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!.....E97.0103.06 SKU 18(3)87 Skinner, David A MRS. SKINNER DIED SUDDENLY END CAME AT HER HOME NORTHEAST OF TOWN Well Known and Greatly Beloved Woman Was Mother of Eight Children The earthly life of Mrs. S.B. SKINNER came to its close at the country residence two miles northeast of Harrisonville, Sunday afternoon, Sept. 2, 1917, at three o¹clock. The family physician, some neighbors, and the loved one of the home were watching tenderly at the bedside when the end came. On the evening just before her death she was seen in the family car on the streets of Harrisonville. Friends who talked with her on this occasion were happy at her apparent courage and vigor. She was delighted with the pleasure of the trip. Nor did she seem to suffer any fatigue in the experience. She may have seemed unusually strong because it was her final effort to do heroic battle with a fatal chronic ailment. For within a few hours the ugly Bright¹s Disease was to win in her body an unenviable victory over love, optimism, hope, prayer, medicine, beautiful ministries. [Bright's disease is often a catch all for kidney diseases, but strictly speaking is glomerulonephritis. It may be a complication of streptococcal sore throat. -ed.] Before her marriage the full name of the deceased was Emma Catherine GRAEFF. She was born in Chicago, Ill., Aug. 10, 1861. In her twenty-third year she became the wife of S.B. SKINNER of Leland, Ill. The date of the wedding was Dec. 26, 1883. She became the fond mother of eight children. Of this number five are living--three sons and two daughters. They are: Raymond B. SKINNER of Kansas City, George S. SKINNER of the battle ship Montana, and Howard I. SKINNER of Harrisonville; Emma Catherine and Etta Luella SKINNER both at home. Besides her five children she is survived by her husband, and one sister, Mrs. John WALLUM of Fergus Falls, Minn. She leaves behind one grandchild, Howard I. SKINNER, Jr. Also a great number of neighbors and friends are left behind to mourn the loss of her fellowship and friendship. Immediately after their marriage in Illinois the young couple came west as far as Washington, Kas. Here they began the building of a home. They toiled happily together on a farm for ten years in the face of successive droughts. In the year 1894 they sold their property in the Sunflower state and came to Missouri. After a residence of one year near Humansville, in Polk county, they drove overland to Cass county, locating on the farm where the family has since resided. Thru these thirty-three years of agricultural activity Mrs. Skinner has been to her husband a true helpmate. She enjoyed the country life which their vocation afforded. Also it gave special opportunity for the gratification of her passion for the beauties of nature. She had a peculiar fondness for flowers and grasses and trees. She was joyful in the midst of the sweet fragrance of a congenial rural environment. And the place where she spent the closing days of her life was to her the best of all. Mrs. Skinner was a religious woman. She was identified with the faith of the Dutch Reform church. This was the church of her parents. When a small child she became a member of this communion. Her membership in the church was never transferred. In the faith of her parents she lived and died. She held membership in two of the local lodges- the Eastern Star and the Rebeckah. In her religious and fraternal relations she gave evidence of devotion and sincerity. She radiated among her associates beautiful sunshine. Sterling qualities of a winsome womanhood characterized her behavior in the various places where her days were spent. The sweet fragrance of her life will linger long in the community where she lived to hearten the weary and distressed. In her bosom grew an unconscious desire to help and cheer discouraged pilgrims along the toilsome way-- ³What live we for but this? into the soul to breathe the soul of sweetness; The stunted growth to rear to fair completeness Drown sneers in smiles, kill hatred with a kiss, And to the sandy waste bequeath the fame That flowers bloomed behind us where we came.² The funeral service was conducted by the local lodges of which the deceased was a member--the Rebeckah and the Eastern Star. A large concourse of people paid loving tribute to her memory in their attendance upon both services. The body was laid to rest in the Orient cemetery. Geo. C. MONROE Harrisonville Study (The above from the newspaper clippings of Rev. Geo. C. Monroe preserved by the historical society of Harrisonville, Mo. Howard Skinner Jr. (grandchild of Emma) said he could remember Grandpa (S.B.) singing and Grandma (Emma) playing a piano. He also recalled that there was a Great Grandma (Matilda Suydam Skinner) too sick to come down from upstairs.