Portage County, Wisconsin
Obituaries
Portage County, Wisconsin
Obituaries
Sarah Bancroft
Harding's Aunt Dies in Wisconsin City
Stevens Point, Wis., March 16 - Mrs. Sarah Bancroft, aunt of President Harding, died at the home of her grandson, A. F. Barrows, here today. Mrs. Bancroft was the widow of the Rev. Warren G. Bancroft, former pastor of the Oshkosh Methodist church. [Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, St. Louis Co. MN) 17 Mar. 1922 - Sub. by Brenda W.]
George L. Barrows
OLDEST CONDUCTOR DIES.
Stevens Point, Wis., Nov. 8 - George L. Barrows, the oldest passenger conductor on the Wisconsin Central and "Soo" Line died today of pneumonia. [Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, St. Louis Co. MN) 9 Nov. 1921 - Sub. by Brenda W.]
Mark E. Bruce
The Stevens Point Daily Journal , Monday, October 2, 1939
DEATH CLAIMS MARK E. BRUCE, LOCAL PIONEER
Services on Tuesday for Former Theatre and Hotel Man
Mark E. Bruce, 81, one of Portage county's most widely known citizens, a veteran hotel and theatre man and a member of the Stevens Point water commission since its organization, died Sunday morning at 3:50 o'clock at St. Michael's hospital.
Mr. Bruce had been active in his various interests until he entered the hospital on August 17 when his condition was regarded as serious. His condition was critical the last few days.
Mr. Bruce was born at South Colton, New York, on November 20, 1857, a son of Nathaniel P and Rhoda Bourne Bruce. His mother died when he was only two years old and four years later, in June 1863, his father came west to Dodge county. His six children followed him in November of that year and the family located at Atwater. Mark Bruce attended rural school until he was 13 years old after which he worked on farms in Dodge county and later in Trempealeau county.
Worked in Woods
After a few years as a farm hand, Mr. Bruce went to northern Wisconsin and worked in the woods. It was during his residence at Merrill, on April 22, 1885, that his marriage to Marguerite LaMieux took place. The couple were married in Stevens Point at the Methodist parsonage by Rev. R. W. Bosworth. They resided at Merrill and three years later came to Portage county and settled on a farm in what was then the town of Eau Pleine but is now the town of Dewey. After living there seven years the family moved to Stevens Point, in January, 1895. They took over the management of the Bruce hotel on South Third street in December, 1898, and Br. Bruce, who acquird the property, continued to operate the hotel until 1920. At that time he leased it and moved his family to a home which he built two doors from the hotel.
Pioneer Theatre Man
A pioneer in the theatre business in Stevens Point, Mr. Bruce opened what was known as the Gem theatre in the Odd Fellows building on North Third street in December, 1912. A year later he built a building to house the theatre at the present location of the G. A. Gullikson garage. He continued operating under the name of the Gem until he remodeled the building and changed the name to the Strand. In the meantime he leased the Opera House, the present Fog theatre, which he opened in November, 1920. He continued to operate the Strand until 1921 and the Opera House until 1925. He closed his theatre career at that time, selling his theatre interests to John Adler of Marshfield.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce re-entered the hotel business in 1933 and continued to operate the Bruce hotel until the death of Mrs. Bruce on March 23, 1937. Mr Bruce then leased the hotel to Mrs. Vernon Soule, who has since operated it.
Commission President
A member of the board of water commissioners since it was formed in 1922, Mr. Bruce served as its vice president for a time and in 1934 became its president, which office he held until his death. He was an active member of the commission and took a prominent part in planning construction of the water department's new office building.
Mr. Bruce formerly held membership in various lodges and organizations, but in later years confined his activities to the Odd Fellow and Masonic orders. He held the various offices in the Odd Fellows lodge, Stevens Point Lodge No. 92; and conducted the organization's funeral rites for many years. Of the Masonic bodies he held membership in Evergreen lodge, Forest chapter and Crusade commandery.
In Many Activities
An active member of the old Settlers association which was organized in September, 1892, Mr. Bruce was elected as its secretary and treasurer in 1915, later serving as its president. He was a member and treasurer of the board of education for several years, served as secretary of the former Stevens Point Fair association for a year and was an active member of the fair board during the years of its existance. He served Portage county as its humane officer for many years and was Red Cross chairman during the World war. He was a former member of the Rotary club and was a former charter member of the Stevens Point Beavers. He also held membership in the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Surviving are three children, Howard of Evansville, Mrs. Kathryn Missner of Fifield and Walter of Blanchardville; three grandchildren, Mark H. Bruce of Evansville, a son of Howard, and Kathry and Bobby, children of Walter, and a brother, George Bruce of Eureka, California.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Boston funeral home. Rev. Robert Gray will officiate. Burial will follow in the Forest cemetery where Odd Fellow rites will be conducted. The body is at the funeral home.
