Contributed by: William Umphlett
20 JANUARY 1853—25 JANUARY 1940 (WIFE OF CHARNEY UMPHLETT) “A FRIEND PASSES ON” In the life of all of us there is someone whom we look upon as a sort of second mother. That person by some quality or habit endears themselves to us in early childhood, and we go through life holding them in reverence in a part of our heart set-aside especially for them. My memory goes back to the time when I was a little boy, to a certain old lady whose house I visited now and then—and to the sweetest, best cookies that a hungry boy ever put into his mouth; to mellow ripe, golden colored little pears that grew on a tree in the yard near the house, to other good things to eat that seemed always present when I happened by; to a grand old lady who would put her handkerchief to my nose and tell me to “blow” if I happened to have a bad cold, as I usually did have in cold weather. I thought she was an old woman then, and that has been 25 to 30 years ago. Today my heart is saddened. Because yesterday I received a telephone message that Mrs. Martha Umphlett, one of the finest women I have ever known, had passed away at seven o’clock that morning—and I had lost my “second mother.” Although I cannot help but feeling sad because she has been taken away, I know I shouldn’t be because I believe that if a better place is prepared for those of us who are good after we have finished here Mrs. Martha Umphlett has certainly gone on to that place. I know, too, that she was not afraid to die, may have even welcomed death as a relief from the pain and the misery that has been hers since she received severe injuries in a fall a few years ago—although she continued to be cheerful to those around her and didn’t complain for herself about her afflictions. There are still people who live their lives to serve others. Mrs. Umphlett was one of them. She was a hard-working, dutiful wife to the man she married early in life. She raised a large family of fine and upstanding children, yet she found ample time to be of service to her neighbors in time of sickness and misfortune. She was one of those persons who glorified in being able to do something for her fellowman to make life’s path easier. The bereaved family of Mrs. Umphlett will miss one in whom they were won’t to go for comfort in time of indecision, but they, like me, will find a solace in the fact that she has gone on to a well-deserved rest from nearly a century of helping and comforting others. G.W.H. (initials only, no surname, of the one that wrote the above.)