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

[Clara Cassie Bailey Beal]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    February 13, 1964    p. 4

C. Cassie Beal Services Feb. 8

Funeral services for Mrs. Elmer (Clara Cassie) Beal were held Feb. 8 at Madison Street Shum-Novinger Funeral Home with Rev. J. Milton Kinney, local Methodist minister, officiating.  Mrs. Beal died Feb. 6 at her children's' home in Gay Township at the age of 90 years, 10 months, 28 days.  Interment was at Graceland Cemetery, Taylor County, Ia.

Included in the services was the following obituary:

Clara Cassie Bailey, daughter of Sam and Susan Bailey, was born March 9, 1873.  At the age of two and a half years, Cassie was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. W. [arren] D. Ashcraft [Louisa Arnold] of Bedford, Iowa.

Early in life she joined the Gilead church, later changing to the Bedford Methodist Church.

On February 3, 1897, Cassie was united in marriage to Elmer Beal.  They were the parents of four children: Arley, Elvin, William and Bernita.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and one son, William.

She is survived by her children: Arley, Elvin and Bernita; three grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.

[Charles Ellsworth Gaule]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    February 13, 1964    p. 4

Charles Gaule Rites Held Here Tues.

Funeral services for Charles Ellsworth Gaule, 66, of Bedford, were held Tuesday at Madison Street Shum-Novinger Funeral Home with Rev. James Sheckler officiating.  Mr. Gaule died February 9.  Interment was at Conway Cemetery, Conway, Ia.

[Gaule, Charles Ellsworth]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday      February 20, 1964     p. 5

Chas. Gaule, 66 Rites Feb. 11

Funeral services for Charles Ellsworth Gaule, life-long Taylor County resident, held Feb. 11 at Madison Street Shum-Novinger Funeral Home, were conducted by Rev. James Sheckler. Mr. Gaule died at Armstrong Nursing Home in Bedford on Feb. 9. Interment was at Conway cemetery, Conway, Ia.

The following obituary was included in the services.

Charley E. [llsworth] Gaule, son of William and Mary Jane McCort Gaule, was born on October 18, 1897 near Bedford. He was educated in the county schools and for many years was employed on farms in the vicinity and near Clearfield. An accident early in life caused him to be on crutches from which he never fully recovered.

He was preceded in death by his father, mother, five brothers and one sister.

He is survived by four brothers, James H. [enry] and Patsy E. [ugene] of Clearfield, Richard of Diagonal and Phillip of Shenandoah, Ia.; several nieces and nephews and many friends.

[George Adolph Schoenmann]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    February 13, 1964    p. 4

G. Schoenmann Rites Sunday In Blockton

Funeral services for George Adolph Schoenmann, long-time Blockton lumberman, held Sunday (Feb. 9) at Blockton Methodist church, were conducted by Rev. Clarence Landis, Blockton Methodist minister.  Mr. Schoenmann died Feb. 3, 1964, in Memorial Hospital in Glendale, Calif.  Interment was at Rose Hill Cemetery, Blockton.

The following obituary was included in the services:

George Adolph Schoenmann, son of Ferdinand and Caroline Schoenmann, was born near Spring Green, Wisconsin, Dec. 1, 1881.

After high school graduation in Spring Green, Wisconsin, he moved with his parents to Blockton, Ia., where his father established and operated a lumberyard for some years.  At his father's death, the business was continued by George until his retirement, Jan. 1, 1963.

He was a graduate of Drake University Law School and the School of Law of the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, and practiced a short time in Des Moines and in Glendale, Calif., as well as in Blockton.

He was married to Dorothy E. Homes in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 20, 1907, and they experienced pioneer life for two years on a homestead near Bennett, Colo., before coming to Blockton in 1909.  In 1910 they moved to Whittier, Calif., and returned to Blockton in 1913, when he became a partner in his father's lumber firm.  The family has made its home here since that time, with the exception of four years spent in Glendale, Calif.

He was a member of the Methodist church in Blockton, which he attended faithfully for many years and was active in the work of the church, as director of the choir and as Sunday school teacher.  In later years, ill health kept him from regular attendance.

He was a member of Bethany Lodge No. 320 of Blockton, from which he received his 50-year pin last Aug. 1963, and he served in all of the offices of the Lodge and as Worthy Patron of the Eastern Star Chapter for 15 years.

He belonged to the Des Moines Consistory, Kaaba Shrine in Davenport, the State Bar Associations of Iowa and of California and was the Dean of Lawyers in Taylor County at the time of his death.  He had also received his 50-year Bar Association Certificate.

Mr. Schoenmann was active in civic affairs of his town, serving on the town council, school board, telephone board, and as secretary of the Jefferson Township Trustees for many years.  He was very much interested in music and was a leader and member of the Blockton band for many years.