Friend of Young, Old
Mr. Bruce often remarked that he kept young by associating with young people. He took pleasure in their activities and maintained a keen interest in local athletic contests, which he attended. He was usually in the bleachers at baseball and softball games. Children of his neighborhood found a true friend in Mr. Bruce, who enjoyed taking them during the summer bathing seasons to Iverson park, which was created under supervision of the water commission of which he was so long an active member.
Mr. Bruce enjoyed a wide acquaintance among the older residents of the city and county. He like to relate stories of the hardships and adventures of the pinery days. He had been looking forward to participating in the Stevens Point centennial celebration this month.
Stevens Point Daily Journal, Wednesday, Oct 4, 1939 Eulogy
MARK E. BRUCE
Genial, kindly Mark E. Bruce, one of central Wisconsin's sturdy pioneers, has passed on.
Mr. Bruce lived to the ripe age of 81, but even more to the point is the fact that he enjoyed every minute of his alloted span.
Mr. Bruce was a man who never seemed to grow old. He liked to associate with young people, but, more than that, he retained the spirit of youth down to the last.
Looking back through the years, wo do not remember a time when Mark Bruce wasn't filled with enthusiasm, good nature and a will to serve. He was an active participant in so many civic affairs that it would be impossible to recount more than a small portion of them.
In his declining years Mr. Bruce, one of the few surviving rivermen of the Pinery days, was often called upon to relate experiences of that backwoods era. He had a speaking style all his own, one of simple informality, and his talks were always interesting and enjoyable.
With Mr. Bruce's passing Stevens Point loses one of its most public spirited citizens.
Stevens Point Daily Journal, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 1939
Funeral of Mr. Bruce
Funeral services for Mark E. Bruce, 81, prominent Stevens Point resident for many years, who died Sunday morning, were held Tuesday afternoon. The Boston funeral home was filled for the services at 2 o'clock and Rev. Robert Gray officiated.
Members of the Odd Fellow lodge conducted the services at the grave in Forest cemetery and attended the funeral in a body. A representative group of the Masonic bodies was present and members of the Stevens Point water commission, of which Mr. Bruce was president, and employes of the city water department attended the services in a group. The city water office was closed during the time of the funeral.
"No Night There," "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere" and "Nearer, Still Nearer," were sung by Mrs. A. A.Hetzel and Mrs. Harry Ewald. They were accompanied by Mrs. Martin Booth.
The pallbearers were Otto Reinke, Ray Mason, Harley Ameigh, Claude Gustin, William Ruff, Sr., and Carl Gunderson.
Relatives and friends from out of town who were here for the funeral included his two sons and daughtes-in-law and their children, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bruce and children, Kathryn and Bobby, of Blanchardville, and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Bruce and son, Mark, of Evansville, his daughter, Mrs. Kathryn Missner of Fifield, and Mr. and Mrs. John Bruce and family of Phillips, Eugene Bruce and son, Paul, of Ashland, Mrs. Carl Nelson of Medford, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Achterberg and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Achterberg of Schofield and Irving Achterberg of Wausau.
Note: Submitted by Janet Bruce Nelson. She states: Mark Bruce died on Sunday, Oct. 1, 1939. The Stevens Point Daily Journal ran a front page story, with picture, about him on the following day, Monday, Oct. 2, 1939; On Wednesday, the day after his funeral, they ran a Eulogy about him, as well as an Obituary.
Mary Bryan
Source: Abbotsford Tribune (Abbotsford, Clark County, Wis.) Thursday, 2 Feb. 1956; transcribed by Marla Zwakman
Mrs. Alfred F. Bryan, 76, Stevens Point, died Sunday, after an illness of several years.
Mrs. Bryan, the former Mary Irvin, was born in Mt. Forest, Ontario, in 1879. As a young woman she lived at Ashland and married Mr. Bryan in 1908. Soon after they moved to Abbotsford and then to Stevens Point, when the railroad division was moved.
Mr. Bryan, a retired Soo Line train dispatcher, died Dec. 7, 1955.
Matilda Buelow
Source: Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, Wis.) Monday, 15 Nov. 1965; transcribed by Marla Zwakman
Mrs. August Buelow, 76, Route 2, Junction City, died at 7:45 a.m. Sunday at St. Michael's Hospital, where she had been a patient since Tuesday.
The former Matilda Neuman, she was born Aug. 23, 1889, in the Town of Eau Pleine, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gustave Neuman. On April 7, 1907, she married August Beulow. The couple lived in Dancy from 1915-1928, when they moved to Route 1, Junction City. They owned and operated Beulow's Tavern on Highway 10. Mr. Beulow died Oct. 4, 1951.
