Anna Christina Fernau

Services For Mrs. Fernau Held Friday

Funeral services of Mrs. Anna Christina Fernau, 87, a resident of Lusk, since 1900, were held from the Peet Chapel Friday afternoon. Mrs. Fernau, mother of 14, died Wednesday, Jan. 22, of a heart condition.

Mrs. Fernau was born in Brightenback, Germany, April 26, 1881, to Martha and Henry Strube. She moved with her family to America when she was seven. The Strube family settled near Baker, Kans., where her father farmed. She attended the Kansas schools and in June 1899 she and John Joseph Fernau were married at St. Joseph, Mo.

Lusk had only been founded 14 years before Mr. And Mrs. Fernau settled in the frontier town and Wyoming as a state was only ten years old.

Mr. Fernau operated a plumbing firm until his death in 1931. He built the Fernau home on Elm Street in which Mrs. Fernau had lived most of her adult life.

The couple had 14 children, seven of whom died previously.

A quiet woman, her hobby was gardening and her thumb was so "green" that she once grew a peach tree in her back yard from discarded seed.

She is survived by five sons, George, Portland, Ore., Dale, Crawford, Nebr., Dr. Robert, Riverton, Wyo., Harry M. and Walter C., Lusk; two daughters , Mrs. Voyne (Betty) Morgan, Lusk, Mrs. El (Bonnie) Bartlett, Arvada. Colo., 18 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

The Rev. Dean Addington of St. George's Episcopal Church officiated at the services. Mrs. Robert Bramlet, Mrs. Hobart Cockerham, Harry Lyon and Dr. Richard Collins sang "In the Garden" and "Beyond the Sunset", Mrs. J. P. Watson was organist.

Casketbearers were Harry Fernau Jr., Russell Fernau, Richard Fernau, Joe Fernau, Jack Niles, Kenton Bailey, Ron Bittick, Robert Fernau.

Among the out-of-town friends and relatives attending the service were: Mrs. Sam Fienstein, Denver, Colo.; Mr. and Mrs. Elvin Bartlett and Betsy, Ron Bittick, Arvada, Colo.; Mr. and Mrs. Kenton Bailey and family of Colorado Springs, Colo., Mr. and Mrs. Jack Niles and Kristine, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford Mallard and James E. Barrett, Cheyenne; Dr. and Mrs. Robert Fernau and family, Dr. Richard Lansing, Pete Burton and Mrs. Donna Hunt of Riverton; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Fernau and family of Lovell; Mrs. Ardith Mass and Jim of Casper; Mr. and Mrs. Dale Fernau, Crawford, Nebr.; Russell Fernau of Woodburn, Ore.

Thon Book 5
Lusk Mayor's Mother Dies

LUSK - Mrs. Anna Christina Fernau, 87, pioneer resident of Lusk and universally loved by the community, died Jan. 22 in the Niobrara county hospital, following a month's illness.

A resident of Lusk since 1900, when the town was a small hamlet of only a decade's existence, Mrs. Fernau was the mother of the present mayor of Lusk, Harry J. Fernau. She is survived by 43 direct descendants.

She was born in Brightenbach, Germany, April 26, 1881 to Martha and Henry Strube, and accompanied her parents to the United States as a child of seven. The family farmed near Baker in Brown County, Kansas, where she attended school and grew to adulthood. She was married to John Joseph Fernau at St. Joseph, Missouri in June of 1899 and the couple moved to Lusk the following year where Mr. Fernau operated a plumbing business until his death in 1933. The couple had 14 children, seven of whom preceded her in death.

Her life centered around her large family and her hobby of gardening and she recently noted that she had spent 68 contented years among her friends and neighbors of Lusk.

Funeral services were held Friday from the Peet Mortuary chapel in Lusk with the Rev. Dean Addington officiating. Burial was in the Lusk cemetery.

She is survived by five sons, George, Portland, Ore.; Dale, Crawford, Neb.; Dr. Robert, Riverton, Wyo.; Harry J. and Walter Charles of Lusk; two daughters, Mrs. Voyne (Betty) Morgan of Lusk with whom she made her home the past 20 years, and Mrs. El (Bonnie) Bartlett of Arvada, Colo.; 18 grandchildren.

Thon Book 5
Mrs. Fernau, 87, Dies Wednesday

Mrs. Christina Fernau, 87, a resident of Lusk for over 60 years, died Wednesday morning of a heart condition in the Niobrara County Memorial Hospital. She had been a resident of Lusk since 1900 and had reared a family of 14.

She had been taken to the Hospital Monday after suffering an attack, the second suffered recently. She was stricken December 16, but after a period of hospitalization was able to return to her home on Elm Street where she had lived most of her life in Lusk.

Funeral services will be held from the Peet Chapel in Lusk Friday, Jan. 24, at 2:00 p.m. The Rev. Dean Addington of St. George's Episcopal Church will officiate.

A memorial for the Niobrara Memorial Hospital has been established.

Survivors include five sons; George of Portland, Orel, Dale of Crawford, Nebr., Dr. Robert, Riverton, Wyo., Harry and Walt of Lusk; and two daughters, Mrs. Bonnie Bartlett of Arvada, Colo., and Mrs. Betty Morgan of Lusk.

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