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

[Luvira Titus Mahan Kemery]
Bedford Times-Press
Thursday    April 5, 1956    [p. 1]
Mrs. Luvira Kemery
Rites Held Wednesday
Mrs. Luvira Kemery, long-time resident of Bedford and community, died at her home in Bedford shortly after noon Monday, following an illness of several years.

Funeral services were held at the Baptist Church Wednesday afternoon, conducted by Rev. Fred H. Cowles.  Burial [was] in Graceland [Titus] cemetery.

Luvira U. Titus, daughter of Francis and Lydia Arnold Titus, was born near Oxford, Henry County, Illinois, May 31, 1868 and died at the age of 87 years, 10 months, two days.

She came with her parents to Bedford in the spring of 1869, making the trip in a covered wagon.  The Titus family lived in a log cabin on the present site of the Baptist church, while her father and her uncle, Henry Bundy, hauled lumber from Afton for new homes on farms they had purchased west of town.  Afton was then the end of the railroad.

In 1890 she was married to Thomas S. Mahan and to them were born two sons, Dean Bruce E. Mahan of Iowa City and the late Frank T. Mahan of St. Joseph, Missouri.

In the spring of 1898, the Mahan family moved from a farm to Bedford and the deceased lived at the same address, 807 Jefferson, since that time.

In 1915 she was married to William H. Kemery.  Both Mr. Mahan and Mr. Kemery preceded her in death.

She united with the Baptist church in Bedford in 1899.  She had been a member of Golden Rule Rebekah lodge of Bedford since 1900, was a Past Noble Grand and a Past District Deputy President of that lodge.

Mrs. Kemery had four grandsons and two great grandsons.  The grandchildren are: Louis F. Mahan, Camden, N. J.; Dr. Thomas P. Mahan, Willimantic, Conn.; Frank T. Mahan, [deceased 1953], Kansas City; James B. Mahan, Washington, D. C.

The great grandchildren are Johnny Mahan, St. Joseph, Mo.; Stephen Mahan, Alexandria, Va.

Here from out of town for the last rites were Dean and Mrs. Bruce E. Mahan of Iowa City; Mrs. Frank T. Mahan and Mrs. Wentzel B. Noll of St. Joseph; Mrs. Jennie Opdylke McCluskey of Blackwell, Oklahoma.


[Donald Edward Carlton]
Bedford Times-Press
Thursday    January 24, 1957    [p. 1]
Don Carlton
, 43, Died In Colorado
Funeral services were held here Monday, January 21, at the Wetmore Funeral Home, for Donald [Edward] Carlton of Denver, Colorado.  He died there Friday, January 18, at the age of 43 years, five months and 10 days.  Dr. William Remley of Ames, a former minister of the church attended by Mr. Carlton in Denver, had charge of the services.  Interment [was] in Fairview cemetery.

Mr. Carlton was born in Clearfield, Iowa, the son of Edith [Buchanan] and C. [ecil] C. [laire] Carlton.  He was married in November [10] 1940 to Edith [Marian] Thompson of Bedford.

Surviving are his wife and mother, two sisters, Mrs. Alan D. [e Forrest] Thompson [Pauline] of Bedford, and Mrs. Don H. Cofer [Catherine] of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and their husbands, two nieces and four nephews and other relatives.

He was a member of the Methodist church in Clearfield during his boyhood, and at the time of his death was a member of the Capital Heights Presbyterian church in Denver, where he served as a deacon.

He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Second World War.

Don's family derived comfort from the words of Dr. William Remley, now of Ames, formerly of Denver, who was his pastor and friend.

[Beryl Webb Henry]
Bedford Times-Press
Thursday    June 26, 1952    [p. 1]
Obituary----Beryl Henry

Beryl Webb Henry, son of Robert [Letcher] and Allie [Alice Marie Webb] Henry, was born in Taylor County, Iowa, Nov. 21, 1899, and died at his home southeast of Bedford June 16, 1952, at the age of 52 years, six months and 25 days.

