Young, Henry Forrest - Funeral services for Henry Young, age 88 of Athelstan, who died Monday, July 3, 2006 at the Bedford Nursing & Rehab Center were held Friday, July 7, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at the Ritchie Funeral Home in Bedford. Interment with military rites accorded by the John F. Hardin American Legion Post No. 164 were held in the Athelstan Cemetery. Memorials can be directed to the ZA-GA-ZIG SHRINE. Please leave a message of tribute to the Young family on our web page, www.ritchiefuneralhome.com under Obituaries. Arrangements were entrusted to the Ritchie Funeral Home of Bedford.
Henry Forrest Young was born February 25, 1918, in a tent (with 10 inches of snow on the ground!) in Bennett Springs, Missouri the son of Edward Young and Kate (Barnes) Young. At the age of nineteen, during the Great Depression, he went to work for the CCC Camp No. 1757 in Bedford. On December 13, 1939, he was united in marriage to Geraldine Wandalea Cordell. The story of how these two met goes like this: Geraldine met Henry on a blind date. You see, there were several gals and guys going out and Henry didn’t know which gal would be his date. However, Geraldine sat next to him as he drove his Model A. And, as they say, the rest is history! To this loving union six children were born.
In April of 1945, Henry answered the call to serve his country by entering the United States Army serving during World War II in the European Theatre, spending most of his time in Italy. He served in the infantry and participated in several battles and campaigns. He received two Overseas Service Bars; the European African Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with two Bronze Stars; the Good Conduct Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal. Upon his discharge in December of 1945, he returned to Athelstan where he worked as a carpenter most all of his life. He had been a member of the Southern Baptist Church of Blockton, a fifty-year member of the American Legion, and the Masonic Lodge. In 1978, he was installed in the Scottish Rite of Free Masonry in the Valley of Des Moines; he was also a member of the ZA-GA-ZIG Temple Shrine. Henry also served as Marshall and Mayor of Athelstan for many years.
Henry and Geraldine loved to dance, attending as many area dances as possible. His passion was in working with wood. And Henry, with his big heart, would always be making a doll house or baby cradle for his grandkids or their friends.
Left to cherish Henry’s memory are his three daughters Wanda South and husband Jim of Anita; Henrietta Mendes and husband Sergio of Saratoga, California; and Mary Eckert of Parnell, Missouri; a son-in-law, Laverne Wildt of Bedford; a daughter-in-law, Patty Young of Lake Stevens, Washington; a sister, Hazel Newell of Lebanon, Missouri; nineteen grandchildren; thirty-three great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Preceding Henry in death were his parents; his wife Geraldine in 2003; a son Lester Young in 2005; two daughters Katie Wildt and Norma Daniels; two brothers Arthur Young and Bert Young; a sister Susie Worley; and a son-in-law Larry Eckert.
May God grant comfort and strength to those who mourn Henry’s passing. |