George Henry Whyte (1882-1932)

ANDERSON, CONGER, CUNNINGHAM, HENRY, MCGOWAN, OTTILIE, RICHARDSON, SEVAREID, WHYTE

Posted By: Eileen Reed
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:58

The Eagle Grove Eagle
Eagle Grove, Iowa
Thursday, December 15, 1932
Page 6, Columns 1-5

Goldfield Section

On Friday evening at eight o'clock, George H. Whyte passed away at his home following an illness of two weeks. Mr. Whyte and family had attended a family gathering at the W. A. Ottilie home at Manchester on Thanksgiving and upon their return on Friday he was taken ill. For ten days his condition was regarded as serious and consultation with four other doctors failed to bring the sought for relief. His family was at his bedside all during his illness and everything that loving hands could do was done.

Words are inadequate to express the loss that the community will feel by the passing of Mr. Whyte. He has ever been a leader in all things for the advancement of the town.

Funeral services were held at the home on Monday afternoon at two o'clock. Rev. W. S. Handy, pastor of the Goldfield Methodist church of which Mr. Whyte was a member for many years, conducted the service. The male quartette consisting of R. G. Nolte, Rev. Handy, Edwin Nelson and Leonard Madison sang "He Is Ever Near" and "Abide With Me". Miss Margaret Handy sang, "Face to Face". Mrs. G. G. Braden accompanied the singers and played "Largo" from The New World Symphony by Dvorak.

The overflow crowd from the house was accommodated at the United Presbyterian church where amplifiers had been installed and the entire service was heard there.

Following the service at the house, burial took place at the Goldfield cemetery and was in charge of the Fountain City lodge of A. F. find A. M.

The business men and town officials attended the service in a body. Many representatives of various branches of the Ford Co. and dealers from central and north central Iowa were present.

The pall bearers were the five men who had been employed by Mr. Whyte, G. G. Braden, Clyde Wilson, Sam Folkedahl, Elmer McCallum and Earl Fryslie and R. W. Skinner.

Obituary

George Henry Whyte, son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Whyte, was born at Goldfield, Iowa, Sept. 21, 1882 and died at Goldfield, Iowa, Dec. 9, 1932, at the age of fifty years, two months and eighteen days.

George attended the public schools of Goldfield until he was 16 or 17 years of age when he went into business with his father. Since that time, he has been a prominent factor in the business life of the community. The past twenty years he has been in the automobile business, being known throughout the state as one of the best and most successful men in that line.

On May 17, 1905 he was married to Miss Ethel Gertrude Conger. Mrs. Whyte, with their three children, Mrs. Ruth Lucile Richardson, Miss Margaret Faye Whyte and George Conger Whyte, today mourn the passing of a devoted and loving husband and father. He is also survived by his mother, Mrs. Agnes Whyte and two brothers, John S. and Kenneth, and six sisters, Mrs. W. A. Ottilie of Manchester, Mrs. Gilbert Henry of Ackley, Mrs. Eliot Sevareid of Dows and Mrs. Earl Anderson, Mrs. W. E. McGowan and Mrs. R. L. Cunningham. His father, George W. Whyte, died two years ago.

On February 8, 1903, George was admitted to membership in the Methodist Epsicopal church as probationer and on Feb. 7, 1904 was admitted to full membership. He has been for many years a member of the official board of the Goldfield Methodist church and has given of his time and strength without reserve to the service of the church he so deeply loved and for whose interests he was greatly concerned. The last work which he did after he became ill was a task which he had promised to do for the church.

He was elected mayor in the spring of 1930 and after serving out the term was re-elected at the city election of last spring. His administration was always in the interest of good government and public order. As in everything he was conscientious in his public duties.

Mr. Whyte was deeply interested in the welfare of the boys of the community. From the beginning of the Boy Scout movement in the community, he had been one of the best supporters of that work. He has served on the local committee from its organization and was for some time a member of the North Iowa Area Council.

He was known as a friend and helper of everybody, especially where there was any need. As a member of the local Red Cross committee and by virtue of his office as mayor he was in close touch with the needy of the community and gave freely of his time and strength to planning and carrying out the program of relief and help which has been so necessary these last years.

He was a member of the Fountain City lodge No. 589, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Camp 2629 of the Modern Woodmen of America.

In every relation of life, in the family, the church, the business life not only of our community but in a wider field than that alone, his passing has left a definite void.

Those from out-of-town who attended the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Farmer and family of Storm Lake; Mr. and Mrs. W. Ottilie and son, Donald, Manchester; Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Henry and son, Ackley; Mr. and Mrs. Elliot Sevareid and daughter, Dows; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Pojman, Grinnell; Bob Whyte, Grinnell; Raymond Keister, Mason City; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Keister and Jeanette, Elmore, Minn.; Mrs. C. J. Anderson, Elmore, Minn.; R. B. Hammer, of Ames; M. C. Butler, Ft. Dodge; M. E. MacNaughton, Eagle Grove; Mr. and Mrs. Gene Felton, Leseur; Mr. and Mrs. Penn Eckles, Britt; Fred Kayser and Frank Snyder, Webster City: Bert Samson, Clarion; Mr. Whyte and Mr. Meade, Des Moines; Mr. Prichard, Garner; Mr. Prichard, Britt; F. V. Schnucker, Waterloo, Merrill Rawson, Eagle Grove.