Guest Book from Grandpa Yeager's Funeral

My Great Grandfather Andrew Yeager died on April 14, 1958. Recently I came across the guest book from his funeral.



















Grandpa Yeager's funeral was held in Huron, Ohio on April 17, 1958, at Zion Lutheran Church, with Rev. R.G. Trygstad and Rev. W.R. Lucht officiating. The Dutt Funeral Home handled the arrangements.



















The pallbearers were: Richard Camp, Paul Orshoski, Richard Grams, Andrew Yeager, William Orshoski, and Dennis Kurtz. Paul Orshoski, Andrew Yeager, and William Orshoski were all grandsons of Andrew Yeager, and Richard Camp, Richard Grams, and Dennis Kurtz were married to Grandpa Yeager's granddaughters.



















The guest book contained several pages of the names of the individuals who called at the funeral home. My parents' names appear on the page pictured below.



















Many relatives from both Grandpa and Grandma Yeager's sides of the family paid their respects. The surnames Yeager and Schweighart were from Grandpa's side of the family, and the surnames Hemminger, Wargowsky, and Genzman were from Grandma's extended family. Both of my great grandparents were of German descent. Two of Grandpa and Grandma Yeager's daughters married brothers with the last name Orshoski, so the Hungarian surname Orshoski (originally Orczaczky) is found several times in the guest book.



















Even Grandma Yeager signed the guest book.



















A funeral guest book serves as a "snapshot" of the people who were most important to a person. Names found include family, friends, church members, and others from the community who knew the person who recently died. If you run across a guest book from any of your ancestors, look through it carefully, and you may glean new details about that person by reading the names of those who called at the funeral home.

Note: A cousin alerted me that the Lena Yeager who signed the guest book may have been Grandpa Yeager's sister in law. Grandpa Yeager and his brother Frank both married someone named Lena.