Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Ireland, T. Frank 1906
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Belding Banner, 3 May 1906

The Final Summons

It Has been Answered By T. Frank Ireland.

Died Last Saturday

Awaited Patiently the End and Met Death Bravely with Remarkable Composure in the
Trying Hour.

T. Frank Ireland is no more.  He passed peacefully away Saturday morning at a
quarter past twelve o’clock and Belding mourns one of its best friends and most
loyal citizens.

Eight weeks ago Saturday he and Mrs. Ireland returned home from Long Beach,
Cal., accompanied by Miss Crawford, a competent, faithful nurse and the
following two weeks Mr. Ireland was feeling so comfortable, although in bed,
that he had the pleasure of meeting many of his friends and business associates
with whom he conversed and talked freely on matters of business and of the warm
friendship he had for all, of the pleasure it gave him to again meet them and
especially of his love for Belding which had been his home for the past 17
years.  He regretted that he could not live for his family’s sake especially,
but said he was not afraid to die and also talked freely with his family and
friends regarding the future, hoping and expecting to meet them in the other
world.  His composure in the trying hour when knowing that he must soon part
with loved ones and life was very remarkable.

To his physician, Dr. Bell, he said he had no fear of death and asked to be as
comfortable as possible before passing to the other shore.

“Sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust  He approached the grave like one
who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.”

T. Frank Ireland was born September 18th, 1857, near Sublette, Ill, and his
early life was spent on the farm.  This life so near to nature, and the descent
from sturdy scotch parentage, gave him physically, mentally and morally a
certain character and poise that all felt upon meeting him for the first time;
he is a man.  On March 18th, 1880, he was married to Miss Nellie Wilder; to this
home has been given three children, Alfred, Imogene and Walter, and all who ever
entered the doors of this home have felt the keynote to be loyalty and unselfish
devotion to one another.

For about five years, he was engaged in the hardware business in Sublette,
finally selling out there and moving to Belding in January, 1889.  It is here
with us he has spent the last 17 years, the better part of his life’s work being
given to Belding and its vicinity.  Twenty five years of his life he has been
engaged in the hardware business, and he has made a success of it not often
reached in so small a town.  beginning in a small wooden store, the business has
grown until now it occupies a three story brick block, the largest hardware
store in Ionia county.  Hard times came to him financially, but T. Frank Ireland
has always stood in the community for an honest man, and he was justly proud of
his name.  Business honor was the watchword of his business life.

His success as a business man was recognized not only in his home town; he
served as president of the Michigan Retail Hardware association, and then two
years on the executive committee of the National Retail Hardware association
coming in touch with men of national reputation.  One of them said of him, “When
Mr. Ireland gives us his opinion on a subject, we all listen with a great deal
of attention, for we have always found his advice sound and that it bears the
test of time.”

He served his city in many ways, on the school board he has given efficient
service and as president of the Belding Business Men’s association did much to
promote the best interests of the community.  His advice and good business
ability were always at command when needed and the moral tone of our town is
cleaner and purer because of his noble example.  

He was a member of the Maccabees, also of the Masonic lodge, being a past master
of the latter.  He was also a member of the Washington club, serving as its
president ably.  Their annual meetings were always looked forward to with the
greatest pleasure.  Among the last letters written by him was the one read
before the club last February.  

One of his chief characteristics was the art of being a true friend; cordial and
hospitable by nature, all felt the genuine pleasure he enjoyed in the hearty
handshake, the cheery good morning, the confidential talk of friend to friend. 
He was a prince among men.  His friends will remember as long as time is, his
loving last words to them, a benediction from a dying friend, his earnestness
that all lives might tell for good; his happiness in the assurance of a meeting
of loved ones in heaven.

After making a brave fight for life, going to New York City to consult a
specialist, then returning a few weeks ago from Los Angeles, Cal., where he had
gone in search of health.  He came home to die and these last days were so
characteristic of his whole life; his mind being constantly employed in thoughts
for the future comfort and well being of his family he loved so devotedly.  He
bowed his head submissively to death saying, “It is all for the best.”  His was
a generous nature in the extreme, never a call of need came to him unheeded; he
was always willing to do his share and more to support the interests of Belding.
 Christmas was the happiest time in the year for him, and it was indeed a time
of giving for our friend, he seemed to understand to the full the truth of the
saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  He was a faithful
husband, a devoted father, a true friend, a Christian gentleman.  Can we say more?

