Heffernan, Cornelius 1852-1923 and Mary Barry Family

HEFFERNAN, BARRY, RICE, BOES

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 2/25/2022 at 09:10:16

Heffernan, Cornelius 1852-1923 and Mary Barry Family

This story was taken from pages 90-91 of the Rock Valley St. Mary’s Catholic Church Book written for the centennial of the church in about 1982(?). The story was transcribed for this BIOS by Beth De Leeuw of the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society. Some research notes were added.

CORNELIUS HEFFERMAN was born April 22, 1852 in Fermoy, Ireland emigrating to the United States at the age of seventeen.

He was married to MARY BARRY in Grundy County, Illinois in 1887. She was born November 10th, 1859. They moved to Lyon County, Iowa in 1894 to farm. They had five children, Francis, Maude, Earl, Walter and Paul.

Cornelius died February 12th, 1923 and Mary passed away January 26, 1933.

1. FRANCES was born November 11, 1890. She taught grade school in Sioux Falls most of her adult life. She died March 12, 1974.

2. MAUDE was born June 29, 1892. She also taught grade school for many years but in the Des Moines area. She died on May 19, 1980.

3. EARL was born May 29, 1894. He farmed with his brother Paul for some years and eventually became an insurance salesman in Rock Rapids. He married Margaret Delany of Rock Rapids. She was a telephone operator there for many years. Earl died in November of 1959.

4. WALTER was born June 6, 1902. He received his teaching degree from Creighton. He was then a weatherman for the Army and eventually became an insurance salesman in Des Moines. He passed away August 26, 1980.

5. PAUL was born February 2, 1897. He farmed all of his adult life near Inwood on the same family farm. On June 16, 1934 he married Kathryn Keegan. She was born November 10, 1905. Prior to her marriage, she taught in a country school.
They were the parents of five children: Joan Marie, Sally Ann, John Paul, Mary Jean, and Patricia Kay.
Paul died August 7, 1970 and Kathryn died November 19, 1972. Both are buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Joan Marie was born February 18, 1936. She graduated from Briar Cliff in Nursing. She married Marvin Chamberlain at St. Mary’s on June 3, 1959. They moved to White River, South Dakota where Marvin is a rancher. Joan is the school nurse for White River. They have eight children: Amy, Sue, Thomas, Patrick, Paul, Ellen, Gerald and Mark. Amy is married to Merritt Koehn and they live in Wisner, NE. They have one daughter, Brandy Joy. Sue is married to Greg Klein and they live in Vermillion where she is a student in Physical Therapy at U.S.D. Thomas is a sophomore in the U.S.D. Business school. Patrick and Paul are twins. Patrick is a student in Industrial Arts at Black Hills State. Paul is a freshman at Northern State, where he is majoring in Art. Ellen, Gerald and Mark are attending White River Public School.
Sally Ann was born October 13, 1939. She graduated in Medical Technology from Mt. Marty College, Yankton, South Dakota in 1962. She then worked at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. In 1963, she married Bob Baker from Scotland, South Dakota. They lived in Manhattan, Kansas where Bob was stationed at Fort Riley. During this time, Sally worked at Kansas State University in Veterinary Research. They then returned to Scotland and started farming. In 1969, Sally started the lab in the newly built Scotland Hospital and continued working there for three years. They have four children: Carol, Barb, Bruce and David.
John Paul (Jack) was born March 1, 1945. He worked for one year in Inwood and then moved to Denver, Colorado. He owns his own House Refinishing Business. He and his wife Anita have four children: Kimberly, Brian, Shelley and Robbie.
Mary Jean was born March 28, 1946. She graduated from Mt. Marty in Medical Technology. After working in Yankton for six years, she moved to Sioux Falls where she is now a Specialist in Microbiology at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls.
Patricia Kay was born February 16, 1950. She graduated from Mt. Marty in Teaching. She married James Slamkowski in 1971 and moved to Ogden Dunes-Portage, Indiana. They have two children: Christina and Timothy James. Pat teaches school in a parochial school and Jim is an electrician.

