Jennie (Fleming) Junkin (1954)

JUNKIN, FLEMING, PATIENCE

Posted By: Treva Patterson (email)
Date: 8/5/2007 at 14:42:12

Earlham Library Collection
August 1954

Funeral Services Held For Mrs. Frank Junkin

Funeral services for Mrs. Frank Junkin were held Tuesday afternoon at the Earlham Presbyterian church where she had been a long-time member. Her former pastor, the Rev. S. R. Overholmer, conducted the service.

Mrs. Junkin had spent her entire life in this community. She had been ill since January, and for the past six weeks had been a patient at the Madison County Memorial hospital where her death occurred Saturday night.

Casket bearers were DeVere Jackson, Ralph Hunter, Darwin Gubser, Gale Marston, Jack Godby and Marion Compton. Interment was in the Penn Center cemetery.

JENNIE FLEMING

Jennie Fleming, the third child of William and Deborah Fleming, Madison county pioneers, was born June 11, 1868 on the Fleming farm southwest of Earlham that her father had homesteaded several years before. On this farm she spent her girlhood and attended the rural schools of Penn township.

February 26, 1896, she was united in marriage with Frank Junkin. It was their privilege to spend more that 58 years together. Following their marriage, they lived for four years in the historic "Grout House" near Penn Center before moving to their own farm. Here they lived until 1915 when they moved to their home in Earlham.

Until her final illness, "Aunt Jennie" as she was affectionately called by her many friends and relatives, enjoyed unusually good health. Ever hospitable and jolly, she loved to have guests in her home. Her sympathetic understanding of the joys and sorrows of others brought many to her for wise counsel and helpful assistance.

She had a strong faith in God and on May 7, 1881, she became a member of the Earlham Presbyterian church. At the time of her death, she had been a member of the local congregation longer than any other person.

Ever a faithful worker during her 73 years of membership she had filled vitually all offices in the Women's Organization and Missionary Society, as well as serving as a deaconess and Sunday School superintendent.

Because of her love for little children, she perhaps derived the greatest pleasure from teaching a primary Sunday School class, a post she filled for many years. Many men and women in the community have happy memories of Aunt Jennie's class, where she mingled religious instruction with kindly discipline and good-humored understanding of their childhood problems.

She was also an active member of the Sorosis Club and Earlham Garden Club.

She had spent her entire life in Madison county, and her excellent memory and alert mind permitted her to recall many early events of interest in this area.

During the months of her last illness, she remained cheerful and enjoyed having her friends visit her. At the time of her death, which occurred at the Madison County Memorial hospital at Winterset August 14, 1954, she was 86 years, two months and three days of age.

Survivors besides her husband are a step-son, Mac Junkin of Earlham; a niece, Mrs. Andrew Patience, Dexter, who was reared in the Junkin home; two brothers, Marion and John Fleming, both of Earlham; four grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.