Mrs. Beulow is survived by five sons, Arthur and Leonard Beulow, Route 1, Junction City; Lester Beulow, Wausau, and Rhinehart and Carl Beulow, Wisconsin Rapids; one daugher, Mrs. Leonard Bulgrin, Route 1, Junction City; one brother, Henry Neuman, Escanaba, Mich.; four sisters, Mrs. Archie Olds, Route 1, Junction City, Mrs. Wally Zank and Mrs. Clarence Goulet, Wausau, and Mrs. Fred Brown, Junction City; 22 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Her parents, two sons, four brothers and three sisters preceded her in death.
Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Junction City, with the Rev. Edward N. Bartell officiating. Burial will take place in Buelow Cemetery in the Town of Eau Pleine.
Friends may call at the Martens Funeral Home in Junction City today after 7 p.m., and at the church from noon Wednesday until the time of services.
Orville M. Buelow
Source: Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, Wis.) Monday, 1 Feb. 1965; transcribed by Marla Zwakman
Orville M. Buelow, 45, Route 2, Junction City, died Saturday at 6:50 p.m. at St. Michael's Hospital where he had been a patient for the past 12 days. He had been ill for one year.
Mr. Buelow was born at Dancy Sept. 23, 1919, a son of Mrs. Matilda Buelow, Route 2, Junction City, and the late August Buelow. He had lived in the Town of Eau Pleine since he was a young boy. On Feb. 22, 1941, he married the former Cornelia Liebe at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Junction City. He farmed and also worked as a logger.
Survivors include his wife; mother; two sons, Orville Jr., Dancy, and Terry, at home; one daughter, Karen, at home; two grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Leonard Bulgrin, Junction City; and five brothers, Arthur and Leonard, Town of Eau Pleine, Carl and Reinhart, Wisconsin Rapids, and Lester, Rothschild. An infant brother and an infant daughter preceded him in death.
Funeral services have been scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Junction City with the Rev. Edward Barteil, officiating. Burial will follow in the Buelow Cemetery in Eau Pleine. Friends may call from 7 tonight at the Martens Funeral Home in Junction City and after 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church.
Lillian G. Bump
Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, Wis.) Saturday, Feb. 1, 1908; transcribed by Marla Zwakman
Mrs. Lillian G. Bump passed away at her home at 601 Michigan avenue at 11:30 a. m. Saturday after a long period of ill health during which she suffered from tubercular trouble. She had been confined to her bed for about a month and for the past week had been in a very critical condition.
Lillian Gordon was born in McHenry county, Illinois, on April 21, 1854, but was brought to Almond, this county, about a year later by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Gordon. Mr. Gordon died during the Civil war and the obligations of raising the family devolved upon the mother. Twenty-six years ago the deceased was married to George A. Bump at Almond and went to live at McMillan, where they spent four years. They removed to Stevens Point in 1886 and in 1888, while employed in Bosworth & Reilly's sawmill, Mr. Bump was the victim of an accident which caused his death. The widow and her mother have resided here ever since. The deceased has been in delicate health since she was 18 years old and for the past five years has been comparatively helpless, suffering with asthma and heart disease, before the tubercular trouble set in.
Besides the mother, who is now 82 years of age, the only other near relative is a brother, Albin Gordon, of Dubuque, Iowa, who has been here for the past several weeks.
The deceased was a member of the Methodist church and was not only a devout church member, but a Christian in a deeper sense of the word, one who had high ideals and a noble conception of life. She was very highly regarded by all who knew her.
The funeral was held from the residence Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Rev. C. F. Spray officiating,
interment following in Forest cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Bump came here from Appleton to attend the funeral.
Edward Burns
Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, Wis.) Saturday, 22 Mar. 1884; MZ submitted by FoFG
Edward Burns died at his house on the south side last Sunday afternoon, after an illness of about two weeks. Mr. Burns was one of the oldest residents in the Wisconsin river valley, he having came here in 1847, since which time he has been engaged in logging every winter. During this long term of years he has had business dealings with a large number of lumbermen, including John Rennie and Wm. Walton of this city. Mrs. Burns died about nine years ago, but he leaves three grown children, Charles, an engineer on the Northwestern road, William, foreman at Kelly's mill, and Mrs. Sam. Letter, at present a resident of this city.
He had been in ill health nearly all winter, and claimed that he recently vomited up a lizzard, which he thought he swallowed last summer, while drinking water from a marsh. Dr. Rood, who attended him, thinks he must have been mistaken in this. Before his death he gave John Rennie a power of attorney to settle his affairs.
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