OBIT: Eli Francis FLECK, 1915, Tyrone, Blair County, PA

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_________________________________________ 

ELI FRANCES FLECK
Former Resident of Tyrone Passed Away at Altoona

  Into the land of the redeemed by way of the valley of the shadows the 
faithful of earth are being gathered, and the spirits of men are daily 
returning to the God who gave them life.  Among the last of these 
faithful to the answer the final summons is Eli Frances Fleck, formerly 
of 638 Washington avenue, Tyrone, who passed away at the home of his 
son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. J. Edward Fleck, 108 First 
avenue, Altoona.  His death, due to diseases of the stomach and heart, 
occurred at 9:30 o'clock Friday evening.
  Mr. Fleck passed peacefully into the unknown sheltered in the faith 
acquired in the heydey of his youth.  His was the joy of service.  No 
man more unselfish ever lived.  He never hesitated to do another a 
kindness even though at personal sacrifice.  His monument is sixty-
seven years of honest dealing and a lifetime of unselfish devotion to 
deeds of love and righteousness.  A life such as his does not proclaim 
itself in ostentatious words or deeds, but dispenses its bounty as 
quietly as the dropping cloud or the wayside brook.  He never craved 
notice or distinction but was content for a task and found his chief 
delight in its faithful performance.
  Eli F. Fleck was born on the "Old Homestead" farm near the Brick 
church, Sinking Valley, April 15, 1848.  He was the second of the 
twelve children of Gabriel and Rebecca Stoner Fleck (deceased) and was 
of the fourth generation of the family name to live on this farm, 
purchased from the Penn heirs by his great-grandfather, George Fleck.  
His early life was spent on the home farm and alter he taught school in 
Antis and Tyrone townships.  In 1870 he took charge of the farm in 
lower Sinking Valley, belonging to his grandfather, Christian Stoner.  
In the spring of 1900 he removed to Tyrone where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits for several years.  Following this he became 
janitor of the Park avenue school building, where he remained until 
stricken with illness last December.  He served for many years as 
school director in Tyrone township and later for a time was judge of 
elections in the First ward, Tyrone.  Early in life he united with the 
St. John's Lutheran church in Sinking Valley.  Of this church he was a 
faithful and ardent supporter, being for a long time one of its active 
deacons.  During his residence in Tyrone township he was a member of 
Sinking Valley Grange No. 484.
  On March 14, 1871, he was joined in holy wedlock to Miss Annie M. 
Hunter, daughter of the late Thomas Hunter, of Tipton.  To this union 
were born a daughter and one son, Mrs. J. Edward Fleck, of Altoona, and 
Dr. Clarence S. Fleck, of Johnstown, both of whom with the wife and a  
foster daughter, Mrs. E. G. Ellenberger, of Tyrone, survive to mourn 
the loss of a loving husband and father.  Mr. Fleck is also survived by 
the following named brothers and sisters:  Ira S., Russell, Kansas; 
Rev. Lindley N., East Altoona; Mrs. C. H. Jones, Tyrone; Mrs. B. W. 
Culp, Altoona; Rev. C. L., Riegelsville; H. S., Tyrone; John S., and 
Clair C., Sinking Valley, and David C., of Pasadena, Cal.  Among Mr. 
Fleck's surviving relatives are a grandson, Thomas Maxwell Fleck, of 
Altoona, and two aged aunts, Mrs. Lee T. Wilson, of Tyrone, and Mrs. 
Frances Tussey, of Sinking Valley.
  Funeral services conducted by Rev. E. M. Morgan, of Mifflin, were 
held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Edward Fleck, 108 First avenue, 
Altoona, on Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock.  Interment at Rose Hill 
Cemetery.

Tyrone Herald, Tyrone, Pa., July 8, 1915