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Submitted by Lee Cheesbrough LeeChees@msn.com, May 5, 2001
"The following obituary has been transcribed from an unidentified newspaper clipping. Several letters from Mrs. Bostater to her brother, David Conrad Ritenour (he changed the spelling of his surname from Ridenour around the time of his service in the Civil War) were sent from Bryan, Ohio. Since the burial was in Ney, I do not know whether this obituary should be posted in Defiance or Williams County." - Lee CheesbroughMRS. MARY BOSTATER Mary, daughter of Samuel and Catharine Ridenour, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, September 13, 1833, and died August 22, 1917, aged 83 years, 11 months and nine days. She leaves one sister, Rachel of Waldron, Mich., a brother David of Otis, Ind., a foster child, Mrs. Lewis Schlotterback of Ligonier, Ind., and many other relatives and friends to mourn her departure.
When a child, she came to Defiance County with her parents. Her mother died in the year 1840. She then returned to her grandparents in Jefferson County, and in 1848 she came to Williams County. She was married to David M. Bostater in 1852, he having passed to the Beyond in 1904. She united with the Church of the Brethren in 1873, and remained a faithful member till Death relieved her suffering.
The funeral was held at the Ney M.E. church Friday afternoon, conducted by Rev. Daniel P. Koch, assisted by G.W. and Arthur Sellers.
The pains of Death are past
Labor and sorrow cease
And life's long warfare closed at last
Her soul is found in Peace.
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