NEWSLETTER

SERVING THE FAIRBURY, FORREST AND NOW AVAILABLE TO

CISSNA PARK AND GRIDLEY

NUMBER 13 / JANUARY 2002

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I would like to welcome you back for another year of the

Apostolic HeritageNewsletter

I would also at this time like to welcome the

Cissna Park and Gridley Churches.

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I WOULD LIKE TO DEDICATE THE NEXT TWO NEWSLETTERS ON THE TWO NEW CHURCHES TO JOIN US AT THE APOSTOLIC HERITAGE NEWSLETTER.

THE GRIDLEY CHURCH

GRIDLEY NEWS

JOSEPH KLOPFENSTEIN DIES FOLLOWING HEART ATTACK

JOSEPH KLOPFENSTEIN, 67, MINISTER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH, DIED AT 4:20 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 5, OF A HEART ATTACK AT HIS HOME.

HIS FUNERAL WAS HELD AT 1 P.M. MONDAY AT THE FROELICH MEMORIAL HOME AND AT 1:30 P.M. AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BURIAL WAS IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY.

HE WAS MINISTER OF THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH FOR 36 YEARS AND AN ELDER FOR 17 YEARS.

HE WAS BORN MAY 25, 1897, AT GRIDLEY, A SON OF PETER AND SOPHIA MEISS KLOPFENSTEIN.

HE MARRIED SETTA KAEHR ON MARCH 6, 1921, OF BLUFFTON, IND.

HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE, A SON, CARLTON, NORMAL; A DAUGHTER, CAROLYN SCHLIPF, GRIDLEY; THREE BROTHERS, FRED OF CHAMPAIGN, HARRY OF FAIRBURY, AND WILLIAM OF MORTON; FOUR SISTERS, IDA LEMMON OF SAUNEMIN, MRS. MARY MARTIN OF GRIDLEY, MRS. ANNE FREED OF ROCK ISLAND AND MRS. MINERVA STAHL OF BLOOMINGTON.

HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY FIVE BROTHERS, AND A SISTER.

PALLBEARERS WERE RALPH KLOPFENSTEIN, PERRY KLOPFENSTEIN OF GRIDLEY, JAMES KLOPFENSTEIN OF MORTON, JOHN WUETTERICH OF EUREKA, HERBERT KLOPFENSTEIN OF CHICAGO, AND LARRY STAHL OF CHAMPAIGN.

JOSEPH KLOPFENSTEIN

THE PASSING OF JOSEPH KLOPFENSTEIN THE PAST WEEK WAS A SHOCK TO THE COMMUNITY. MANY KNEW THAT HE HAD A HEART CONDITION BUT HE WAS VERY ACTIVE AND JUST RETURNED FROM A VACATION AT MESA, ARIZ., LOOKING IN THE BEST OF HEALTH.

THAT MR. KLOPFENSTEIN WAS HIGHLY THOUGHT OF IN THE AREA GOES WITHOUT SAYING. HE HAD BEEN MINISTER OF HIS CHURCH FOR MANY YEARS AND HAD ALL THE ATTRIBUTES OF A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMEN.

WHILE WE HAD ONLY KNOWN MR. KLOPFENSTEIN FOR A LITTLE MORE THEN A YEAR, WE RECALL THAT HE WAS ONE OF OUR FIRST VISITORS WHEN WE CAME TO GRIDLEY. HIS VISIT AT THE TIME TO WISH US WELL, AND SUBSEQUENT CALLS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, WERE OCCASIONS WHICH WE LOOKED FORWARD TO WITH RELISH. HIS KINDLY, FRIENDLY MANNER SURELY ENDEARED HIM TO ALL WHO KNEW HIM.

WE JOIN WITH HIS MANY FRIENDS IN EXTENDING OUR SINCERE AND HEARTFELT SYMPATHY TO HIS WIDOW AND FAMILY. MAY WE BE BLESSED WITH MORE MEN LIKE "JOE" KLOPFENSTEIN.

GRIDLEY NEWS

P. A. KLOPFENSTEIN FUNERAL SERVICES HELD HERE TODAY

OBSEQUIES ARE CONDUCTED AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT 1:30

PETER A. KLOPFENSTEIN, ONE OF THE PIONEER RESIDENTS OF GRIDLEY AND PROMINENT IN LOCAL AFFAIRS FOR MANY YEARS, DIED AT HIS HOME IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THIS CITY AT 9:25 O’CLOCK ON MONDAY EVENING. HE HAD BEEN CONFINED TO HIS HOME ILLNESS FOR SIX WEEKS, BUT HAD BEEN BEDFAST ONLY 48 HOURS. HIS CONDITION BECAME SERIOUS ON SUNDAY, AND HIS CHILDREN WERE CALLED ALL ARRIVING. HE WAS AGED 68 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AND 9 DAYS.

MR. KLOPFENSTEIN WAS BORN AT SLABTOWN, NOW MACKINAW DELLS, ON AUGUST 28, 1863, THE SON OF PETER A. AND MARY SOMMER KLOPFENSTEIN. HIS FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS THREE MONTHS OLD, AND THEN HE AND HIS MOTHER WENT TO LIVE WITH HER PARENTS, MR. AND MRS. PETER SOMMER. IN 1866 THE FAMILY MOVED TO THE FARM NOW OWNED NY MRS. J. F. ROPP AND OCCUPIED BY ELMER PUNKE, TWO MILES WEST OF GRIDLEY. MR. SOMMER CONTRIBUTED MUCH TOWARDS THE BUILDING OF THE GRIDLEY APOSTOLIC CHURCH. LATER MR. KLOPFENSTEIN BECAME ONE OF THE LEADING MEMBERS OF THIS DENOMINATION, CONTINUING IN THE FAITH TO THE END.