RESEARCH NOTES: by Wilma J. Vande Berg of (GSCGS)
A family history found on ancestry.com (done by others) lists Cornelius Heffernan born 22 Apr 1851 at Fermoy, Cork, Ireland died Feb 10, 1923 Inwood IA, he was the son of Cornelius Heffernan 1800-1865 and Mary Rice 1810-1899. He married Mary Isabelle Barry born 10 Nov 1859 Ill died 26 Jan 1933 Rock Valley IA, She was the daughter of John Barry and Catherine Boes. Their children are listed in the narrative above.

OBITUARY OF CORNELIUS HEFFERNAN
Source: Rock Valley Bee (2-23-1923)
Born: April 22, 1852
Died: February 10, 1923
Cornelius Heffernan, whose death was announced in last week’s Bee. Was born in County Cork, Ireland, on April 22, 1852, and died at his farm home near Inwood, on Saturday February 10, 923, aged seventy years, nine months and eighteen days. Heart failure was the cause of his death.
He came to America when he was sixteen years old. He was united in marriage to Mary Barry in Grundy County, Illinois, in October 1877.He came with his wife and family to Lyon County, Iowa, in 1894 and settled on a farm which has since been his home.
Five children were born into this home. They are Frances, Maude, Earl, Paul, and Walter. All survived their father. Frances is a teacher in the Junior High School at Fort Dodge; Maude teaches in Des Moines, Earl and Paul are running the farm at home, and Walter, the youngest, is a student at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.
Mr. Heffernan was a faithful and conscientious member of the Catholic Church, and he possessed and practiced a practical religion that made and kept him the good man, the good neighbor and the good citizen that he was.
Funeral services were held at Rock Valley in St. Mary’s Church on Tuesday, February 13. The funeral services were largely attended.
Among the relatives from a distance were William P. Burke, of Dwight, Illinois; Mrs. Sam Rhode, Dwight, Illinois; John Barry, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mrs. Sadie Phelan, Sioux Falls; Jus. P. Mulhall, Sioux City; Thos. Abbott, Le Mars; May Barry, Sioux Falls; Lester and Raymond Phelan, Sioux Falls; Thos. Vint family, Larchwood; John Flanagan family, Rock Rapids; Mrs. Henry Daugherty and son, James, Sioux Falls; Mrs. Mary Cairn, Flandreau, South Dakota.

OBITUARY OF MARY HEFFERNAN
Source: Rock Valley Bee (2-10-1933)
Born: 1859
Died: January 26, 1933
Funeral services for Mrs. Mary Isabelle (Barry) Heffernan, whose death was reported in last week’s Bee, were held in St. Mary’s Church in Rock Valley on Monday, January 29, and the remains were taken to St. Mary’s Cemetery for burial. Among the relatives and friends from a distance who attended the funeral services were, Will Abbot, J.P. Mulhall and son Francis, all of Sioux City, Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Lamb and Paul Ruane of Slayton, Minnesota; Mrs. Nell Doherty, Mrs. Sadie Phelan and sons Lester and Raymond, Mr. and Mrs. Will Glashine and daughter, Gwendolyn, and Dan Doherty, of Sioux Falls, Father Roder of Akron, Iowa and Mrs. Tom Kerns of Rock Rapids.
Mrs. Heffernan was taken sick with pneumonia and later to the McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, where everything possible was done for her but she passed away on Thursday morning, January 26, aged 73 years.
Mrs. Heffernan and her husband , Cornelius came to this vicinity 38 years ago from Grundy County, Illinois, and since that time resided on the home farm northwest of Rock Valley. He passed away in February 10, 1923 from heart failure.
A faithful member of the Catholic faith, she was known for her qualities of unswerving honesty and justice. Her deepest interests were in her home and family, but the entire community where she spent so many years of her life, realized her kindness and charity when any neighbor was in need or trouble.
Mrs. Heffernan leaves to mourn five children, Frances, at home, Maude, a teacher in the Junior High School in Des Moines; Walter, in the First National Bank of Rock Valley; Earl and Paul, farming the old home place northwest of Rock Valley. She also leaves one brother, Joe Barry, of this vicinity, and a number of relatives.

The picture of Cornelius and Mary Heffernan came from the St. Mary’s Church book.

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