BECK, Emma Bell: Died 1935

BECK, SPRANKLE, FAHR, COX, SCHROEDER, SHEPHERD

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 7/17/2014 at 07:12:44

**Handwritten: KEO REP APRIL 1935

Emma Sprankle Beck

Emma Bell Sprankle, daughter of William and Nancy Seabrooks Sprankle, was born in Adams county, Pa., October 26, 1854, and departed this life about five o'clock Wednesday evening, April 10, 1935, aged eighty-one years, six months and sixteen days.

When she was still quite young she moved with her family to Menden, Ill., near Galesburg, where she attended school for a time. Her mother died when Emma was 12 years old. Later her father married again and the family moved to Bonaparte, Iowa soon after the close of the Civil War. Her father worked on the construction of the Meek dam then being built at Bonaparte.

On her seventeenth birthday, Oct. 26, 1871, she was united in marriage with Mr. John Q. Beck, of Bonaparte. They lived on a farm in Harrisburg until 1876 when they moved to Bonaparte, which has since been their home. Oct. 26, 1934 Mr. and Mrs. Beck celebrated their sixty-third wedding anniversary.

Eight children blessed this union: Helen Fahr, of Phoenix, Arizona; Clara Cox, of Rose Hill, Iowa; Emma Schroeder, of Linden, Wash.; Margaret Shepherd, who died seven years ago; and Ina, who died at the age of seven years; Joseph W. Beck, of Lomita, Calif.; Roy Q. Beck, of Ray, Arizona, and Donald U. Beck, of New York City.

Of the immediate family there are left to mourn the husband John Q. Beck; six children, Helen, Clara, Emma, Joseph, Roy and Donald; also eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She also leaves one half-sister, Mrs. Minnie Christian, of Oregon City, Oregon, and one half-brother George Sprankle, of Farmington, Iowa.

Mrs. Beck was a faithful member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. She was devoted to her family and her home, and took great delight in the flowers of her garden, which made a beautiful spot in Bonaparte for years. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.

Funeral services were held from the Presbyterian church in Bonaparte, Friday afternoon, April 12, at 2 o'clock, in charge of the Rev. M.E. Hayes, pastor of the Keosauqua M.E. church. Interment was in the Bonaparte cemetery.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book D, Page 43, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA