A Community Mourns: The Death of Ethel Horton
A beloved young Kennewick woman passes away after a two-month illness, leaving behind a grieving family and a husband.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Following an illness of more than two months, Mrs. Howard Horton passed away at her home in the Chicago Tracts at one p. m., Monday. She had been in poor health for some time and began to fail noticeably after the first of April, and was confined to her bed after July 4th. She was patient and cheerful through all her sufferings, greeting her friends with a cheerful smile for their many gifts of flowers and kindnesses, and was perfectly resigned to her Father’s will. Ethel May Ely was born April 1893 in Morgan county, Tennessee. At the age of two years she came to Tarkio, Missouri, with her parents, where she resided until Aug. 19, 1905, at which time the family came to Kennewick. She attended school here, graduating with the class of 1911. After graduating she prepared herself for business life at Butel Business college at Tacoma. Feb. 19, 1914, she was united in marriage to Howard Horton, of Tacoma. She leaves her husband and infant son, her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Ely, two brothers, Everett and Robert, and one sister, Mrs. W. L. Mason, of Omaha, Nebraska.
“She was patient and cheerful through all her sufferings, greeting her friends with a cheerful smile for their many gifts of flowers and kindnesses.”
Obituaries like Ethel Horton's highlight the precariousness of life in the early 20th century before modern medical advancements. The mention of the 'Chicago Tracts' serves as a reminder of Kennewick's early growth-oriented land development patterns.
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