Caroline Staebler

We have a very rich resource here in Ohio that apparently a lot of people aren't aware of.  That would be the death notice database from 1908 through 1953.  It is free which is amazing, and it is very easy to use.

Family Search has made this information available to anyone.  After putting in a name, all of the records that match that name (or close to it) pop up on the screen.  If you click on one of the names, the typewritten information becomes available.  If you want to see the actual document, then you register, but it remains free.

The other day in my quest for a little more information about my family, I stumbled onto something rather remarkable.  My great grandmother's, Caroline Stabler's, death certificate yielded some amazing information.  She came to this country from Alsace, Germany and was born in about 1843.  She lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and resided with her daughter (my grandmother) at the time of her death which occurred on March 17, 1922. 

As I attempted to read the space on the certificate where cause of death is noted, the words finally came clear to me.  My grandmother died in church!!  It says so very plainly on her death certificate -- that she died suddenly at St. Ignatius Church of a probable stroke.  She was 79.  Last night before I went to bed, I just had to look up some other pertinent information.  What day of the week was March 17th?  I found a 1922 calendar very quickly and saw that it was a Wednesday.  So then I needed to find out when Easter was in that year.  It turns out that the day she died was not Ash Wednesday, but just an ordinary Wednesday during Lent and she chose to go to church.

I don't know much about my great-grandmother.  I have a picture of her, thanks to my fantastic cousin in New Jersey, who sought out all kinds of information starting about 10 years ago or so.  She produced single-handedly an entire record of my grandfather and his nine siblings, six of whom came here and four of whom remained in the homeland.  And she and I have become friends because we share this interest which she has candidly admitted isn't shared by everyone in the family. 

If your time comes, I can't think of a more beautiful way to go than in church.  The angels are already there!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone, and beat the heat in some way or another.