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Champaign County, Illinois	Obituaries - Pg. 8

This page is to list obituaries for Champaign County, Illinois residents. If you would like to share any obituaries you may have, please contact Celia Snyder.

B. W. TOWNER DIES AT HOME AT 79 YEARS

Benjamin W. Towner, 79, Route 3, Urbana, died about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Dec 12, 1956 at his home.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, at the Renner Funeral Home, Rev. M.C.McPherson, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Urbana will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Hope cemetery.

Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m., Friday and from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday at the funeral home.
Mr. Towner was born October 19, 1877, at Sidney, a son of Earnest and Clarington Towner. He was married July 5, 1896 to the former Easter Agnes Kirby.

He was a member of the First Baptist Church, Urbana, and the Brick Mason's local No. 17.
Surviving are his wife, the following children: Mrs. Blendeana Bensken, Cloverdale, Indiana; Wellington Towner, Lexington; Mrs. Marguerite Roberts, Homewood; Carl O. Towner, LaFayette, Indiana; Mrs. Mildred Bradford, Peoria; Mrs. Maxine Groundwater, Springfield, Missouri and Mrs. Lois Fox, Champaign. Also surviving are 20 granchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Five children preceded him in death.

Submitted by Linda Garrett

EARNEST M. TOWNER

Private Earnest M. Towner, Son of Mr. and Mrs. B.W. Towner, R.R. 5 Urbana, died in the University hospital at Osborne hall at 2:30 o'clock Tuesday morning, after an illness of one week from double pneumonia. Private Towner enlisted in the aviation branch of the army in October, 1917, and was a member of the 149th Aero Squadron, stationed at Vancouver barracks, Wash. He was visiting his parents while on his furlough and was taken ill about one week ago, going to the local aviation hospital at Osborne Hall. Private Towner was born April 2, 1897, in Urbana and had lived in Champaign County all his life. He is survived by the parents, six sisters, Merle, Lois, Balendeana, Marguerite, Mildred and Maxine, and two brothers, Carl and Wellington, all home.
Before enlisting in the aviation, Private Towner was employed at the Burr foundry in Champaign. Three sisters of Private Towner are now ill from influenza and are in the emergency hospital. Funeral services will be held from the Mittendorf undertaking parlor at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. Rev. Ealey of the Christian church of Urbana officiating. Burial will be made in the Mount Hope Cemetery.

Submitted by Linda Garrett

SERVICES FOR MRS. TOWNER ON SATURDAY

Funeral services for Mrs. Esther Agnes Towner, 84, 305 S. Brady Lane, Urbana, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Urbana, with Rev. Herbert L. Tiedemann, pastor officiating. Interment will be in Mt. Hope cemetery.
Renner Funeral Home, 1900 S. Philo Road, Urbana, is in charge of arrangements. Visitation at Renner Chapel will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.
Mrs. Towner died at 12:10 a.m. Thursday, August 26, 1965, in a Peoria Hospital. She was visiting in the home of her daughter in Peoria, when she was stricken.
Born December 6, 1880 at Homer, Mrs. Towner was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kirby. She married Benjamin W. Towner July 15, 1896 in Urbana. He died December 12, 1956.
Mrs. Towner was well known in the community and for 25 years was housemouther for Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. She attended schools in Sidney. Mrs. Towner was active in the church and social life of the community. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Urbana; a charter member of Gold Star Mothers Club; Champaign Unit 24, American Legion Auxiliary; a 44-year member of Olive Rebekah Lodge 57; and an honorary member of the Twin City Garden Club.
Mrs. Towner leaves the following children: Wellington Towner, Lexington; Carl Towner, Lafayette, Indiana; Mrs. Blendena Benskin, Cloverdale, Indiana; Mrs. Marguerite Roberts, Homewood; Mrs. Mildred Bradford, Peoria; Mrs. Maxine Groundwater, Springfield, Missouri; and Mrs. Lois Fox, Champaign. She also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Olive Grob and Mrs. Annie Cochran, both of Urbana; 20 granchildren; 27 great grandchildren; and two great great grandchildren.

