PENROSE, Ralph C. (1902-1925)

PENROSE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 11/15/2018 at 00:08:22

Ralph Penrose

Tama News Herald,Sept 17, 1925

"RALPH PENROSE DIES AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS
Peacefully Passes Away in His Sleep
The community was shocked by the news that Ralph PENROSE had died early Monday morning. The exact time of his passing is unknown. He had been ill for a little more than a week and his condition had shown marked improvement for a day or two before his death. He seemed unusually cheerful Sunday evening and night, and during that night he and his wife had conversed together, she sitting by his bedside and caring for him as she had done throughout his illness.
At 5:00 o'clock Monday morning Mr. PENROSE advised his wife to lie down and get some rest, saying, "We have had a good visit and it will do you good to take some sleep." Mrs. PENROSE acceded to his request and laid down by his side. When she awakened at 7:00 o'clock she found that her husband had passed away in his sleep. There had been no struggle and his face bore a peaceful expression.
Mr. PENROSE was taken sick on Friday, September 4, while he his wife were visiting at the home of her parents at Belle Plaine, and on the following Sunday they came home, Mr. PENROSE going to the home of Dr. ALLEN and consulting him regarding his condition. The doctor diagnosed his ailment as influenza and sent him home. On the following day Dr. ALLEN gave him the vaccine treatment for influenza and ordered him to stay in bed. On Tuesday afternoon paralysis of the throat developed, the patient being unable to swallow. Both arms and one leg were also partially paralyzed. On Wednesday morning Dr. FRENCH, of Marshalltown, was called in consultation, he agreeing with Dr. ALLEN's diagnosis and stating that the disease, being deep-seated, fell outside his province as a throat specialist.

Mr. PENROSE continued to have grave symptoms until Friday, on which day, just a week after the inception of his illness, a marked improvement was noticed. This apparent improvement continued during Saturday and Sunday. The attending physician concludes that death resulted either from the paralysis increasing until it involved the heart, or was due to an embolus or emboli lodging in the heart.

The funeral services were conducted from the home of Senator and Mrs. E. G. PENROSE at 2:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, and were conducted by Dr. DeWitt CLINTON, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

There was a large attendance at the funeral and the name floral offerings eloquently expressed the sorrow and sympathy of the community. Music was furnished by Mrs. Carl B. HARRISON and Leonard ALLEN who, to the piano accompaniment of Mrs. Earl SPOONER, sang "My Task", and "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds". The pall bearers were Hilmer KIRKBERG, Gillette QUINTARD, John McCARTY, Paul DUFFY, Earl MEEVES, Kenneth CARMICHEAL, and Robert HARRISON. Interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Mr. PENROSE died just at the beginning of what his father and his grandparents had hoped would prove to be a most successful career. Possessed of a pleasing personality and a most genial nature he made friends easily and in the younger society circles of the city was popular. Few young men more completely dominated his home. There was nothing which could add to his happiness which was denied him by those of his household and since his death his aged grandfather, Senator PENROSE, said to a friend, "I am very glad that I never denied him anything he wanted." His untimely death is deplored by all who knew him.
Ralph Comte PENROSE was born at Tama July 1, 1902, and died Sept. 14, 1925 aged 23 years, 2 months, and 13 days. He was educated in the Tama public schools, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1922. He was married on Easter Sunday, April 12, 1925, at "The Little Brown Church" near Nashua to Miss Ada Marie Wright of Belle Plaine, a graduate of the Belle Plaine high school with the class of 1923, and the couple made their home in Tama until Mr. PENROSE's death.
The mother of the deceased, Mrs. Ella May COMTE PENROSE, died in 1921. He is survived by his wife, his father, Frank PENROSE, his grandparents, Senator and Mrs. E. G. Penrose, and other more distant relatives.
Mrs. Ralph PENROSE' near realtives are her parents, Mr. and Mrs. O.M. WRIGHT, and a brother, William WRIGHT, all of Belle Plaine, and an uncle, H.H. WRIGHT, of this city."
Submitted by: Judy Landauer (geniegal@g14.myrf.net)