Obituary – Mrs. T. J. Durnan (genealogy)

“How pleasing in the sight of God is the death of one of his saints.” Text chosen by the Rev. T.J. Enzler of Oelwein in conducting the funeral services of Mrs. T. J. Durnan, during the absence of her pastor, Rev. Halpin.
The words bespeak the life and death of Mrs. T. J. Durnan, formerly Annie Schmit. Born April 13, 1875, and who resigned her soul unto her maker on June 12, 1929.
She was united in marriage to Thos. J. Durnan on August 17, 1904. To this union were born four children; Philip, James, Harry and Nellie. She leaves to mourn these four children, her husband, four brothers and four sisters.
Although her body is consigned to the grave, and her soul to the life everlasting; the influence which her life has cast, was marked by the many friends, that filled to its doors, the Immaculate Conception church at Fairbank on Friday June 14, to pay their last tribute of respect and love.
She was always a silent admirer of children and was loved by all children with whom she came in contact. During her last illness some of her most enjoyable moments were those when the children came to see her. Many of whom, could not see her due to her failing strength.
In her severe sufferings, she would often calm herself in speaking of the children of her neighborhood and of times pleasantly spent in her home; attributes to her name of “True Home Mother.”
Boys always found a welcome in her home and were understood by her as an example to many of us.
It was her wish to be attended by her relatives during her last severe illness; which was faithfully carried out by her own family, especially; also the families of her brothers and sisters.
During the terrible pain, which the dreaded disease of cancer carries with it; she was ever comforted by her belief in the teachings of the Catholic church, of which she was a faithful member from infancy. During attacks of the most severe pain, she would breathe the words: “Jesus crucified; have mercy on me.” In these words she always found strength to bear her pain.
She was brought from St. Mary’s hospital at Rochester on Feb. 11, where she had an operation on Jan. 14, to the home of her brother, A. J. Schmit at Oran, because blockaded roads made it impossible to be taken to her home, and she was never able to be moved again.
She was never a day without seeing some of her family, and when the nights became wakeful, it was her wish to be attended by one of her immediate family, and one other relative, who watched continuously through the long night hours in token of sincere affection.
It had always been her wish that her deathbed would be attended by her husband and four children; also by her four brothers and four sisters (between whom she was the connecting link). On Friday June 7, she realized that her soul was soon to take its flight to her God. She asked that she might have the last rights of her religion, which she was granted by Rev. T. J. Enzler. Then after a last farewell to her family, she was filled with a holy longing to meet her creator.
Still she lingered in this longing for several days, in the meantime, two brothers from a distance came home. She was able to take her last farewell with them. During all of this her own family stayed constantly with her and on Tuesday evening, prayed with her while her soul peacefully departed to its eternal home.
She was of a quiet disposition but silently won the admiration of all who came in contact with her, especially those who were in religious or medical attendance during the last weeks of her sufferings.
Her great appreciation for the slightest act done for her will never be forgotten by those who cared for her, and the ready smile with which she greeted all who attended to her was a mark of her appreciation.
The surviving brothers and sisters are; Peter P. Schmit, New Richmond, Wis.; Anthony J. Schmit of Oran; John M. Schmit, Motley, Minn.; Philip F. Schmit of Fairbank; Teresa B. Hickory; Katie B. Kane; Misses Mary and Lizzie Schmit of Oran. Besides these she leaves many nephews and nieces to whom she was very dear; also other relatives and friends.
Relatives who attended the funeral were Mr. Lawrence Testin and family, Mrs. Kate Testin and family of Joliet, Ill,; J. J. Durnan and wife, also J. P. Durnan and daughter of Fulda, Minn,; Peter Graff of Akron, Ia.; Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Brennan and son of Waterloo.
Transcribed by Eric E. Durnan, the obituary of Anna Schmit Durnan, wife of Thomas J. Durnan taken from the Oelwein Daily Register, Monday, June 24th, 1929 edition.

Fatal Auto Crash Wrecks Train, John Fettkether Obituary (Genealogy)

Dunkerton Farmer Killed; Four Cars, Station Burn by Robert Knoedler, Courier Staff Writer.

