Margaret E. (Bellows) DeVault (1943)

BELLOWS, LEEPER

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 9/29/2004 at 10:26:42

Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
September 1, 1943

Funeral services for Mrs. O.J. DeVault, wife of the Earlham postmaster, who died at the Lutheran hospital in Des Moines on Tuesday of last week, were held from the Penn Center church last Thursday in charge of the Rev. J.H. Freedline, the pastor. Burial was made in the Penn Center cemetery.

Mrs. DeVault was the former Margaret Estella Bellows, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Bellows, and was born Aug. 5, 1882, near Delphos, Kan. The first 10 years of her life was spent in Kansas and Nebraska. The family then moved to Amber, Ia. She attended high school at Monticello, and the state Normal college at Cedar Falls. She later taught school in Jones county.

She came to Penn township in 1901. She taught school for five years in Penn and Madison townships, and was married to O.J. DeVault on June 27, 1906. They were the parents of one daughter, Mrs. Ruth Leeper, who survives.

She was a member of the Penn Center church and the Rebekah lodge. She had lived in Earlham since May, 1941.

Wife of Postmaster there succumbed Tuesday in Des Moines

Mrs. O.J. DeVault, wife of the Earlham postmaster, and for many years a widely known woman in that community, died Tuesday at the Lutheran hospital in Des Moines. She had been in failing health for several months.

Mrs. DeVault is survived by her husband; a daughter, Mrs. Merle Leeper of Earlham; and two grand-children. Funeral services were not known here Wednesday as the Madisonian went to press.
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Winterset Madisonian

Winterset, Iowa

August 1943

August 5th, 1882 on the plains of Kansas, near the town of Delphos, there came to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Bellows their first born, a little curly haired girl, whom they called Margaret Estella.

On June 27, 1906, she was united in marriage to O. J. DeVault and to this union were born one daughter, now Mrs. Ruth Leeper and a little one who never saw the light of day.

She joined the Penn Center church early in life and remained a faithful and active member the rest of her life.

Estella, as she was known, was never known to refuse to do anything within her power to help the church, her family and her fellowmen, having taught a Sunday School class almost continuously, besides serving as president of the Ladies Circle and Missionary Society.

She was a member of the Rebekah Lodge and other clubs.

In May, 1941 she and her husband retired from the farm, moving to Earlham, where modern conveniences helped to lighten her work and perhaps prolong her life.

Her life was more or less fraught with sickness, but through it all she never complained and always said to people, "Oh, I'm just alright."

On August 24, in the early morning, her spirit was released from her tired body and took its flight to God who gave it. Aged 61 years, 19 days.

She was preceded in death by her father, mother and baby brother Freddie.

She leaves to mourn her departure for a while, her husband, one daughter, a son-in-law, and three grandchildren, Lola, Ross, and Janet Leeper. Two sisters, Mrs. Myra Wyckoff, of Portland, Oregon, and Mrs. Marie Brewster, of Coquille, Oregon, also, friends numbered only by her acquaintances.

Gravestone Photo
 

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