Obituaries
submitted by: Julia Johnson - julia.johnson63@gmail.com
 

[Permelia Ann Thompson Kitterman]

Ottumwa Daily Courier

 Ottumwa, Iowa, Wednesday, January 30, 1918

Mrs. J. N. Kitterman

 Word was received in this city today of the death of Mrs. Permelia A. [nn] Kitterman, wife of J. [ohn] N. [athan] Kitterman, of Glenwood, Missouri.

Mrs. Kitterman was formerly Permelia Ann Thompson.

 She has a sister Mrs. Mary [Elizabeth] McClung of this county and [a brother] David [Henderson] Thompson of Hedrick, Iowa.

 She is survived by her husband, two sons, and three daughters and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 The body will be brought to Ottumwa, Iowa and short services will be held at the E. [lias] C. [lark] Kitterman home three and one-half miles northeast of Ottumwa, Iowa, Thursday afternoon at 1 o'clock, with burial in the Kitterman Cemetery

[Joseph A. Hays]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    January 5, 1961    p. 5

 Joe Hays Dies At Iowa City

Joseph A. Hays, 73, of Athelstan, died at University Hospital, Iowa City, Saturday, December 31.  Funeral services were held at the Community church in Athelstan Tuesday afternoon, January 3.  Rev. Ward Campbell of Mount Ayr officiated.  Burial [was] in Athelstan cemetery.

Joseph A. Hays, son of Andrew and Isabelle Hays, was born Feb. 14, 1887, and passed away at University Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa, on December 31, 1960, at the age of 73 years, 10 months, and 17 days.

He leaves to mourn his departure two sisters, Mrs. Margaret Blake of San Jose, Calif., and Mrs. Grace Balch of Athelstan; two brothers, Clyde and Ora and one sister, Mrs. Ethel Markee preceded him in death.

He also leaves several nephews and nieces and many friends.

[Elizabeth Delight Sanborn Thompson]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    June 3, 1965    p. 6

Final Rites Are Held For Mrs. Thompson

Funeral services for Mrs. Ralph W. Thompson, 94, local educator and civic leader, were held May 28 at Madison Street, Shum-Novinger Funeral Home with Rev. John D. Kerr of the Presbyterian Church officiating.  Mrs. Thompson died May 26 at Hand Hospital in Shenandoah.  Interment was at Bedford Cemetery.

Included in the service was the following obituary:

Elizabeth Delight Sanborn Thompson was born Feb. 13, 1871, at Pecatonica, Ill., the daughter of Benjamin and Anna Sanborn.  She moved with her family to Evanston, Ill., where she attended Northwestern University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in the class of 1893.  She was a member of Alpha Phi social sorority.

She was principal of the Clarinda High School and later of Bedford High School, where she taught Latin and English.

She was united in marriage to Ralph W. Thompson on Nov. 2, 1899.  To this union four children were born:  Mrs. Wayland Maloy (Jean) of Shenandoah, Donald S. Thompson of Los Angeles, Mrs. John Conley (Martha) of Los Angeles, and Ralph W. Thompson, Jr.

Mrs. Thompson was a leader in organizing the Civic League, which included all the women of the community.  Its main objectives were to work for a new high school building, the Carnegie Public Library, and secure a county school nurse.  She was the first president of this organization, which also carried out many other worthy projects for community improvement.  She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, a charter member of Travel Club, chairman of Library Board and of the TB Association, leader of Red Cross work and many educational activities.

She was an untiring worker for the good of this community as long as her health permitted.  She kept informed and interested in all civic, educational and church work until the last.

Her husband and son, Ralph, Jr., preceded her in death.

She leaves with memories her three children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, John Maloy, Philip and Carol Thompson, one great granddaughter, Caroline Maloy.

[Mary Elinor Thompson Hillyer]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    July 20, 1967    [p. 1]

Nee Elinor Thompson: Mrs. Hillyer Final Rites Held Tues.

Final rites were held Tuesday, July 18, for Mrs. Whitfield D. [odge] Hillyer, the former Elinor Thompson, 57, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. S. [eth] E. [dward] Thompson [Adelaide Stratton], Bedford.  The Episcopalian service was held at 10 a.m. at Evanston, Ill., her home city.  Mrs. Hillyer died at her home July 14.

Included in her survivors are her husband, three sons, three brothers and three sisters.

Because of her great interest in the arts, in lieu of flowers, friends wishing to revere her memory were asked to send memorials to the Orchestral Assoc., Orchestra Hall or the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

Two Bedford brothers and a sister of Mrs. Hillyer's attended the services; Richard H. Thompson returned late Tuesday and Miss Carrolle Thompson and Alan D. Thompson are remaining in the Hillyer home for a few days.


[Genevieve Combs Thompson]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    October 19, 1967    p. 1, 4

Mrs. D. Thompson Final Rites Held in Calif., Oct. 16

Mrs. Doyle (Genevieve Combs) Thompson, 51, of Willits, Calif., died October 13 from injuries received in a car accident the previous day.  The accident occurred in front of a motel, which she and her husband operated.

She was born in Taylor County, Nov. 17, 1915, the daughter of George and Lida Lathrop Combs.  She attended New Market schools and was married May 6, 1939.  They lived in [the] Bedford area for several years, moving to California in August 1954.

She is survived by her mother [Lida Lathrop Combs] at Bedford; her husband; two daughters, Mrs. Ronald (Glenna) Gordon of Hayward, Calif., and Sandra Elaine [?} at home; two sons, Rodney and Stephen, both at Hayward and two grandchildren; two brothers, Dale, of New Market, and Ernest of Oakland, Calif.; six sisters, Mrs. William (Florence) Hutchinson of Springfield, Mo.; Mrs. Joe (Hazel) Foster of Clarinda; Mrs. Kenneth (Valera) Abbott of Springfield, Mo.; Mrs. Ralph (Mildred) Bernard and Mrs. Phyllis Jackson, both of Oakland, Calif., and Mrs. Francis (Orlene) Marshall of Chicago.

Memorial services were conducted Monday morning at Willits, Calif., with burial at Hayward.

Attending from Bedford were his brothers, Claude Thompson and Paul Thompson of Bedford, and Mrs. Cleo Thomas [Naomi], his sister.

[Donald S. Thompson]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    July 5, 1973    [p. 1]

Nationally Known Engineer:

Donald Thompson, Former Bedfordite, Dies June 26

Donald Thompson, 72, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Thompson, died in Los Angeles June 26.

Born in Bedford, Iowa, on November 15, 1901, Don attended Iowa State College, receiving a B. S.  Degree in Civil Engineering.  His career with the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering began in 1926 as a Topographic Draftsman in the Hollywood District Office.  His subsequent promotions and assignments would fill a book, but it sufficeth to say that he obtained such valuable experience in every phase of civil engineering that his final promotion to Chief Engineer of Design for the City of Los Angeles in 1965 was virtually uncontested.

Mr. Thompson authored many technical papers relating to hydraulics and highway geometrics for which he received national recognition.  In design achievements, his work on the renowned Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant must rank high.  He has also validated many hydraulic theories through tests on simulated models at the Bureau's Hydraulic Laboratory.

He married Louise Guthrie in 1927 and has two children, Philip Thompson and Carol Gordon, and two grandchildren, Christopher Gordon and Eugenia Elizabeth Gordon.  He is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Wayland (Jean) Maloy of Shenandoah and Mrs. John (Martha) Conley of Los Angeles.