Dunkerton, la - John Fettkether, 71, Dunkerton farmer, was killed early Thursday when his car crashed into the side of a northbound Chicago Great Western freight train just southwest of Dunkerton, and as a result of the crash, nine cars of the train were derailed, three of them were burned at the Dunkerton passenger-freight depot which was burned to the ground. The crash occurred about 12:20 a.m. Thursday as Fettkether was returning alone from Dunkerton to his home a mile west. Although there were no witnesses to the crash, trainmen believed that Fettkether’s auto struck an oil car near the end of the 67-car train and the force of the impact sheared a wheel flange on the train car causing the wheels to leave the rails. By the time the cars had reached the depot area about 1,000 feet down the track it is thought the sparks from the derailed wheels set fire to the following tank car filled with gasoline.


Gasoline Car Explodes


The gasoline exploded setting fire to the depot and to three cars. Also, the force of the explosion apparently uncoupled the last eight cars of the train all of which were derailed. The train continued another 500 feet before it was stopped. The depot burned to the ground and at least three of the derailed cars were completely destroyed by the fire. No one was at the depot at the time. One of the tank cars was filled with fuel oil and two box cars were filled with fiber board material. A third boxcar not damaged by the fire was loaded with cement. An empty passenger coach and the train caboose were derailed but not heavily damaged. Approximately 400 feet of track was ripped up and several hundred more was damaged.


Loss may be $15,000


Total loss may run between $10,000 and $15, 000 it was believed. C. J. Foster, Des Moines superintendent of the Iowa Division of the Great Western said that the station represented a loss of approximately $2,500 but that no estimate of damage to the equipment nor the extent of loss to contents of cars derailed was available at his office as investigators from the division office were still checking. Foster said communication lines had been disrupted by the wreck.


George Hoffman, wrecking crew foreman, said he expected to have the track cleared and repaired by Thursday evening. Meanwhile, all Chicago Great Western trains between Sumner and Waterloo were being detoured through Waverly over Illinois Central tracks.


Fettkether’s body was discovered on the highway at the crossing by his son in law, Ernest Youngblut was was returning to his home northwest of Dunkerton just after the train had passed.


Funeral Probably Saturday

Funeral Services for John Fettkether Thursday had been tentatively set for 9:30 a.m. Saturday in St. Francis Catholic church, Dunkerton. Rev. Fr. Louis Gerleman will officiate and burial will be in Fairbank, Iowa cemetery. The body was removed to the Brant Funeral Home, Oelwein, Thursday.


John Fettkether was born October 30th, 1872 in Dubuque county Iowa, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis (supposed to be Louis) Fettkether. He came with his parents to a farm near Readlyn, Iowa where he attended country schools and was later associated with his father in farming. He was married May 4th, 1898 at Fairbank, Iowa to the former Hannah Shade. The moved to the present farm home three years later. Mrs. Fettkether died November 2nd, 1937.


Seven Children Survive


Survivors include seven children; Oren, at home, Paul, San Diego, Cal,; Mrs. Leo Sadler, Jesup, Ia.; Hugh, Jesup, and Mrs. Leonard Youngblut and Mrs. Herbert Sondag all of Dunkerton. There are 22 grandchildren.


Also surviving are one brother, David, Hazleton, Iowa; and five sisters, Mrs. John Reith, Oran, Ia., Mrs. Charles Durnan, Mrs. John Kane, and Mrs. Earle Richards, all of Fairbank, Iowa, and Mrs. Ida West, Waterloo. A daughter and one sister and four brothers preceded him in death.






Transcribed by Eric E. Durnan. Taken from the October 19th, 1944 Waterloo Daily Courier, front page.

Lisa turns 13

Lisa on her second birthday in 1999.

Today is my daughter Lisa’s 13th birthday. She was my first child. Her mother was my first wife, Colleen. This wasn't Colleen's first kid. Colleen had a set of twins when I met her. This was Colleen’s second pregnancy though. Colleen insisted on having the baby in Waukon. I would come to insist on the same myself thereafter. Veteran’s Memorial Hospital is one of the best small hospitals that I have been in.


