p. 23 | Obituaries

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jun 9, 1904

Obituaries

WILEY.—Died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C. C. Lewis, in College Place, Wash., Friday evening, April 28, 1904, just as the sun was setting, Mrs. Agnes Wiley, aged 69 years. Her last moments were bright with hope and trust. As the twenty-third Psalm was being repeated to her just before she passed away, she was taken with a short spell of coughing, after which she herself took up the psalm where the speaker had left off, continuing in a clear, fervent voice: “I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Funeral service by the writer, assisted by Elders A. J. Breed, W. B. White, and W. F. Martin.

GEO. A. SNYDER.

HEMPSTEAD.—Mrs. Catharine Hempstead was born near London, Ontario, Dec. 28, 1863. Before she was seven years old, her father and mother died. Her home was for a time with her sister, Mrs. Sweet. She was united in marriage to George L. Hempstead, Sept. 21, 1880. Most of their married life, up to eight years ago, was spent in Flint, Mich. Sister Hempstead was converted when sixteen years of age, and united with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Those who knew her best spoke very highly of her life. Her confidence in God held firm to the last. Her death was caused by consumption, March 28, 1904. Besides her companion, she leaves three brothers and two sisters to mourn their loss.

O. F. BUTCHER.

MAGAN.—Ida May Bauer, only daughter of John Christian and Henrietta Bauer, was born at Palermo, Doniphan Co., Kan., Sept. 9, 1869, and died Thursday, May 19, 1904, aged 34 years, 8 months, and 10 days. During her earlier life she lived with her parents on the farm, being one of a comparatively large family. In the days when dwelling in Kansas meant pioneer life she learned and partook of the toils and hardships incident to the homesteader’s lot. Her early education was received in the district school. At the age of sixteen she entered the Battle Creek College, and was graduated from the English course in 1890. About this time she became acquainted with Prof. Percy T. Magan, who was then a teacher in the college. They were united in marriage by Elder Alonzo T. Jones, June 14, 1892, at the old Bible Mission House, College Place, Chicago. She was the mother of two boys, Wellesley Percy and Shaen Saurin, who are now aged respectively ten and seven years. During the autumn of 1901 she nursed her husband through a long illness of typhoid fever. The strain told upon her, and she was never quite so strong after that as before. The death of her brother Augustus, following soon after, increased her physical difficulties. From her earlier life, up to the time of her brother’s death, she had lived a consistent Christian, but a marked change occurred after this sad event, which gave her a stronger and richer spiritual experience than ever before. One of her husband’s sweetest recollections of her before her sickness began, is when, one evening, he returned from a business trip, and finding no one down-stairs, came up into the hallway outside the children’s bedroom. Little Wellesley and Shaen were in their night suits, one on either side of their mother, all three kneeling by the bedside, their mother joining with them in their evening prayer, and the rays of the setting sun illuminating her face and hair as if an expression of heaven’s approval of her faithful work. During the months of April and May, 1903, she seemed to be nervously exhausted, and suffered from two acute attacks of gastritis. On the night of the first of June her husband, who had been away for several days, returned to his home, and found her very tired and nervous, and on that night her long illness began. During the long summer months she suffered intensely. At times when her mental agony was not so great, she would plead for hours at a time with God that he would hear her prayers, and restore her to perfect health. In November she was removed from her home at Berrien Springs to a hospital, where most expert care and treatment for her malady could be provided. Toward the middle of March a sudden change for the worse physically took place, and on the thirtieth of March last, it was discovered that tuberculosis had already set in. The progress of the disease was so rapid that nothing in the way of a removal to another climate could be done to check it. From the moment that this disease was discovered, it was seen that, as far as human power was concerned, the end must shortly come. Her physicians and nurses bore a touching testimony concerning her Christlike and patient experience during her intense suffering. The last few days of her life were accompanied with intense physical pain, a gangrenous process having set up in the left lung. She patiently bore it all. Frequently during her last hours she would ask her husband to pray with her and for her, always stating that her hope in God was firm and steadfast, and that she longed for the end to come and terminate her fearful sufferings; and the end came peacefully at 4:43 in the afternoon of Thursday, May 19. Without a struggle she passed to her rest like a tired child seeking repose. The funeral services were held in Memorial Hall, in the grove on the school farm, at Berrien Springs, Mich., Sabbath afternoon, May 21, conducted by Elder A. T. Jones, assisted by Elders S. N. Haskell, G. I. Butler, A. G. Daniells, and Wm. Covert. These services were attended by the faculty and students of Emmanuel Missionary College, and many friends who were present at the meetings of the Lake Union Conference. The burial was in the village cemetery.

W. W. P.