Obituary and Tribute for Ethel Barbara (Woodington) Hope

Written in January, 1956:

Obituary:

“Ethel Barbara Woodington was born July 10, 1890 in Cassville, Wis. to Furman and Clara Sturmer Woodington. A graduate of Cassville High School in 1908, she attended Platteville Normal and taught in the Beetown area for several years. She married Monroe Hope, May 28, 1919 and three daughters were born to this union, one dying in infancy; the others, Florence C. (Mrs. J.C. Neises) of North Andover and Marion (Billie, Mrs. O.D.Aderman) Shell Lake, Wis. In addition to her husband and daughters, she is survived by four granddaughters and three brothers–Wm Jennings Woodington, Deerfield, Wis; Marc, Cassville; and Robert J. of Cassville, Missouri. Mrs. Hope’s parents and two brothers, Roland and Walter, preceded her in death. Mrs. Hope was a member of O.E.S. [Order of the Eastern Star], Bloomington Chapter 78, Royal Neighbors, Womans Club where she was the current Treasurer, Baptist Women’s Union and the Music Benefit Club. She has served as chairman for many of the drives, such as Cancer, Heart, and Red Cross.”

A Tribute to Ethel Hope:

“On this pilgrimage called human life, we sometimes meet a rare spirit, gentle and unassuming but so aligned with principle as to make her influence far reaching. So with Mrs. Hope. Her home, family and garden formed the center of her life, but not its circumference. Her community meant much to her, church, school and women’s activities called out her best gifts–tact, perception, graciousness, and a strict regard for the most minute detail. As teacher she commanded both the respect and love of her pupils. She had delight in a simple things–sunshine and shadow on her beloved bluffs, a rose, the perfection of a tiny baby–these brought quick tears of appreciation. A flashing wit, but a kind one, she laughed with not at people. She ‘improved earths preparatorey school to the utmost’ and truly ‘her works so follow her.’

“‘The sunset on which we gaze is a sunrise on the other side of the world and the vanishing days can take from us nothing that may not be restored by some day yet unborn.'”