Lisa was about a week late. Colleen was using a Dr. Richard Perry at the time. He was a good doctor. Very good actually. He induced Colleen and she warned him that when she was induced for the twins, she gave birth quickly. There is a clinic that was nearby that Dr. Perry also saw patients in and he wanted to go over to the clinic to see his patients so he had the nurses monitor Colleen. Remember, this is my first child. I have never seen a baby being born; human baby that is. I’ve seen all sorts of animals being born. I expected some blood. I expected some slime. No problem. I was a hardened farm boy.

Well, as predicted, Colleen started going through labor quickly. She was dilating rapidly. She was acting really weird, writhing about and making noises that I didn’t think a human could make. I was starting to get spooked. The nurses didn’t help either. They were panicking. They couldn’t get Dr. Perry to answer the phone over in the clinic and they had a baby coming out right now! They begged Colleen not to push, but Colleen wouldn’t have any of it. This kid was coming out! One good push and Lisa popped out. I about fainted.

Actually, I wouldn’t say that I about fainted, rather, I about had a heart attack. The nurse exclaimed some expletive and dropped the phone and tried to do a football receiver style catch. It was a good thing that the end of the bed was still up or Lisa would have ended up on the floor. The nurse even failed to catch her. Lisa had the blondest of blonde hair when she was born. It was actually closer to white than blonde. Put that under the slimy stuff that has a yellowish hue and it looked sort of neon; as if it belonged on a character from H.R. Pufnstuf. I expected a pink baby, not the color that was lying there before me. Lisa was a purplish color. Contrast that with the neon whitish yellow hair, and she was totally not what I expected or had ever seen before. Now, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she started crying on her own, but it wasn’t a normal cry. It was a gurgling sound. She looked pissed off - as if she had been really comfortable lounging out in her mother’s abdomen and someone came and kicked her out of bed at 3 a.m. She was sort of shaking. The whole picture looked like she was half alien – half demon. Then to top this all off, Lisa looked like me. A miniature me, in odd colors, looking half alien – half demon, acting more like the demon, .....and she looked....like .....ME!  It was more than I could process at that moment. I was scared and freaked out. I wanted to get away. I found no beauty in this. I tried to back away from the bed. I couldn’t. There was a wall behind me. I kept trying to back up and get away. I was in total disbelief. My feet were moving but I wasn’t.

The nurse said, “She’s so beautiful.” I asked if that was normal. The nurse tried to reassure me that it was normal to be that color. You could have fooled me.

“Do you want to cut her umbilical cord?” the nurse asked. No way. I didn’t want to go near her. She really freaked me out. I was in shock.

The doctor finally came up and I watched him and the nurse get into an argument. Dr. Perry sounded like he was criticizing the nurse for this mishap. The nurse was pissed off. I heard the nurse say to him, “What did you expect me to do, shove her back in there until YOU were ready?”

I asked for a different doctor, much to the nurse’s delight. She said that she couldn’t tell me which doctor they prefer, but she asked me to notice the smile on her face when I asked for Dr. Schwartz. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Dr. Schwartz, he is a minor saint in my book. He’s really good with people, kids, and the staff around him. I have never seen him be condescending towards anyone. In fact, I’ve sat outside the hospital with him while he visited with me while he ate what appeared to be a liverwurst sandwich. I have used him for every child of mine since. My second wife was apprehensive to use a new doctor, but she too became a believer in him. She wouldn’t use anyone else now either.

It took awhile before I would even hold Lisa. It was a traumatic experience for me. I was totally unprepared for her arrival, or at least the way she arrived. For the record, I am the father of five kids and I have left the room for every child since Lisa. I don’t sit in there and watch the kid come out. I ask the nurse to let me know when they get the kid cleaned up, and then I’ll go see my new baby. When Brandi (my #2) was born (after a terribly long delivery) the nurse was pretty snippy with me for not wanting to be in the room when Brandi was born. I think Dr. Schwartz explained it to her later though as she chilled out. When my son Sean was born, Dr. Schwartz told me that I might want to get out of the room while the getting was good. God bless him. 


Lisa in October 2010.

  




Lisa has grown into a beautiful young lady. She will have a funny story to tell her grandchildren some day.

Daylight Savings Time

Why do we all switch our clocks forward and back? I understand that the hours of daylight changes between summer and winter. I remember as a child watching news pieces showing children getting on the bus in the dark, so they showed that by setting the clocks back one hour, the kids could get on the bus in the light. Why switch the clocks to accomplish this?



