William Henry West

William Henry West a man remained young for his years and yet whose wisdom of
life amazed one and all was born to the union of George West and Henrietta
West, nee Ficke, in Franklin County, Mo. on July 25, 1881 and passed away
suddenly at the Sullivan Community Hospital, Sullivan, Mo. on Friday,
July 10, 1964 having lived within fifteen days of his eighty-third birthday.
He was united in marriage to Fannie May Ryerson at Oak Hill, Mo. on
April 6, 1903 and to this union six children were born.  For many years
following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. West resided on a farm and it was there
that they reared their splendid family.  Then, when their health began to fail
they moved into Cuba, Mo.  Mrs. West preceded her husband in death on
June 22, 1960 and because of his independent spirit and his wisdom of living,
Mr. West continued on in the home until he came to his fatal end.
For many years he has been active in many things for which he received his 
temporal needs but most important was his activity in church attendance where
he made provisions for his eternal needs.  Though a member of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Cuba, he also attended worship services in other
churches believing that all true Christian teachings were good and following
them was the road to Heaven.
Those who survive him are:  two daughters, Mrs. Mamie Osborn of Sullivan, Mo.;
Mrs. Essie Bell of Bourbon, Mo.; four sons, Bransford of Sullivan, Mo., Alva
and Elza of Cuba, Mo., and John of Indianapolis, Indiana.  Also surviving are
four daughters-in-law, two sons-in-law, twenty four grandchildren, 33 great-
grandchildren, and the following sisters and brothers, Levi West and
Mrs. Minnie Ware of Cuba, Mo., Dewey West of Macon, Ill., Tonkey West and
Mrs. Mary Benzick of Bourbon, Mo., Hadley West of East St. Louis, Ill. and
Walter West of Salem, Oregon.
Two sisters and three brothers preceded him in death, namely Mrs. Jennie Reed
and Mrs. Ida Jost, Harrison, Ben and Columbus West.
He will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Mr. West lay in state at the Hoener Funeral Home., Cuba, Mo. where funeral
services were held for him on Monday afternoon, July 13th at two o’clock.
Rev. George H. Bruner officiating.  Favorite hymns were sang by the choir of
the Free Will Baptist Church of Cuba, Mo., accompanied by Mrs. Lenora Denton.
He was then laid to rest beside his late wife in the Oak Hill Cemetery with
six of his grandsons serving as pallbearers.

Crawford Mirror, Steelville, MO
Thursday, 23 JUL 1964 p. 1 column 3-4