Bruce F. Mather (1869-1949)

MATHER, WOTEN, HOCHSTETLER, HOSTETTLER, JUNG, WITMER, BRADY, GLASS, MART, SMITH, TROXEL

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 5/17/2021 at 16:53:11

From Nevada Evening Journal October 29, 1949 (page 3)

Hold Final Rites For Bruce Mather

Funeral services were conducted from the Hamilton Funeral home in Des Moines on Saturday, Oct. 22, for Bruce F. Mather. The Rev. E. S. Blomquist of Maxwell had charge of the rites.

Members of the Masonic lodge acted as pallbearers and conducted services at the funeral home and at the grave.

Obituary

Bruce F. Mather, son of George R. and Margaret Woten Mather, was born Aug. 8, 1968, on a farm near Maxwell and passed away at the Grayson Nursing home in Des Moines, where he had been a patient for one week, on Oct. 19, at the age of 80 years, two months and 11 days.

He grew to manhood in the Maxwell community and in his early youth became a member of the Methodist church.

He was united in marriage to Nancy Jane Hostettler in 1892. To this union were born four daughters, Opal Reo Jung, Hazel Mae Witmer, Wilma Lucille Mather and Avis Genevieve Brady.

In 1899, he and his family moved from their farm to Stanwood, Iowa, where for several years he was in the harness and implement business. Later they moved to Des Moines to make their home. He became associated with the Des Moines City Railway company as a conductor and served in that capacity for almost two decades. It was during this period that his wife, Nancy, passed away in Oct. 1917, and his daughter, Wilma, just six months later.

He became a member of the Masonic Home lodge, 370 A. F. and A. M., Des Moines, and also the A. O. U. W. fraternal insurance order.

He was married to Ada C. Glass in 1921, continuing to make his home in Des Moines. She passed away in 1923.

In 1927, he married Mamie Mart and was transferred to Cedar Rapids, where he remained active with an insurance company until March of this year, at which time his health began to fail. He was cared for in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank Witmer, near Maxwell.

The eldest daughter, Opal Reo Jung, preceded him in death in Aug. of 1939.

Survivors

Surviving are his wife, Mamie; two daughters, Mrs. Frank Witmer and Mrs. Thomas Brady; three grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and a step-son, Mahlon Mart. Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Lizzie Smith of Des Moines and Mrs. Carrie Troxel of Vinton, and a brother, Thomas Mather, of San Jose, Calif., together with many other relatives and friends.