Martha Ellanor Sherod Forbes Bales (1874-1949)

BALES, BARKER, CLARK, FORBES, GRANDEL, JACKSON, PENDLETON, SHEROD, SYFERT, TOPPING

Posted By: Volunteer Paul French
Date: 2/5/2007 at 19:51:38

Ella Sherod, daughter of William and Elizabeth Barker Sherod, was born near Mt. Zion, Iowa, June 3, 1874, and passed away July 7, 1949, at Covina, California, after a brief illness.

She spent her early life in and around Mt. Zion and Keosauqua, Iowa. In 1901 she married Robert W. Forbes of Saguache, Colorado. To this union were born six children of which four are left to survive her, Mont A. Forbes, Dorothy E. Grandel, Bernardine G. Clark of Covina, California, and Bordman Forbes of Azusa, California.

She returned to Birmingham, Iowa, after the death of her husband in 1917. Here she made her home until her marriage to John S. Bales of Covina, California, in 1924. Covina has been her home except for four years spent at Huntington Beach, California.

Early in life she became a member of the Presbyterian Church, to which faith she has continuously subscribed. She was a member of La Paloma Chapter No. 202, Order of the Eastern Star and of The Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, Corinthian No. 39.

Left to mourn her passing are two brothers and one sister, Amos Sherod of Des Moines, Iowa; Clayton D. Sherod and Mrs. Sam Topping of Birmingham, Iowa; and four grand-children, Mrs. Wayne Pendleton and Donald Bolt of Covina, California; Charles and James Forbes of Azusa; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her father and mother, two brothers, Charles and Bordman Sherod, and two sisters, Zadie Jackson and Mary Syfert.

Services were conducted at Custer and Christiansen Chapel in Covina, July 9 with interment in Oakdale Memorial Park.

Truly her life was spent in service to her family and friends. This poem is in tribute to her philosophy of life.

A Will to Win

“I like the man who stands up straight
When he meets the hammer blows of fate
Who does not cringe and bend the knee,
Who takes what comes, if it has to be.

I like the man who still fights on
When life’s success seems all but gone,
The man who says, “I’ll show them yet,”
Who never gives up to vain regret.

For the finest men have sometimes failed
When adverse trials and distress prevailed,
It’s not so easy to keep your feet
When you’re used to the ways of Easy Street.

The man who fails but won’t stay down,
Who makes a smile replace the frown,
Will gain new strength as he goes along,
And will soon be leading the restless throng.

So give me the man with a will to win,
No matter what kind of fix he’s in;
The man who fights when he starts to slip
Will grasp success with resolute grip.”

(Poem by W. E. Warr filed in her clippings of poems)

July 11, 1875 baptized at the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church

December 10, 1888 admitted to the Presbyterian Church in Mt. Zion.

Source: transcription contained in “Family History” of the Barker, Sherod, and Forbes families and descendants compiled by Bernadine Forbes Clark, December 1980.