Sunday's Obituary: John Leland LeMaster Sr. (1902-1980)

Commercial-Review, Portland, Indiana, January 14, 1980, page 1

John L. LeMaster Sr., 77, Salamonia, a retired educator and former Jay County Auditor, died Saturday afternoon at the Jay County Hospital after an extended illness.


During his career in education, LeMaster served as principal at Gov. I.P. Gray School, Madison Township High School, Poling High School, Bryant High School, and Redkey Schools in Jay County.  He also was a teacher and coach for many years.  He held the position of county auditor from 1940 through 1946.


A graduate of Fort Recovery High School, he earned his bachelor's degree from Ball State Teachers College (now Ball State University), Muncie, and his master's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington.


He was born April 25, 1902 in Madison Township, Jay County, the son of Cooper and Isabelle (Wehrly) LeMaster.  He was married July 2, 1920 to Dortha Delauter, who died May 24, 1976.


LeMaster was a member of the Salamonia Christian Church.


Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Gail (Jerry) Stoner, Troy, Ohio; Mrs. Ralph (Ardis) Bickel, Anderson, and Mrs. Philip (Ann) Monger, Hagerstown; two daughters-in-law, Mrs. John (Helen) LeMaster Jr., and Mrs. William (Wanda) LeMaster, both of Salamonia; four brothers, Gerald LeMaster, Salamonia; Floyd LeMaster, Union City; Stanley LeMaster, Akron, Ohio, and Elvin LeMaster, Columbus, Ohio; two sisters, Mrs. Dorothy Lock, Richmond, and Mrs. Mary O. Taylor, Atwater, Ohio; 21 grandchildren, and 33 great-grandchildren.


Services will be conducted Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Williamson & Spencer Funeral Home in Portland.  Paul Albertson and Don Boyer will officiate.  Interment will follow in the Salamonia Cemetery.


Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.  The family will be present from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday.



Sunday’s Obituary – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Surname Saturday : COOK

The COOK surname is in my maternal line.  No connection has been found to the COOK line in Eileen's family. The origins of the surname are unknown at this time.


Stories and history:


Ahnentafel # 57: Clara Cook (1848-1943).  Clara was born November 16, 1848 in Ohio.  She married October 1, 1869 in Butler County, Ohio to Carey W. Lambertson (1847-1918).  Carey was born April 29, 1847 in Butler County, Ohio.  They raised 5 children in Hamilton and Madison Counties, Indiana, where Carey was a farmer.  Carey died March 18, 1918 in Elwood, Madison County, Indiana.  After his death, Clara lived with various relatives, being counted in 1920 and 1930 census records living with daughter, Maud. Clara died January 23, 1943 in Atlanta, Hamilton County, Indiana.  Both are buried in the Elwood City Cemetery, Elwood, Madison County, Indiana.


Ahnentafel # 114: William Cook.  Clara's death certificate in Hamilton County lists her parents as William Cook, born in Virginia and ____ Hirharger, born in Virginia.  I have not been able to verify this information.  I've been unsuccessful in locating Clara in the 1850 census in Ohio, where later census records indicate she was born.  I've tried variations of the Cook name, including German spellings of Koch, hoping to find her there.


Related blog posts:

• Fearless Females: Family Document

• Today in my database: Clara E. Cook (b. November 16, 1848)

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Sisters: Bonnie & Ruby

The following are some photographs of my maternal grandmother, Bonnie Mae (LAMBERTSON) WRIGHT and her younger sister, Ruby June (LAMBERTSON) WALSH.  These came from the collection of my cousin, Mike Walsh.


This first one shows them both as young girls.  As you can tell, the photo was rather rough for wear, having been folded, etc.  However, you can still see both of their adult faces in the expressions of these children.

Ruby & Bonnie Lambertson

This next photo is also undated, but I've been told that Ruby took grandma Bonnie with her on a trip to the Smoky Mountains after my grandfather passed away, so this is at least post-1973.

Bonnie (Lambertson) Wright, Ruby (Lambertson) Walsh in the Smoky Mountains

This next photo was taken in 1976 and from the photo I can identify it as my parents' home outside of Alexandria, Indiana.  Lovely couch and nice wood paneling signify the 1970s.  Obviously it was Christmas time, and I'm pretty sure that is my brother, Jason, playing with the train set.

Bonnie (Lambertson) Wright, Ruby (Lambertson) Walsh, 1976

This next photograph was taken at my grandmother's home at 610 West Broadway, Alexandria, Indiana in 1980.  It was taken with a Polaroid camera.  Remember those? 

Ruby Walsh, Bonnie Wright, 1980

The last picture was taken on Christmas Eve 1983 at Ruby's house.  This was the last Christmas we had with grandma.  She was very ill with cancer and was determined to see her sister at Christmas.  We braved a blizzard to make it to Ruby's.

Ruby Walsh, Bonnie Wright, 24 December 1983