On October 5, 1918, he was married to Violet Campbell of Bedford.  To them three children were born.

He is survived by his wife, Violet; one son, Lt. Gilbert Henry of Fort Dix, N. J., two daughters, Mrs. Virginia Perkins of Bedford, Margaret at home; two grandchildren, Carol Ann Henry and Edward Hal Perkins.  Also by his father, R. [obert] L. [etcher] Henry; three brothers, Carol Henry of Martin, So. Dak., Hubert Henry and Doyle Henry of Bedford; three sisters, Mrs. Lola Eckles of Salt Lake City, Utah, Mrs. Dorothy John of San Francisco and Mrs. Arline Dern of Morehead City, S. C.

He was preceded in death by his mother and one brother [Elvon Robert].

Mr. Henry lived most all his life in Jackson Township and was a member of the Forest Grove Baptist church.

Funeral services were held at the Wetmore Funeral Home Thursday afternoon, conducted by Rev. Fred H. Cowles.  Burial was in Forest Grove cemetery.

[Locke Drexel Branson]
Bedford Times-Press
Thursday    June 19, 1952    [p. 1]
Obituary ---- L. D. Branson

L. D. Branson, a resident of Taylor County all of his life, died at his farm home northwest of Gravity June 13, following a short illness.

Funeral services were held at the Christian church in Gravity Sunday afternoon, conducted by Rev. Fred H. Cowles of the Bedford Baptist church.  Burial was in Fairview cemetery at Bedford, with Masonic burial service at the grave.

Locke Drexel Branson, son of Fred and Mary Branson, was born Feb. 19, 1893 at Siam, Iowa, and died at the age of 59 years, three months, 24 days.

On Feb. 2, 1916, he was married to Ruth Hurt at Platteville, Iowa.

He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Mary Branson of Bedford; his wife, Ruth; one sister, Mrs. Olen Collar of Bedford; one brother, William Branson of Knoxville, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his father.

Early in life he accepted Christ as his Savior and was baptized in the Christian church of Bedford.

He was a member of Masonic lodge No. 459 and the Odd Fellows lodge, both of Gravity.

[James Stratton Thompson]
Bedford Times-Press

Thursday    August 9, 1951    [p. 1]
Dr. James Thompson, Noted Physicist Dies
Special to Bedford Times-Press
Chicago----Dr. James Stratton Thompson, noted physicist and eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. S. [eth] E. [dward] Thompson [Adelaide Stratton] of Bedford, died suddenly Sunday evening, Aug. 5, at Michael Reese hospital in Chicago.  His death was caused by a cerebral [hemorrhage].

Dr. Thompson was 52 years old.  Surviving are his widow, Mildred, a son, James Jr., and two grandchildren, James III and Margaret Christine.

Besides his parents, survivors in Bedford are a sister, Carrolle, and three brothers, Richard, Alan and Charles.  Three other sisters also survive: Julia Griswold of Wheaton, Ill., Elinor Hillyer of Evanston, Ill., and Edith Carlton of Denver.

Funeral services were held in Bedford this Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Wetmore Funeral Home. Rev. Walter E. Schiel of the Presbyterian Church officiated.

Burial was made in Fairview Cemetery.

Services were held in Chicago Wednesday for Dr. Thompson.

Born in Bedford in 1899, Dr. Thompson was educated in the local schools.  He attended the University of Chicago, from which he took his Bachelor of Science degree in 1922.  In 1930 the university conferred on him the academic degree of doctor of philosophy in physics.

For the past 27 years, Dr. Thompson had been on the faculty of Illinois Institute of Technology (formerly Armour Institute of Technology) and has been chairman of the physics department for the past 17 years.

Internationally known as an expert on radium emanation, he was a member of the Physics Club of Chicago, the American Institute of Physics and the publication committee of the Chicago metropolitan area of the office of civil defense.

He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Xi honorary scientific society, and Sigma Pi Sigma, national physics honor society.  During World War I he served as a lieutenant in the coast artillery.