Finch, Ida J. (Mrs. Irvin) 1862-1922

FINCH, SMITH, HUBBARD

Posted By: Paul Van Dyke--Volunteer
Date: 11/4/2016 at 23:07:46

MUCH BELOVED WOMAN DIES--MRS. IRVIN FINCH PASSED AWAY LAST FRIDAY MORNING--WHOLE COMMUNITY MOURNS THE LOSS OF A SPLENDID CHRISTIAN WOMAN--FUNERAL HELD MONDAY

Source: Hawarden Independent (11-2-1922)

Born: September 1, 1862
Died: October 22, 1922

Mrs. Irvin Finch, one of Hawarden’s most beloved women, passed to her reward at her home in this city at 5 o’clock last Friday morning. The immediate cause of her death was pneumonia which she contracted only a few days prior to her demise. However, she had not been in good health for the past year or more and during the summer submitted to an operation which told heavily on her strength and she was in no physical condition to withstand the acute illness which seized her. Funeral services were held at 2 o’clock Monday afternoon at the Associated Church. Reverend A.M. McIntosch, pastor of the Olivet Presbyterian Church of Sioux City and a former pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hawarden, preached the funeral sermon and he was assisted in conducting the services by Reverend William F. Vance, pastor of the Associated Churches. The church was filled to overflowing with her neighbors and friends who gathered to pay a last, sad tribute of respect to the woman whom they had known and loved during life. Five of her step-sons acted as pall bearers. Interment was made in Grace Hill Cemetery.

Ida Janette Smith was born in the state of New York, September 1, 1862, so had but just passed her 60th birthday. When she was eight years of age the family moved to Elk Point, South Dakota, and this section of the country has never since been her home. In 1805 she was married to Layton Hubbard. Twins, a boy and a girl, were born to them. Mr. Hubbard was accidentally killed in a railway accident at Alcester on September 15, 1898. Perhaps the greatest sorrow of her life occurred in April, 1901, when her twin children were burned to death while playing in a barn at her home in this city. In the fall of 1901 she was united in marriage with Irvin Finch whose death occurred in May, 1919. She is survived by two brothers and three sisters: Mrs. Jane Walters of Leonard, North Dakota, who now lies at the point of death at the Hawarden Hospital; Mrs. Hannah Walters of Shoshone, Idaho; James Randolph of Elk Point, South Dakota; Mrs. Emma Spicer of LaJunta, Colorado; and Charles Smith of Montrose, South Dakota. In addition her death is deeply mourned by her step-children, who honored her as a mother for more than twenty years. The step-children are Lewis Finch of Hartford, South Dakota; George Finch of Los Angeles, California; Will, Orson and Rodell Finch of Hawarden; Mrs. Effie Montgomery of Sand Point, Idaho; and Elmer Finch of Willow Lake, South Dakota.

Mrs. Finch united with the Presbyterian Church in South Dakota in 1890 and when her church was discontinued she transferred her membership to Hawarden where it has been since that time. She was very active in church affairs until her failing health made it impossible for her to get out. She was for many years an active member of the Women’s Relief Corps and her presence will be greatly missed by that organization.

The death of Mrs. Finch removes from our midst a woman of sublime Christian character. Her death is not merely a family loss but a community loss. Perhaps no person who ever resided in this community has brought joy to as many hearts as has Mrs. Finch and her death has touched the heartstrings of hundreds whom she had befriended during her life. Among the many Christian acts which characterized her life perhaps the best known was her custom of holding an annual Christmas tree observance to which the children of the poor and needy parents of the city were always welcome. For more than twenty years she carried out this plan and many children, now grown to manhood and womanhood, still look back to the Christmas tree observances at Mrs. Finch’s home as among the brightest spots in their lives. To many it was the only Christmas celebration that they ever knew--a Christmas tree where there were always gifts for every child and where no child was ever overlooked. By common consent Mrs. Mrs. Finch became a central distributor of gifts to needy people and this was especially true at the Christmas season when many persons in the city formed the habit of contributing articles to her Christmas tree. Was there a pair of shoes which a child in a family had outgrown, a coat which no longer was of service to a growing boy or girl, or any other article of wearing apparel which for some reason or another was no longer needed, it was given to Mrs. Finch, and she always knew just where that pair of shoes was needed most and just what little feet they would best fit, which child could make best use of the coat and in just what home the other clothing would be most welcome. And Mrs. Finch experiences her greatest joy in performing this service. To bring happiness into the hearts of countless little children is an ambition which many people may have cherished, but few achieved it so successfully as did the subject of this sketch. The entire community grieves at her death but rejoices at the example of self sacrificing service which her life among us portrayed.

Out of town relatives and friends who came to attend the funeral including her sisters, Mrs. Hannah Walters of Shoshone, Idaho, her brothers James Randolph of Elk Point and Chas. Smith of Montrose, South Dakota, her step-sons, Lewis Finch and wife of Hartford, South Dakota, Orson Finch, who came from Eagle Grove, and Elmer Finch of Willow Lake, South Dakota, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Hubbard and daughters of Bigelow, Minnesota, John Hubbard and Mr. and Mrs. Vernon March of Alcester, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Knapp and children of Hartford, South Dakota, Mrs. Ernest Aker of Colton, South Dakota, Mrs. J.C. McKernan, Edgar and Frank McKernan of Dakota City, Nebraska, Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Benton, Mr. and Mrs. Perry Murphy, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Benton and Mrs. Chas. Udell and three daughters of Sioux City, Mrs. E. Drew of Burbank, South Dakota, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Snow, Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Warner and Mrs. Mary Smith of Wynot,Nebraska.