Malvina Sturdivant Blackmer 1856-1897

BLACKMER, STURDIVANT

Posted By: Volunteer - Rich Lowe
Date: 10/3/2001 at 07:35:39

Malvina Colusa Sturdivant, daughter of Dr. R. J. and M. A. Sturdivant, was born in Harrisburg township, April 14, 1856, and died August 5th, 1897, at the age of 41 years, 4 months and 21 days.

She was born of God and united with the Baptist church in the winter of 1886. She was married to Dr. Benjamin P. Blackmer Nov. 3, 1881. She leaves, to mourn her loss, a husband, an aged mother, three children, Capitola C., Nola P. and Benna P., two brothers, four sisters and a host of sympathizing friends.

The funeral was preached in the Baptist church, in Bonaparte, Iowa, by Elder W. C. Shepherd, from the text found in Job. 14:14, "If a man die shall he live again" The object of the speaker was to console the bereaved family by proving that nature, science and the bible are three infallible witnesses of the fact that we shall live beyond the grave. He said in part: "It is natural for man to die, but it is not natural for man to live. We struggle for life, not for death. Our mortal nature seeks the downward course, while our spiritual or living nature, like the stream of water, seeks its fountain head; and at death, the earth having an affinity for our natural bodies, draws them to the dust; but the Christ, who is our life, having affinity for our spiritual or supernatural natures, drawls our life upwards, and the result is: Our body returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to the God who gave it." He said that in order to live an eternity of happiness we must accept of the Christ life while we live here; that to reject Jesus Christ as our life is to choose a sphere in which to spend an eternity where there is no God."

In his closing remarks, referring to the deceased, the speaker paused for a moment and then tenderly said a: "This loving wife, this dear daughter, and this affectionate mother, departed this life where midnight fell on midnoon. In her home she was vine and flower; in her life she was sunshine and love. But she yet lives. She is now a spirit magnet to draw those who mourn her loss up to a purer and better life."
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I am NOT related and am posting this obit for those who may find this person in their family history.