Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....LaBarre, Mary Elizabeth (Hotchkiss) 1926 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net June 1, 2019, 4:26 pm Ionia County News, 3 Jun 1926 Mary Elizabeth Hotchkiss, daughter of Miles and Mary Hotchkiss, was born in Caledonia, Ontario, Canada, January 28th, 1851. Here she spent her childhood and girlhood. December 15th, 1869, she was united in marriage to John LaBarre. To this union were born four children, Fred, Julia, Hazelton (who died in infancy), and Margaret. They also adopted a daughter, Lena, at the age of ten months. They moved to Lincoln township, Isabella county, Michigan, in the year of 1876. They were pioneers in Isabella, clearing and settling a farm of virgin soil. Mrs. LaBarre during those pioneer days contracted malaria which so undermined her constitution that she suffered ill health in her declining years. In 1877 Mr. and Mrs. LaBarre were converted under the preaching of Rev. McLucas and united with the Free Methodist church. They moved in 1896 to Howard City. They willingly sacrificed to help build Free Methodist churches in Isabella and Howard City. They moved to Greenville, Illinois, in 1917. Here Mr. LaBarre passed away May 1st, 1919. Mrs. LaBarre continued to live in Greenville till failing health caused her to make her home with her daughter, Margaret, who lovingly cared for her mother until she was freed from her earthly house, May 25th, at the age of 75 years, 3 months, 27 days, and was reunited in her heavenly home with loved ones gone before. Her passing is mourned by the following: One son and three daughters, Fred H. LaBarre of Lansing, Mich.; Mrs. Julia Hartman of Zilla, Washington; Rev. Margaret LaBarre of Saranac, Mich., and Mrs. Lena Raub of Elkhart, Indiana; four brothers and one sister – Benjamin Hotchkiss and Fred Hotchkiss of Bay City, Mich.; Miles Hotchkiss of Chicago, Ill.; Charles Hotchkiss and Mrs. Augusta Scott of Pasedena, California; fourteen grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and other relatives and many friends. Mrs. LaBarre endeared herself to her Saranac friends through her unswerving honesty, unselfishness, and cheerful, sunny disposition. Her passing leaves a loved place vacant in the hearts of those who knew her. The sympathy of Saranac community is with her daughter, Margaret, in her sorrow. Even in the closing hours of her suffering Mrs. LeBarre manifested marked evidence of her Savior’s loving presence with her. The testimony of her faithful Christian life and death is fitly expressed in the following lines: “I’ve wrestled on toward Heaven, ‘Gainst storm and wind and tide; Now, like a weary traveler That leaneth on his guide, Amid the shades of evening, While sink life’s lingering sand, I hail the glory dawning In fair Immanuel’s land. — Written by Rev. W.L. Holladay of Saranac. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/l/labarre9512gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 3.2 Kb