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- [S927] Obituary.
ohnstown, PA: Tribune, issue of 23 August 1911, p. 10, col. 5
Hettie (Wertz) Shunk.
The deceased was the third daughter of John and Susan Wertz, and was born in Somerset County, near Johnstown, Pa., on April 12, 1832, died at the old home farm in Tippecanoe Township, Marshall County, Ind., August 15, 1911, aged seventy-nine years, four months, and three days. She was married to William Shunk, the surviving husband, on the 12th day of November, 1858, and for about eight years after her marriage resided in the vicinity of her place of birth. On the 21st day of March, 1866, she removed with her family, to Marshall County, Ind., and for one year resided on the Jacob Lint farm, two and one-half miles northwest of Bouban, after which the family removed to the present home in Tippecanoe Township, where, with the exception of a few years, when the burdens and tolls of the farm made necessary a temporary residence elsewhere, she resided until her death.
The deceased was the mother of six children, namely, Franklin C., who died at the age of fifteen years; Lucinda J. Eizinger, wife of Andrew C. Eizinger, who resides on the home place; Ella, deceased wife of George Eizinger, of Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Ida E., who died at the age of ten years; J. Allen, an attorney of East Chicago, Ind.; W. Alvin, a merchant of Tippecanoe, Ind., also Mrs. Howard Sparrow, a foster daughter, residing three miles east of Bourban. Besides her husband, the daughter, the two sons and the foster daughter, she left surviving eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild, besides numerous other relatives and hosts of friends.
When quite young, the deceased accepted the Christian faith and after removing to Indiana she became a member of the German Baptist Church, and until her death was affiliated with the Camp Creek District located north of Etna Green, Ind. But her attendance at public worship and manifestations of her religious life on public occasions fell far short of portraying her true Christian life, for she not only tried to live up to the doctrines of the church and the teachings and precepts of the Bible, but loved and cherished all that was just and right and good and noble; her whole soul was imbued with honor and integrity, while her very nature spurned the appearance of falsehood and intrigue. She reveled in the songs of nature, and all the living made music for her soul; she gloried in the beauty of the flowers and fervently loved all of God's creation and the Creator. She was ever watchful to alleviate the sufferings of humankind, and was most happy when ministering to the needs of the sick and the sorrowing and the oppressed.
For many years before her death she suffered untold agony from the ravages of rheumatism, but she bravely pressed forward and did her whole duty as wife, mother, neighbor, and friend, until her body could no longer respond to the call of her Christian spirit and the kindly promptings of her noble heart. During the last year of her life she constantly grew more feeble until one week before her death she suffered a stroke of paralysis, from which she could not recover. Although the last week of her life she was unconscious the greater portion of the time she bore her suffering with fortitude and finally passed away peacefully and smiled when death relieved her.
The funeral services were held Thursday afternoon at Summit Chapel, conducted by the Rev. John F. Appleman, of Plymouth, Ind., assisted by the Rev. Levi Peuterbaugh, of Argos, Ind.
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1832 - 1911 (79 years)