COONRADT, Estella A. (nee Gilchrist) 1863-1931

COONRADT, GILCHRIST, CHAMPION, HEDRICK

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 4/30/2010 at 19:10:23

Item #1:

MRS. COONRADT
DIES AT OSAGE

Was Invalid for Six Years;
Two Daughters and
Son Survive.

OSAGE, IOWA - July 20 — Mrs. Stella Gilchrist Coonradt died at her home here Friday, after having been an invalid for six years from heart disease.

Mrs. Coonradt was born on September 23, 1863, in a house that stood on the present site of the Burr Oak Church.

She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Kate Champion and Mrs. Martha Hedrick; a son Ward, all of Osage; by two brothers, Joseph Gilchrist of Bakersfield, Cal., and William Gilchrist of Osage; and by two sisters, Mrs. Clara Ingraham of Bakersfield, and Mrs. Hattie Isbell of Seattle.

Funeral services will be held at the Osage M. E. church, Dr. S. E. Ellis conducting the service.

Mrs. Coonradt served as worthy matron of the local chapter of the O. E. S., and superintendent of Osage Methodist Sunday school.

[Mason City Globe-Gazette, Monday, July 20, 1931]

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#2:

Another Mitchell
County Pioneer Is
Called to Reward

Mrs. Estella Alma Coonradt passed away at her home on State Street Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock, after an illness of five years, which resulted in her being confined to her bed for the last six and a half months of her life. She suffered from heart disease and complications.

Six years ago her husband passed away, and the loss of his companionship was a sorrow from which she never recovered, and hastened the physical breakdown that culminated in her death.

In Mrs. Coonradt's death, another Mitchell County Pioneer has answered the summons, and has taken the long, long, trail.

"Stella" Gilchrist was born in Burr Oak, where the Burr Oak Church now stands, September 23, 1963, the daughter of Daniel and Catherine Gilchrist.

It was in the fall of 1856 that these parents, practically on their honeymoon, drove an ox-team across county from Racine, Wisconsin to Burr Oak. Osage then consisted of one frame house and perhaps a dozen log houses. To go from Burr oak to Osage was but a matter of driving over the prairie in the most direct route.

March 9, 1882, she and Lester Coonradt were united in marriage. It is interesting to not that in 1888 these young people pledged their lives and services to the church, and were on the same day baptized in a little creek near the Free Will Baptist Church in Burr Oak. since coming to Osage, Mrs. Coonradt has been a faithful attendant of the Methodist Church, and has filled many positions of responsibility in the church field. She has acted in the capacity of Sunday school superintendent, a member of the official board, and until her ill health prevented, was communion stewardess. For a long period she was president of the Laities' Aid. She also took her place in social and community life.

She was a member of the O. E. S. and for two and a half years filled the office of worthy matron. She was also enrolled in the White Shrine; for years had been active in the W. R. C.; and for a long period was president of the cemetery association.

Mrs. Coonradt's fine character will be remembered by the whole community who knew her as a woman whose home came first in her life, and those of earlier days will recall her as one of those pioneer mothers who took places in a rural community that can only be filled by one with kindness, generosity and unfailing thought for others. To her often came the responsibility of assisting in humble homes when the angels of birth or death made their visits.

Not only was her home open to her friends, but "the stranger within the gates" was always welcome. Teachers in the Osage schools were ever wont to think of this as "home" to them, and they were always delighted to return to this "home" when visiting Osage.

To Mr. and Mrs. Coonradt four children were born; Warren, who died at the age of 2; Mrs. Kate Champion and Ward Coonradt, Osage; and Mrs. Martha Hedrick. The latter has been her mother's constant companion during the years of her illness, and nursed her, with assistance at times from Mrs. Champion and Ward.

Other relatives surviving are her sisters, Mrs. Hattie Isbell, of Seattle, Washington; and Mrs. Clara Ingraham, of Bakersfield, California; one brother, Joseph Gilehrist, also of Bakersfield; and another brother, William R., Osage. This brother has been a great comfort to Mrs. Coonradt in her declining years. Another brother, Roy, of Bakersfield, preceded her in death. There are twelve grandchildren.

Funeral services were held in the Champion undertaking parlors Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, in charge of the Reverend Sylvester E. Ellis of the local Methodist Church. Reverend Mr. Gammons, a life-long friend of the Coonradts, and in whose parents' home Mrs. Coonradt lived for a long time when she was a little girl, was to have assisted with the service, but was detained at his charge in Cresco by the funeral of one of his parishioners.

Interment was made in the family lot in the Osage Cemetery. Six grandsons serve as pall bearers.

[Mitchell County Press, Wednesday, July 22, 1931]

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#3:

The Osage City Cemetery listing on IaGenWeb shows:

COONRADT, ESTELLA A. (loc) 0711 4 (death/burial) 17 JUL 1931.
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#4:

Photo of Lester from STANDARD HISTORICAL ATLAS OF MITCHELL COUNTY, IOWA, 1911; published by Anderson Pub. Co., Chicago. (Credit: S. Bell)

Mitchell Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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