PICKERING, Edward "Pete": Died 1986

PICKERING, FYE, ROMINE, EMERTON, HALL, MCINTIRE, WOODARD, SYFERT, RILEY, STREETER

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 3/14/2023 at 17:18:10

Fairfield Ledger
Tue. 29 July 1986

Pete Pickering died at 87

KEOSAUQUA - Edward "Pete" Pickering, 87, of Keosauqua, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Saturday night or early Sunday. His body was found Sunday by concerned neighbors, who investigated when he did not answer his phone.

Dr. Stephen Sparks, deputy medical examiner, and the Van Buren County Sheriff's office investigated. Mr. Pickering's health had been declining for some time.

Services will be held at 11 p.m. Wednesday at Pedrick Funeral Home in Keosauqua with the Rev. Don Morrison officiating. Burial with Masonic rites by Justice Lodge will be at approximately 2:30 p.m. in Rock Creek Cemetery near Ollie. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Memorials to the Ollie Masonic Building Fund may be left at the funeral home.

Pickering was born Oct. 2, 1898 near Ollie, the son of Orville and Cora Fye Pickering. He owned a trucking business in Ollie for 24 years, was affiliated with the Ollie Sale Bar, and was a partner in the Keosauqua Sale Company for 16 years. He later worked part-time for Lester Hohl Fertilizer Company in Keosauqua and for the Van Buren County Assessor. He had been mayor of Ollie and served on the town council. He was a member of Eagles Lodge, Ottumwa, a life member of Elks Lodge in Fairfield, a 65-year member of Justice Lodge 230 AF and AM, Ollie, and served as lodge secretary for 24 years.

He married Winona Romine in 1921. Their two sons, William and Leon, both died in World War II. A daughter, Lucille Emerton of San Diego, Calif., survives. Also surviving are two grandsons; four great-grandchildren; four sisters, Edith Hall of Sacramento, Calif., Daisy McIntire of Fairfield, Blanche Woodard of Cassadaga, Fla., and Lois Syfert of Keosauqua.

In 1930 he married Helen Riley, who died in 1932. On July 6, 1933, he married Margaret Streeter. She died Jan. 3, 1971.

Source: "Scrapbook 1986 - 1988", Pg. 334,
Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, Van Buren Co., IA