WHEN A YOUNG MAN MR. KLOPFENSTEIN LOCATED IN THIS CITY AND ACCEPTED A POSITION AS CLERK IN W. C. MACK’S STORE. HE AFTERWARDS FORMED A COPARTNERSHIP WITH CHRIS SLAGELL IN THE GROCERY BUSINESS. MOST OF HIS CAREER, HOWEVER, WAS SPENT IN THE IMPLEMENT BUSINESS. HE ENGAGED IN THIS BUSINESS DURING A TOTAL OF 37 YEARS. AT ONE TIME OSCEOLA MCNEMAR WAS HIS PARTNER. AT OTHER TIMES HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HIS SONS. DURING A GREATER PART OF THE TIME HE WAS THE SOLE PROPRIETOR.

MR. KLOPFENSTEIN WAS MARRIED ON DECEMBER 1, 1887, TO MISS SOPHIA MEISS, WHO SURVIVES. FOURTEEN CHILDREN WERE BORN TO THIS UNION. OF THESE THIRTEEN ARE LIVING, AS FOLLOWS: MRS. D. D. WUETHRICH, OF EUREKA; A. L. KLOPFENSTEIN, THREE TIMES MAYOR OF GRIDLEY, OF EL PASO; ELMER, JOE, WILLIAM AND MISS MARY KLOPFENSTEIN AND MRS. CHARLES STAHL, ALL OF GRIDLEY; JOHN A. KLOPFENSTEIN, OF CHICAGO; FRED W. KLOPFENSTEIN, OF CHAMPAIGN; HARRY P. KLOPFENSTEIN, OF FAIRBURY; MRS. SAM B. LANNON, OF SAUNEMIN; ARTHUR E. KLOPFENSTEIN, OF PEKIN, AND MRS. LOREN FREED, OF DWIGHT. ONE SON, B. F. KLOPFENSTEIN, A RISING BUSINESS MAN OF PEORIA, PASSED AWAY ON DECEMBER 11, 1924. THERE ARE NINETEEN GRANDCHILDREN.

MR. KLOPFENSTEIN TOOK A DEEP INTEREST IN LOCAL AFFAIRS. HE WAS ELECTED VILLAGE TREASURER IN 1890, AND VILLAGE CLERK IN 1891.

IN CONNECTION WITH HIS BUSINESS IN THIS CITY. MR. KLOPFENSTEIN ALSO ENGAGED IN FARMING AND DAIRYING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.

FOR MANY YEARS, HE FURNISHED PRODUCE TO THE TRAINMEN PASSING THROUGH GRIDLEY. FOR THIS REASON, HE WAS A FAMILIAR FIGURE AT THE DEPOT.

HE KNEW MANY PEOPLE, AND HAD A LARGE NUMBER OF FRIENDS. IT IS PROBABLE THAT HIS ACQUAINTANCE WAS WIDER THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER MAN IN THE CITY. HE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS KINDLY GREETINGS, HIS HOSPITALITY AND HIS ACCOMMODATING SPIRIT.

HE WAS DEVOTED TO HIS MOTHER, WHO DIED AT HIS HOME ON NOVEMBER 29, 1929, AT THE AGE OF 87 YEARS. HE WAS ATTENTIVE TO THE WELFARE OF HIS FAMILY.

FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT 1:30 O’CLOCK THIS AFTERNOON. BURIAL WAS MADE IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY.

GRIDLEY NEWS

MANY PRESENT AT P. A. KLOPFENSTEIN FUNERAL SERVICES

OBSEQUIES FOR LOCAL BUSINESS MAN HELD ON THURSDAY AT LOCAL CHURCH

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR P. A. KLOPFENSTEIN, WHO DIED AT HIS HOME IN GRIDLEY ON MONDAY, DEC. 7, WERE HELD AT THE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT 1:30 O’CLOCK ON LAST THURSDAY AFTERNOON, REV. GEORGE YERGLER, OF LACROSSE, IND., OFFICIATING, ASSISTED BY REV. JOE SAUDER, OF TREMONT, THE LATTER BEING A LIFELONG FRIEND OF MR. KLOPFENSTEIN.

INTERMENT WAS MADE IN THE GRIDLEY CEMETERY, LEE, FRED, JOHN, HARRY, ARTHUR AND WILLIAM KLOPFENSTEIN, SONS OF THE DECEASED ACTING AS PALLBEARERS.

SEVERAL HUNDRED CARS WERE PARKED ON THE PREMISES, THE CHURCH WAS CROWDED, AND MANY WERE UNABLE TO GAIN ENTRANCE. THE LARGE ATTENDANCE ATTESTED TO THE HIGH ESTEEM IN WHICH THE DECEASED WAS HELD. A LARGE NUMBER CAME FROM LONG DISTANCES TO ATTEND THE SERVICES.

ALL OF THE BUSINESS HOUSES IN GRIDLEY WERE CLOSED DURING THE SERVICES.