Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Vosper, Lucia Adelaide (Blanchard) 1937
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Ionia Sentinel Standard, 12 Apr 1937

Funeral for Mrs. Vosper on Tuesday

Wealthy Ionia Widow Who Died Sunday Was Believed Oldest Living Ionian Born Here
– Wife of Benjamin Vosper.

Funeral services for Mrs. Lucia A. Vosper, 85, said to have been the oldest
living resident born in Ionia, will be held from the home, 267 East Main street,
Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock.  Interment will be at Highland Park cemetery.

Mrs. Vosper, socially prominent in Ionia all her life, died at her home Sunday
morning at 6:30 o’clock following a short illness of pneumonia.  She died within
a short distance of her birthplace and in the home where she had lived since her
marriage to the late Benjamin Vosper in 1873.

As a music student Mrs. Vosper possessed a charming voice and appeared many
times as soloist at local social gatherings. usually playing her own
accompaniment.  Always a loyal member of the local chapter of DAR, Mrs. Vosper,
until last year, opened her home for the annual DAR tea and program and usually
appeared as the soloist.  Mrs. Vosper was also a member of the Mayflower
association of Detroit, composed of direct descendants of those who came to
America on the Mayflower.

Lucia Adelaide Vosper was born September 14. 1851.  Her father was John C.
Blanchard, an Ionia lawyer and lumberman.  Her mother was Harriet Brewster
Blanchard.  She was married May 7, 1873 to Benjamin Vosper following the civil
war in which he took part as an officer.  They were the first couple married in
the then new Methodist Episcopal church which was destroyed by fire several
years ago.  Their only child Blanche died in 1908.

Mrs. Vosper attended Ionia schools during her early childhood before the Ionia
high school was organized.  She first attended a private school located in an
Ionia home near the home of her parents.  She lived for more than 60 years in
the home where she died which was built shortly after her marriage to Mr.
Vosper, on part of the J.C. Blanchard homestead where she was born, and had
lived the 85 years of her life.

Mr. and Mrs. Vosper were always among the leaders of their community and
presented a distinguished appearance.  Both traveled extensively abroad and Mrs.
Vosper spent her spare time in aiding the less fortunate.  Always of a cheery
nature, Mrs. Vosper was talented not only as a musician but as a painter.  She
kept her home in perfect order and it was often the center for social gatherings
in Ionia.  She enjoyed aiding her fellow citizens even in her later years, and
her charities were numerous.  Her husband at the time of his death was the
oldest living graduates of the University of Michigan where he was graduated
with a law degree following the civil war.  He was a student there when the war
broke out.

Mrs. Vosper was a kindly woman, gentle in the presence of children, and good to
her friends.  She believed strongly in her religious affiliations and at one
time attended the Methodist church.

Rev. A.C. DeVries, pastor of the Evangelical church, and Rev. Paul L. Stewart of
Ionia, will officiate at the Tuesday service.

Only one close relative survives.  He is Valois Todd of Middleville, a nephew.


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