 1927, and Guy died one year ago of injuries suffered in a tractor accident. The mother died in 1906.

Later Mr. Efnor was married to Mrs. Lillie M. (Ervin) Moberly in 1908. It was in that year that Mr. Efnor retired from his farm near Reasnor and he and his wife located in Newton on East Forth Street North, which was their home most of their married life.

Moved to Boone

A few years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Efnor moved to Boone, where Mrs. Efnor’s death occurred February, 1935.

Mr. Efnor was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Newton Masonic Lodge, the Newton Eastern-Star and the woodmen of the world.

Surviving relatives are his daughter, Mrs. Hilliard of Denver; his son, Claude O. Efnor of Minneapolis; his sister, Mrs. McGregor of Reasnor; and 11 grandchildren. Muriel and Ruth Efnor of Minneapolis; Floyd, Charmers, Francis, Martha and Lita Bell Efnor of Monroe; Mrs. Roma Brown, Frances S., Azuela, Merle, Guy, Jr., and Paul of Oskaloosa, and Mrs. Lona Bell Green of Denver; and several great grandchildren.

Conduct Efnor Funeral Rites

Services for Oscar E. Efnor, 79, Conducted Here Thursday

Funeral services for Oscar E. Efnor, 79, long-time resident of Jasper County, were conducted from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Newton Thursday at 4 p.m. The Rev. R. E. Hodgson of Reasnor was in charge.

The music included two quartet selection, “Nearer Still Nearer” and “Sweet Bye and Bye,” by Mrs. L. B. Logan, Mrs. Fred Reeve, Harold M. Finch and Richard Toedt and a vocal solo, “The Home of the Soul,” by Earnest L. Earley. Lois Hundling was the accompanist.

Interment was in the Newton Union Cemetery, with the following serving as pallbearers; E. M. S McLaughlin, C. W. Skow, E. E. Efnor, George Efnor, Frank Efnor and Robert Efnor.

The Flowers were arranged by Mrs. C. W. Skow, Mrs. S. S. Marshall and Mrs. E. E. Efnor.

Obituary

Oscar Efnor was born April 9, 1857 at Cuba, Fulton County, Ill., the son of Orin Uri Efnor and Frances (Mudgett) Efnor. He resided there with his parents until August 1859 when they moved to Burlington, Coffey County, Kansas. One brother, Charles, died in infancy and one sister, Nettie, survives him.

At the age of seven his father died, and the family moved to Iowa in an oxen-drawn covered wagon, his mother travelling most of the distance on horseback escorted by her father.

A little later they returned to Cuba, Ill., where they lived for a while with his grandfather Efnor and then returned to Iowa where his mother married E. R. Latham.

He lived with his mother and stepfather on a farm near Reasnor until his marriage in 1881 to Lita Bell. He purchased an adjoining farm on which five children were born; Maude who died in 1903 at the age of twenty one, Guy who died in 1935, Earl who died in 1927 and Grace and Claude who survive. His wife, Lita, died on March 13, 1906 as the result of an operation for mastoid.

In 1908 he married Lillian (Ervin) Mobberly and moved to Newton, Iowa where he and his wife resided until his wife lost her health and they moved to Boone, where Mrs. Efnor died in February, 1936.

Sudden Illness

He was in apparent good health and spirits up to Sunday, April 26, 1936 when he suddenly became ill and was placed under the doctor’s care and removed to the Boone County Hospital where he was operated on the following Tuesday. He died the next Tuesday, May 5, 1936 at 11:45 p.m. in the presence of his daughter, Grace and son Claude, at the age of 79 years and 26 days.

He was an active member and attendant of the Methodist Episcopal Church all his life, first at Reasnor and later at Newton. He was also a member of the Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star of Newton and the Woodmen of the World.

He is survived by his daughter Mrs. Grace Hilliard of Denver, his son Claude Efnor of Minneapolis; his sister, Nettie Mc Gregor of Reasnor and 11 grandchildren: Muriel Efnor and Ruth Efnor Johnson of Minneapolis, Floyd, Chalmers, Martha, Francis and Lita Bell Efnor of Monroe and Bondurant, Mrs. Roma Efnor Brown, of Reasnor, Azaela Merle, Frances, Guy and Paul Efnor of Oskaloosa and Mrs. Lona Bell Green of Denver, and six great grandchildren.

Newspaper unknown.