Have you ever seen those videos on Sesame Street, or other children’s shows where the characters cannot see the obvious? There used to be these bugs in Ernie’s window that just couldn’t see the obvious until they exhausted all other options in futility. Generally this meant that something got destroyed or ruined before it dawned on them what the correct thing to do was. Old comedy routines in movies and television (before profanity and shock became the norm) used to rely upon this time honored human fault as well. Sometimes we do things the hard way. Switching the clocks is the hard way. Want to know an easier way?



How about just starting school one hour later? How about doing the same for government agencies? If we could convince a few large employers to adjust their schedules as well, most everyone else would follow suit. While switching to this form of adjustment has its own challenges, it would be easier in the technical aspect. No clocks to change. No new code to write for computer programs. No trying to figure out what time it is where (other than the time zone differences that already exist). Isn’t it time we switch to an easier way to adjust time? I would rather adjust my schedule than adjust my clock.

8 Years and Counting……

On October 23rd, my wife and I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. I’ve loved her longer than that though. I’ve paid the price to love KinDee. I made a vow to her to love her for better or for worse. I’ve experienced both over the past 9 years that I’ve known her. I’ve shared the joy of our children with her and felt the bitter pain of her betrayal. It’s these things that have made me love her more. It’s easy to love someone when the times are good. When you love someone through the tough times, it’s then that you realize just how much you love that person. My first marriage ended in divorce and my current one nearly did. I’m very thankful that my wife and I are still married. We wouldn’t be together today if I didn’t love her as much as I do. We also wouldn’t be married today if my wife didn’t love me tremendously in return. I realize that my wife loves me more than what the world has to offer her. I just thought I’d take a moment to sum up my 9 years with my wife, 8 of those years being married.

I met my wife through my cousin Sarah in August of 2001. KinDee and I never dated. I had been separated from my first wife for nearly 2 years. KinDee was living alone across town. I ended up renting my cousin Sarah’s house. One of the first things I did was send Sarah over to KinDee’s to borrow a bar of soap. I figured she had two sons, she was bound to have a bar of soap that I could borrow. I started seeing KinDee on and off from then on. In November of that year, KinDee became pregnant with Jenna. It’s a good thing that KinDee and I liked each other. From that time on, KinDee left me a couple of times. I finally said enough and wouldn’t let her back into my life. In May of 2002, my divorce became final. In July of 2002, Jenna was born. I didn’t know about Jenna until a week later. My mother begged me to take KinDee back and I did. She hasn’t physically left me since. KinDee moved in with me in late August of 2002. Up until this time, she still had her apartment across town. In October of that year, I married KinDee. I believe in marriage. At our wedding, her mother hugged me and asked me to take care of her daughter. I promised her that I would. KinDee had a tough custody battle in December of 2002 and lost. It nearly tore us apart. In 2003, Pixly came to live with us. We finally had a teenager stirring the pot. In October of 2003, we started looking at buying a house. In November of that year, our son Sean was born. We finally bought our home in June of 2004. I would rather go through another divorce than buy another house! Things were pretty stable from that point on, but in 2004, my health started declining. By 2005, Pixly had moved out and my health declined further. It was getting harder for me to work. I converted to Catholicism following the death of Pope John Paul II. KinDee did not. By the end of 2005, I had decided to quit driving truck because of my health. KinDee had to start working in order to pay the bills. In January of 2006, KinDee went to work. I quit driving full time in February 2006. We soon were expecting our third child together. Things were really bad between her and the father of her two oldest. We petitioned the court again in the spring of 2006. In December of 2006, our daughter Karen was born. 2007 was a rough year. I stayed home with Karen while KinDee worked. My health continued to fail and we went into court in July of that year and lost again. This nearly tore us apart again, and in fact, little did I know, but it really did on KinDee’s part.

In late 2007, we were facing foreclosure on the home and things weren’t that good. I quit driving altogether in July of 2007 and we solely relied on KinDee for income. I was awaiting a Social Security hearing. We were able to get our finances straightened out with some financial help, and starting in 2008, I had a health crisis where I was suffering from heart failure. 2008 was a pretty rotten year. KinDee and I didn’t get along all that well. I attributed it to stress and the fact that she worked third and I slept at night. By the end of 2008, my health had stabilized some, yet we were very distant. I won my Social Security case in December of 2008.



