Individual Details

Census (family)

Head Lorenz Balster M 57 Iowa
Wife Margaret Balster F 61 Iowa
Daughter Hilda Balster F 19 Iowa
Daughter Arline Balster F 16 Iowa
Nephew Keith Wahl M 14 Colorado

Death

Funeral Friday For Mrs. Balster

Died Wednesday After Long Hospital Illness

Services were held, Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. for Margaret P. Balster from St. Luke's Methodist church with the Rev. Robert .V Gildner officiating. Mrs. Balster's death came Wednesday, Nov. 25, at the John McDonald hospital following a long illness.
Pallbearers were John Eichhorn, William Reade, John Hiller, Harold Scherrer, George Balster, and Paul Van Buren. Burial was in Oakwood cemetery.
Margaret P. Balster was born in Castle Grove township, April 17, 1878 and departed from this life Nov. 25, 1953. She was the oldest daughter of the late Arch W. and Orpah Smith Cramer. After attending the rural school and Monticello high school she taught for a number of years in Jones and Delaware county. On Dec. 27, 1899 she was united in marriage to Samuel C. Pfeil and they made their home in Castle Grove where they lived until Mr. Pfeil's death in 1923. During these years they cared for two orphan children, Ernest Carpenter and Maggie Mae Hance.
After Mr. Pfeil's death she moved to Monticello where she was a very active member of the Methodist church, a charter member of the Delphian club, a member of the Eastern Star, and of the Francis Shaw chapter of the D.A.R.
She was united in marriage to Lorenz F. Balster on July 2, 1931. Along with the Balster children, they cared for an orphan, Harold Scott. Mr. Balster passed away in August, 1949.
She was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Eda M. Van Buren. Surviving are one brother, Fred C. Cramer, and two sisters, Elsie E. Hiller and Olive H. Deischer, all of Monticello, and her stepchildren, Margaret Statler of Los Angeles, George Balster of Coggon, Marion Balster of Los Angeles, Frieda Brockschmidt of Fox River Grove, Ill,. Hilda Grings of Los Angeles and Arline Balster of Atlanta, Ga. She 'also leaves to mourn, nieces and nephews and a host of friends.
Out of town relatives who attended the funeral were: John B. Hjller, Leeds, S. D.; Mrs. Herbert Prescott and daughter Jane, Grinnell; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Van Buren, sons James and Gene, and Mrs. Thompson, Fayette; Mr. and Mrs. John Eichhorn and son Phillip, Wyoming; Mr. and Mrs. Ashley Elliott, Central City; Mr. and Mrs. George Balster, Coggon; Mrs. Maude Smith, Hopkinton; Loren W. Cramer, Indianola; Mr. and Mrs; William R. Reade, Onslow. Others from out of town included Mr. and Mrs. Howard Price, Central City; Mrs. Lyle Joseph, Hopkinton.