Yunker, Alexander, 1860-1948

YUNKER, MILLER

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/25/2012 at 07:30:42

Hold Last Rites At Peace Lutheran For Alex Yunker

Funeral services for Alex Yunker, 88, were held at the Peace Lutheran church on Monday afternoon, with Rev. Meinan of Hull officiating. He died last Thursday [October 21] while convalescing from a bad leg injury, suffered on October 6. He was a patient at the Le Mars hospital at the time of death. Burial was made at the Peace Lutheran cemetery.

Mr. Yunker was born at Raperwyils, Canton Bern, Switzerland, on June 16, 1860. At the age of 23 years he came to the United States and settled at Elgin, Fayette county, Iowa. On March 15, 1880, he was united in marriage to Lydia Miller and that spring they came to Sioux county and started farming in Garfield township, where they resided until the spring of 1920. [Note that the 1880 marriage date doesn't track with his age at immigration. Lydia's obit (Hawarden Independent, March 11, 1937) says they were married Feb. 7, 1888.]

In that year [1920] they moved to Rock Valley, where he lived until his death. His wife preceded him in death in March, 1937, and one son, Oscar, died in October, 1914.

He is survived by two sons and four daughters, Fred of Rock Valley; Roy of Inwood; Mrs. Louise Winterfeld and Mrs. Emma Grau of Rock Valley; and Mrs. Clara Durscher and Mrs. Verna Mosby of Elgin. Twenty grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Those attending from a distance were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Durscher, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Mosby, Roberta and Carole, Mr. and Mrs. C. Dunimermuth[?], Mr. and Mrs. Guernsey Smith, Mrs. Ida Meyer and John Durscher of Elgin, Iowa, and Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Durscher of West Union, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Grau of Melvin, Arlene Yunker of Ames, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Edwards and son Maynard, John Maurer of Forestburg, Mr. and Mrs. Belmore Benson, Jackson, Minn., Mr. and Mrs. Milton Toft of Alcester, S.D., Mrs. Frank Plunket and daughter Barbara of Minneapolis, Minn.

Source: Rock Valley Bee, October 28, 1948.

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Alex Yunker, 88, of Rock Valley Dies at Le Mars

Funeral services for Alex Yunker, 88, Rock Valley, who died in a Le Mars hospital last Friday, were held Monday afternoon in the Peace Lutheran church northeast of Hawarden. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Mr. Yunker suffered a broken hip in a fall two weeks before his death and was taken to the Le Mars hospital.

Mr. Yunker was born in Switzerland June 16, 1860. When he came to America he settled in Elgin, Iowa, where he married Miss Lydia Miller. In 1888 he came to Sioux county, locating on a farm about 16 miles northeast of Hawarden. In the early '20s he and his wife retired and moved to Rock Valley to live. Mrs. Yunker died in 1937. One son, Oscar, also preceded him in death in 1914. He died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

Survivors include six children, Mrs. Will Winterfeld, Mrs. Emma Grau and Fred Yunker of Rock Valley, Roy of Inwood, Mrs. Gordon Mosby of Elgin, Iowa, and Mrs. Clara Durscher of West Union, Iowa.

Hawarden persons who attended the funeral included Mrs. John Heuer, a niece, and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Degen, Mrs. Dave Johnson, Mrs. John Treiber and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Stoltenberg.

Source: Hawarden Independent, October 28, 1948.

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Another variant obituary in the Sioux County Capital (Oct. 28) spells his birthplace Rapperswye; says that he came to the United States in 1883; and says that after his wife's death he made his home with his daughter Mrs. Emma Grau.

Published probate notices, as well as the Sioux County Cemetery Index and his wife's obituary, confirm his full first name as Alexander.