Keen - Mary Altha
Source: Waveland Independent, Waveland, Montgomery County, Indiana, December 24, 1903
Mary Altha, daughter of Nicholas B. and Mary M. Keen was born near Milligan, Parke County, Indiana Oct 15, 1885 died Dec 9, 1903. No one thought she was seriously ill until Tuesday evening. She suffered only a very short time that evening after which she lay quietly until Wednesday about noon, she passed away to that better land, where there is no more suffering. Altha, as she was familiarly known to her relatives and friends, was exceptionally amiable and quickly made friends of all, whom she met. Her sudden death shocked all her friends beyond expression. At the age of 13 she joined the Lutheran Church near Milligan and was baptized in infancy. She was a faithful member of that Church to the time of her death. She graduated from the common schools in 1900 and entered the Rockville HS the succeeding year. She remained a member of that school until last January when owing to the great shock she received by the death of her aunt, Mrs. Alvord, her health did not permit her to go any longer. She was loved by all her schoolmates and all who knew her. In school she was obedient, bright, studious and cheerful and loved by all her teachers. The keynotes of her life were duty and love and she went about them with a sweet serenity and steadfastness rare indeed. Her desire to service, to assist others, to add to the lives of those around her every possible benefit, made her one of the most lovable characters in the community. She never gave utterance to a murmur or complaint. She made the Bile her study and gave evidence of her faith in God and her hope in Heaven, the home of the faithful Christ. She had often expressed herself ready and willing to go to meet her Savior and her loved ones gone before. She loved Jesus and sought to serve him. The funeral services were held at the Philadelphia Lutheran Church on Friday, conducted by Rev Isiah Whitman in a brief and beautiful discourse very fitting the occasion. The body was buried in Lutheran Cemetery. - kbz