In early 2009, I was able to get my teeth all pulled. My teeth were in bad shape and were killing me. I nearly died during surgery. Financially, we were stable, but I needed KinDee’s help more and more as my health was getting worse. I thought that things were getting better between her and I, but rumors were coming in that my wife was having an affair. On May 7th, 2009, my wife finally admitted to me that she was having an affair with a co-worker from late 2007 onwards. This devastated me.



I know some view this as airing out dirty laundry, but I think it’s an important story to tell. I loved my wife. I never quit loving her. I could have easily divorced her right then and there. I had the money to divorce her. I actually filed for divorce because KinDee was telling me that she wanted to leave. I also had to protect myself. You cannot love someone that refuses to have you love them. Plus, it’s dangerous being in a relationship with someone who claims they no longer love you. She was served with divorce papers and she looked long and hard at them. I told her that I didn’t want her to leave. I told her that I would divorce her if I had to, but preferred that she make changes in her life. She initially refused, but after receiving those divorce papers, she decided otherwise.

In the time since, KinDee has converted to Catholicism, retooled her thinking, and made amends with me. It has been a very long and difficult road and it’s still not back to normal. I do love her though and going through this difficulty has shown me just how much I love her. I’ve kept my promise to her mother. I’ve taken care of KinDee and I continue to love her even though it hasn’t always been easy. That’s what love is. Anyone who has children, especially older ones knows exactly what I mean. You love your children even when they hurt you. I love my wife the same way. It doesn’t mean that I condone the hurtful things that she’s done. It just means that she’s not just something that is disposable in my life; an object to be thrown away when its usefulness has run its course. It’s been a long hard 8 years. I love my wife more now that I did 8 years ago. How many people say that in today’s world? Only those of us who have been through the hard times and know what real love is. Happy Anniversary, Mother. May we celebrate many more.

John B. Cardey's Civil War Letter

                             Click on image above for larger size.

     This letter was written by John B. Cardey from Murfreesboro hospital during the Civil War. It gives a personal glimpse into his life. He might have been having family problems at the time, or maybe letters were having trouble getting through, but you can hear the insecurity that John has in this letter. His wife was Mary Ann Griffith. They remained married until she died around 1887. John went on to marry Sarah Jane Snow who was Ben Kane's widow after the death of Mary Ann Griffith. In this letter, we see John mention running into Ben Cain (Kane). Thanks to Carl P. Cardey for providing this letter to me. The transcription of the letter is below.

John Benjamin Cardey

John B. Cardey was an interesting character to say the least. His parents were John Cardey Sr. and Nancy Jane Pond. He was born in New York and his father brought him to Wisconsin when he was young. He was drafted into the Civil War and fought for the Union. Here are a few of his photos. John B. Cardey was best friend to Benjamin Kane, my third great grandfather. He married Ben Kane's wife after Ben Kane died. John B. Cardey is also third great grandfather to my wife KinDee. The photo on the upper left is a younger photo of John. The photo on the upper right is a photo of him when he was younger. It was taken at a Civil War Veteran Reunion. Thanks goes to Carl P. Cardey for those pictures. The photo below is of John B. Cardey in his Civil War outfit.

Clarence and Lavina Kane

Here's a photo of Clarence and Lavina Kane with their children. I'm not sure the year this picture is taken. Clarence is the son of George Winthrop Kane and Jessie G. Hubler. Clarence is the father of Ruth Kane, my wife's paternal grandmother. Lavina is Lavina McPhail, daughter of Taylor McPhail and Fannie Ellenora Cardey. Fannie Cardey was the daughter of John B. Cardey and Mary Ann Griffith. John B. Cardey went on to marry Sarah Jane Snow, Clarence Kane's paternal grandmother. Confused yet? Clarence and Lavina's grandfathers were both Civil War Veterans and best friends. When Clarence's grandfather and Lavina's grandmother died, Lavina's grandfather married Clarence's grandmother. The better twist is that my wife is descended from this family and I am descended from the Kane family. My third great grandfather is Clarence's grandfather. My third great grandmother married my wife's third great grandfather. It can be crazy confusing! The names of the individuals is on the picture below.