He leaves to mourn his loss, his beloved and cherished wife, Dorothy, son, Gordon, and wife Florence, of Glendale, Calif.; daughter, Lorene, and husband Merrill Smith, Jr., of Charles City; grandsons, Donn Schoenmann and wife, Valgerda, of Carmel Valley, Calif., Nicholas Schoenmann, student at San Jose State College, San Jose, Calif., James M. Smith, student at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa; granddaughter, Diane, and husband John Erler of Cape May, New Jersey; two great grandchildren, Valerie and Stuart Gordon Schoenmann of Carmel Valley, Calif.; and one nephew, John Schoenmann of Blockton.

He had many friends and acquaintances, and no one valued and desired these friends more than he.  All during his life he tried to help people, and many came to him for advice and aid.

He lived his life with the firm belief in the existence of an Eternal Life and looked forward to it as the beginning of a great adventure.

[Mryl L. Page]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    February 13, 1964    p. 4

M. L. Page Dies In Ariz.

M. [yrl] L. Page, 80, a former resident of Bedford but in recent years of Des Moines, died in Tucson, Ariz., Fri., Feb. 7, where he and Mrs. Page had recently gone to spend the winter.  Last rites were held in Tucson on Monday.

He is survived by his wife and two children, Mrs. Virginia Knopp of Tucson and Dr. Wesley Page of Rockford, Ill.; three grandchildren and a great grandchild.

[Bessie Fay Downing Morris Copple]

Times-Republican

Thursday    April 9, 1959    p. 6

Mrs. Bessie Copple Dies

Mrs. Bessie Fay [Morris] Copple, 64, died Tuesday, March 31, at her home in Hopkins following a long illness.

Born Dec. 5, 1894, at Sheridan, the daughter of the late Frank and Rose Adams Downing, she had resided in the Sheridan and Hopkins communities most of her life.  She had lived in Hopkins 16 years.

She was married Jan. 28, 1922, to Joseph Copple, who preceded her in death.  Mrs. Copple was a member of the Sheridan Christian Church.

Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Harry Weir of Omaha, Mrs. Ray Robison of Goleta, Calif.; a step-son, James Copple of Torrington, Wyo.; two sisters, Mrs. Lucy Freeman of Gravity, Mrs. Lillie Cooper of Sheridan; three brothers, W. L. Downing of Grant City, Harlen Downing of Tabor, James Downing of Westmont, Ill.; 10 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Hopkins Christian Church, with the Rev. L. B. Day, Maryville, officiating.  Rev. A. V. Hart, pastor, assisted.  Burial in Luteson cemetery near Sheridan.

[Andrew Woodson "Wood" Robinson]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    April 2, 1959    p. 4

Wood Robinson Rites Held Friday P.M.

Last rites for Wood Robinson, who died at his home in Bedford, Tuesday, March 24, were held at the Wetmore Funeral Home Friday afternoon.  Rev. Colvin Caughey of the Baptist Church officiated.   Burial was in Bedford cemetery.

Andrew Woodson Robinson, son of Sarah and Jerry Robinson, was born at Stewartsville, Mo., August 8, 1868, and died at the age of 90 years, seven months, 15 days.

He was married to Florence Bell Fultz and to them two children were born.  Mrs. Robinson died in 1900.  He was married to Melvina Carpenter in 1905 and they moved to Bedford during the same year.  Since his blindness for the past twelve years, he had made his home with his son and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Robinson.

Mr. Robinson is survived by his two children, Mrs. Agnes Hillard and Lewis Robinson, both of Bedford; his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Marguerite Robinson; three grandchildren, Mrs. Jacqueline Wiley of Chicago, Connie and Jerry Robinson of Bedford; one sister, Mrs. Laura Clark of St. Joseph, Mo.; two nieces, Mrs. Athella Mitchell of St. Joseph, Mrs. Estella Morrison of Chicago; and a step-daughter, Mrs. Hazel Grady of St. Joseph.

Mr. Robinson became a Baptist when a young man and was active in the Zion Baptist church of Bedford until it disbanded.

Attending the funeral services from out of town were Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Brooks and daughter, Mrs. J. Voner and O. Nelson of Omaha; Mrs. Laura V. Clark and Mrs. Hazel Grady of St. Joseph, Mo.

[Albert Francisco "Al" Reeder, Jr.]

Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    April 2, 1959    p. 4

Al Reeder of Hopkins Dies Unexpectedly

Albert Francisco Reeder, Jr., 58, died unexpectedly Monday night at the home of a neighbor, Robert Cox.  Mr. Reeder suffered a heart attack.

He was born in Hopkins, and was a lifelong resident of that community.  He was a farmer and salesman.  Mr. Reeder was a member of the Christian Church and Xenia Lodge No. 50, A. F. & A. M. at Hopkins.

Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Mary Reeder of the home; one brother, Harmon Reeder, Maryville, Mo.

Services were held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Christian Church, with Rev. A. V. Hart officiating.  Burial in Hopkins cemetery.