Posted on: PaloAlto County Obituaries Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ia/PaloAltoObits/533 Surname: Higgins, McGowan, Berger, Finn, Joynt, Hand, Kane ------------------------- Emmetsburg Democrat Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa Wednesday, 22 July 1919 MRS. JOHN HIGGINS LAID TO REST Funeral on Thursday, Was Largely Attended Mrs. John J. Higgins died at her home in this city Tuesday afternoon of last week. Her condition for several weeks was hopeless. She became ill in September. She went to Colfax Springs where she remained for eight weeks. Later she took treatment in Retreat hospital in Des Moines. She was also in Mercy hospital for a short time. She did not receive any encouragement and finally went to Rochester, Minnesota where she consulted the Drs. Mayo. They could not, it seems, do anything to relieve her. She bore her affliction with a resignation that was truly Christian but she gradually became weaker and after many months of lingering, death came to relieve her. The funeral was held Thursday. Services were conducted at the Assumption church, Very Rev. P.F. Farrelly officiating. The burial was in St. John's cemetery. There was an unusually large attendance. Many came from Ayrshire and other neighboring places to be present at the obsequies. The pall bearers were her three nephews, Frank McGowan, Carl Berger and Daniel Higgins and three cousins, John Finn, Charles Joynt and D.W. Joynt. Mary Jane McGowan was born at Dyersville, Iowa, July 4, 1864. Hence she was closing out her fifty-fifth year. She grew to womanhood in her home community. She was married at Dyersville, April 14, 1885, to John J Higgins. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins lived in the vicinity of Dyersville until 1893 when they moved to this county. They located on a farm in Great Oak township. They became prosperous and built a fine home. Last fall they bought James Murray's large residence in this city. They moved into it in March but Mrs. Higgins did not have the good fortune to enjoy it long. Mrs. Higgins is survived by her husband, five sons and four daughters. The sons are Charles, Edmund, Harold and Bertrand. The daughters are Mrs. John Hand of Borup, Minnesota and Misses Mary, Margaret and Loretta Higgins who are at home. Three children died in infancy. Mrs. Higgins death is also mourned by her sister, Mrs. M.B. Kane of Ayrshire and her brother, John McGowan, of Kansas City, Missouri. Two brothers, Thomas and William, preceded her in death. Mrs. Higgins had scarcely passed womanhood's prime when she was taken from the inviting domestic scenes that were so dear to a wife and mother of her taste, temperment and ambition. Nine worthy sons and daughters were regularly the recipients of her love and her attention and all the comforts of the prosperous, happy home were hers to enjoy. It is sad indeed that life, when surroundings are so inviting and promising, should have so many and such bitter disappointments, but Providence undoubtedly knows what is best for all of us and will, in some way, compensate the bereft and sorrowing for the heavy burdens they are asked to bear. Mrs. Higgins worries, during the early stages of her illness, were greatly increased by the absence of her son, Charles, in France and the realization of the perilous dangers to which he was from time to time subjected. For months after she commenced to decline she waited anxiously and longingly for his return. The war department, for some unknown reason, failed to grant him a furlough so that he might come home to see his weak, declining mother. However, Mrs. Higgins never gave up hope until he and his absent sister, Mrs. John Hand, reached her bedside. The deceased was a truly devoted wife, a provident, loving, watchful, zealous mother and a sincere practical Christian lady. She was in every way an active, helpful, useful member of the thrifty public spirited community in which she resided. Her high aims, her commendable resolutions and her ennobling deeds will during the years to come, have a marked influence for good in the lives of her devoted sons and daughters. They will also leave a lasting impression on the minds of the many who mingled with her in neighborhood and other affairs. The sympathy of all goes out to the husband and the other members of the household in the great sorrow that has come to them. Link: Palo Alto County, Iowa USGenWeb Project URL: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapaloal/paloalto.htm>