We may not know where heaven is, but this we do know, “of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven.”

The funeral service held in the Baptist church Monday at 2:30 o’clock was very
largely attended, all of the clergyman of the city assisting in the last sad
rites.  Rev. J.C. Meese read the scripture, Rev. A. Secord offered prayer, Rev.
H.N. Spear preached a most excellent sermon from I Cor. XV:17, and Rev. J.W.
Sheehan made touching and appropriate remarks.  Miss Florence Wagner sang three
numbers, Lead Kindly Light, Thy Will Be Done, and Nearer My God to Thee, at the
church, and one at the grave, Jesus Lover of My soul.  The floral offerings were
most beautiful and in great profusion attesting to the high esteem in which the
deceased was held.  The Masonic fraternity and ladies of the O.E.S. were present
in a body.

His remains were enclosed in a solid and massive mahogany casket and were borne
by F.A. Washburn, J.H. Armstrong, F.W. Howard, W.P. Hetherington, H.J. Leonard
and E.C. Lloyd to the family lot in Riverside cemetery.  The honorary bearers
were F.E. Ranney, M.J. Demorest, E.E. Fales, M.E. Peck, R.M. Wilson and Adam
Wagner.

In prefacing his sermon, Rev. H.N. Spear, said: “These beautiful flowers and
this great assembly speak more eloquently as to the standing of our brother
Ireland in this community, than is possible for me to do.  Before me I see
represented either in person or in flowers the various organizations of which he
was a devoted member.  As a business man he stood for progress, honesty and
uprightness, as is evidenced by his honored position in the Belding Business
Men’s association and the State and National Hardware associations.  As a
citizen, he was always looking for the best interests of the community and was
public spirited in every good enterprise.  As a friend and neighbor he had the
confidence and love of the entire community.  We found in him a man of good
judgment, a safe counselor, and a true friend.

When he came to be stricken down by the dread disease that finally proved fatal,
he showed still the same strong traits of character.  He was always calm,
cheerful and hopeful.  He made a brave fight and may appear to some to have
lost, but to those who were privileged to be with him during the last weeks, it
is not so.  The greatest success and victory of his life were manifest in his
triumph over suffering and death.  When asked as to meeting death, he promptly
and confidently answered, I am not afraid in the least.  And as he grew weaker,
he longed for the time to come when he would be at rest.

We are always interested in knowing how our friends meet death, and especially
so in this case, as we have learned to place so much confidence in his judgment
on all other matters.  When giving his friends assurance of being entirely at
peace and ready to meet death without any fear whatever, his mind was as clear
as when in the vigor of health.  He would talk of business matters with the same
clear, quick judgment of former years and at the same time speak of his soul’s
future with the same confidence and composure.  Since each of us will be called
upon to pass through the same trying experience, we are specially interested in
having the testimony in one in whom we have such confidence.

Many before me today have had the privilege of hearing from his own lips a
message that will always be treasured in the heart, not only as the dying words
of one we loved, but for the larger vision they gave us of life.  I shall always
be thankful for having been permitted to hear our brother Ireland speak so
calmly and confidently of coming face to face with death.

I am sure that all who heard him during these last weeks bear me witness that
the two great thoughts that filled his mind and heart were these – that his
preparation to meet death was all due to the saving power of Jesus Christ in
whom he confided with a childlike trust, and that his chief concern while God
permitted him to live, was that he might lead others to accept this Savior and
find the hope and peace which he had found.  As he expressed it, his only desire
to live was for the sake of his family and that he might be used of God to lead
his friends and acquaintances to accept Christ as their personal Savior.  While
he fully appreciated his position in the community as a citizen, friend and
neighbor, he repeatedly said that his only hope was his believing on Jesus
Christ as his personal Savior.  It was the great joy of his last weeks to be
permitted to hear God’s word to have his friends pray with him and to talk to
all who came in of his blessed religious experience.

Today we are led to inquire as to whether or not we can trust his judgement as
to meeting death with the same confidence we do in other matters.


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