Submitted by Linda Garrett

CLAUDIUS TOWNER DIES FROM FALL OFF LOAD OF HAY

Farm worker of Homer Fractures Skull on Concrete Floor of Barn

(By Staff Correspondent)

HOMER, June 12 - Claude Towner, about 70 years old, died at ? O'clock Friday morning at Lake View Hospital, Danville, from a fractured skull and other injuries received when he fell from a load of hay at 7:30 o'clock Friday morning. The accident occured at the farm of Jim Freeman, where Towner had been employed for more than 35 years. Towner struck the back of his head on the concrete floor of the barn. What caused him to fall is unknown. He was taken to the Lake View Hospital, where he later died without regaining consciousness. He is survived by his wife and six children: Mrs. Harvey Boyd of Ogden; Leslie, Howard, and Theodore of South Bend, Ind.; McKinley of Minn and Earl of Catling.
An inquest was to be held into the death.

Submitted by Linda Garrett

Mrs. Maud Grove

Mrs. Maud Mable Grove, 76, Philo, died about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, 1956 at Burnham City Hospital, where she had been a patient for two days.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, at the First Presbyterian Church, Philo, with Rev. Joseph Laughlin, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Urbana, officiating. Burial will be in Locust Grove Cemetery, Philo.

The body was removed from the Renner Funeral Home Wednesday, and taken to the family home at Philo. Friends may cll there Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Mrs. Grove was born Feb. 5, 1880 ( actual 1879 ), in Sidney Township, a daughter of Martin and Caroline Kearns. She had lived her entire life in the Sidney and Philo areas.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Philo, Eastern Star. Woman's Club, Philo, and the East Club.

Surviving are a sister, Mrs. I. H. Besore, R.R. 2, Urbana; five nieces and four nephews. Her husband, Evan, six brothers, and three sisters preceded her in death.

Submitted by Dick Kearns

Paul Williamson, 204 South Race street, last night received a telegram notifying him of the death of his mother, Mrs.Susan A Williamson an Urbana pioneer, resident at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Frank L Heeb,in Portland, Ore., where she had lived since 1915.

The body will be brought to Urbana, arriving probably, Tuesday night. Funeral services will be made after its arrival. Interment will be made in the family lot in Mount Hope cemetery.

Mrs. Williamson lived many years in the 400 and 500 block on West University Avenue, this city,and will be remembered by many of the older residents. Her daughter, Pearl, now Mrs. Heeb, was for many years a teacher in the Urbana public schools and now holds a similar position in the Portland.

The decedent, whoes death at 3:15 o'clock yesterday afternoon, resulted from a stroke of paralysis suffered three days previously, was born in Steubenville, OH., on February 29, 1854. Orphaned at an early age, she she came to Urbana when 16 years old to make her home with her sister, Mrs. Robert Bowman, who was proprietory of a restaurant that stood on the present site of the Tepper Bros. hardware store on Main Street.

In 1875 she married to William H Williamson, a locomotive engineer on the I.B.& W. railroad now the Peoria & Eastern. Three children all whom are living were born to them. They are Earl Williamson, a machinist employed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company at Tekoa, Wash.; Pearl Heeb, Portland,Ore.; and Paul, employed as a machinist at the Peoria & Eastern shop here. The husband and father died in October,1888.

Mrs. Williamson was a member of the of the First M.E. church and the Women's Relief corps of this city.

Submitted by James H Williamson or James H. Williamson

OGDEN, Jan. 14 - (BSC) - Mrs. Anna Meier Busboom, 39, wife of Rankin Busboom, died at 11:15 p.m. Sunday of complications at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Meier, at Royal. A short service will be conducted at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the home. Another service will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. in the Immanuel Lutheran Church at Flatville by Reverend Herman Haferman, pastor. Burial will be in the Kopmann cemetery, with the Freese funeral home of Ogden in charge. Born Jan. 13, 1907, at Royal, Mrs. Busboom and her husband were married there on Jan. 23, 1927, Surviving besides her husband and parents are five sons, Clarence, Marvin, Vernon, Norman and Leon Busboom, all at home; two sisters, Mr. Albert Loschen, Thomasboro; and Mrs. Hye Franzen, Rantoul and a brother John Meier, Royal. One sister and brother preceded her in death.

