Obituaries

submitted by: Julia Johnson - juliajoh@usc.edu

[Martha Ellen "Mattie" Fitch Parker]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday January 21, 1960 p. 4

Mrs. Mattie Parker Rites Were Saturday

Mrs. Mattie Parker of Bedford died January 13, 1960 at the age of 81 years, three months, 28 days after being ill for more than five years.

Funeral services were held at the Shum-Novinger Funeral Home at 708 Madison Street, Saturday afternoon, January 16. Rev. Colvin Caughey officiated. Burial [was] in Fairview Cemetery.

Martha Ellen Parker, better known as Mattie Parker, daughter of John T. and Sarah Jane Fitch, was born September 16, 1878 at Dakota City, Nebraska.

At the age of five she moved with the family by covered wagon to Taylor County, Iowa. The family lived on a farm west of Bedford, where she grew to womanhood.

On June 8, 1898 she was married to Thomas A. C. Parker and they had always made their home in Bedford. To this union three daughters were born. They are Lois, Mrs. T. E. McNees, of Denver, Colo.; Marie, Mrs. Charles Cornell, of Des Moines; and Georgia, Mrs. Paul Miller of Bedford.

She was preceded in death by her husband, who died May 3, 1936, and by two brothers, William E. Fitch and Charles E. Fitch.

She is survived by her three daughters; two sisters, Mrs. Frances F. Bailey of Bedford and Mrs. Mayme E. King of Fort Collins, Colo.; three grandchildren, Charles W. Cornell, Jr., of Bedford, Mrs. Dean Nieder of Aurora, Colo., Mrs. Bernard Robidoux of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; four great grandchildren.

As a young girl she united with the Gilead Methodist church and in 1907 joined the First Baptist church of Bedford, where she was an active member for over 50 years.

Mrs. Parker loved her home and family, [was] always a good neighbor, and was especially fond of poetry and flowers.

[Lulu Blanche Graffis Griffith]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday January 21, 1960 p. 4

Mrs. Blanche Griffith Died At Lenox Sun.

Mrs. Blanche Griffith, a long-time resident of Taylor County, died at her home in Lenox, Sunday night, January 17, at the age of 84 years and five days. She lived alone and had been seen by her neighbors Sunday evening but failed to answer her door when someone called Monday morning. The home was entered and she was found sitting in her chair by the oil-burner, where she had peacefully passed away during the night.

Funeral services were held at the Shum-Novinger Funeral Service on State Street, Wednesday afternoon, January 20. Rev. Frank Greenwood of the Conway Methodist church officiated. Burial [was] in Lexington cemetery.

Lulu Blanche Graffis, daughter of Levi and Clara Graffis, was born in Lee County, Iowa, January 12, 1876. Her mother died when she was about three years of age and she was raised by an older sister, the family moving to Taylor County, near Conway, in 1880. She was one of a family of six children, four girls and two boys. All preceded her in death. They were Mrs. Belle Morgan, Mrs. Myrna Mahan, Mrs. Addie Otts, Frank Graffis and Charles Graffis.

She was married on July 26, 1891, to Robert Chalmers Griffith at Bedford and they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary in 1941. No children were born to this union.

Mr. and Mrs. Griffith spent all of their married life on farms in what is now the Lake of Three Fires area, living for many years just across the street from the state park and before that on a farm two miles east. After Mr. Griffith's death on April 22, 1946, she continued to live on the farm until she moved to Lenox in 1949.

Surviving relatives are several nieces and nephews. Mrs. Griffith became a member of the East Mission church many years ago.