Submitted by Cheri Busboom

GIFFORD, June 2 - (BSC) - Funeral services for John G. Busboom, 51, owner-operator of the Ford agency in Gifford for 25 years, will be conducted at 10:15 a.m. CST Saturday at the family home and 10:30 a.m. CST at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church here. Mr. Busboom died at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at Carle Memorial hospital. Urbana, where he had been a patient for three weeks. He had been in poor health for many months. Reverend W. F. Ferne, pastor of the St. Paul's church, of which Mr. Busboom was a member since a child, will officiate. Burial will be in Kopman Cemetery, south of here. The body was returned Thursday to the family home from the Leonards-Stephens funeral home, Rantoul. A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Busboom, he as born April 11, 1998, in Compromise township and had lived in or near Gifford all of his life. He married Grace Duitsman on June 24, 1924. Since his marriage he ran an auto agency here and was owner-operator at the time of his death. Surviving are his widow; two son, Ernest Busboom of Athens, Ohio, and Raymond Busboom, at home; and six brothers, Fred, Thees, Heye and Rankin Busboom all of Gifford; Henry Busboom of Thomasboro; and Ed Busboom of Ogden. One sister, Mrs. Herman Hein, preceded him in death.

Submitted by Cheri Busboom

RANTOUL - Thees G. Busboom, 77, Gifford, died at this home at 2 a.m. Friday (Nov. 2, 1962). He had been ill health for about 10 years. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Gifford, with Rev. William J. Ferne officiating. Burial will be in Kopman Cemetery near Gifford. Friends may call at the Lux Memorial Chapel, Rantoul, Saturday afternoon and evening. Born March 6, 1885, near Gifford, Mr. Busboom was the son of George and Anna Bloom Busboom. He married Margaret Grussing Feb. 11, 1906 at Flatville. She died in March 1941. Mr. Busboom was member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Gifford. He farmed in the Gifford area until his retirement in 1930. Surviving are a son, John T. Busboom of Gifford; five brothers, Fred Busboom of Gifford, Henry of Thomasboro, Ed of Royal, Heye of Gifford and Rankin of Gifford; two grandchildren, two great - grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a son, George, a brother and a sister.

Submitted by Cheri Busboom

HOMER, Oct. 30.---Elmer Edwin Brummett of this place died at 12 o'clock Sunday night at the Burnham City Hospital. Death followed an operation for appendicitis, performed last Saturday.

Elmer was born Nov. 27, 1916, in Jefferson County, the son of Louis and Cora Brummet, who reside west of Homer on the township line.

Surviving are his parents, three brothers and one sister at home and two sisters, Mrs. Frances Clem and Mrs. Dorothy Danner, both of Homer.

Arrangements for the funeral are not complet but will probably be held Wednesday afternoon.

Submitted by Dick Kearns

Submitted by JoAnn Eichelberger Mallas , Eichelberger Genealogy

Eliza (Towner) Harvey
Died Aug 28 at 10:45 am at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Thomas E. Gulich of 106 E. Division. Death was caused by a stroke of paralysis which she suffered Monday evening. She was born in Vigo County, Ind. in 1831 and later came to this state and has lived here since that time.
Mr. & Mrs. John Harvey were united in marriage in 1848 and resided on a farm in Champaign County for a few years and later came to this city and made their home. Mr. Harvey died in 1890. To this union, 12 children were born. Six survive as follows; Mrs. Thomas E. Gulich, R. A. Harvey and W. S. Harvey all of this city; Mrs. James A. Jacob of Champaign County; B. S. Harvey of Hanibal, Mo. Mrs. Harvey was a member of the Baptist church. For the last 4 years she has made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Thomas E. Gulich of East Division St.

(Her parents were Elija Towner, Jr. and Phebe Hicks Towner. Elija died just one month after the birth of Eliza).

Submitted by Linda Garrett

Had Lived in Urbana for Sixty-Three Years
of the Eighty-Two Years of His Life.

Moses D. Harvey, who for 63 years had been a resident of Urbana died at an early hour yesterday morning, after haveing suffered from a lingering illness for the past three months. The demise occurred at the home of his son-in-law, J. S. McCullough, 507 West Oregon street. The deceased was born in Union county, Penn., Nov 27, 1821. In 1840 he moved to this city, where he has since made his home. Mr. Harvey was a widower, his wife having died five years ago last February. (Olive Towner, DOD: Feb 4, 1898). The following children, however, survive. R. A. Harvey, Rockford; S. M. Harvey, Eldorado, Kan.; W. T. Harvey, Urbana; Mrs. William Bender, Hanibal, Mo.; Mrs. J. S. McCullough, Springfield; Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan, Urbana; Mrs. Celia Cook, Urbana. Arrangements for the funeral are not yet completed and probably will not be until all the children of the deceased have been heard from. Urbana lodge No. 157, A.F. and A. M. will have charge of the services. Internment will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery.
(Date of death: October 10, 1903)

Submitted by Linda Garrett

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