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             Obituar
ies in 1931
                                Hartford Michigan

        Click here to return to the to Obituary Index

Please email the webmaster if you have obituaries of people who have lived in Hartford Michigan, or was active in the Hartford community, at some time during their lives. To find a specific obituary, use the  Search Our Site  feature, also located on the left menu of every page.  The Obituary section was started January 30, 2008 and current obituaries will be posted as they become available.  Obituaries are from the local newspapers, unless otherwise noted.  If you have an obituary notice (or learn of the passing away of someone who lived in Hartford at one time) of a former Hartford resident from a newspaper away from the Hartford area, please send it. Past obituaries will be added as time permits.  Death notices are also posted in the HHS graduate database.
Note:  if you have a good or different photo to insert with present or past obituaries for the History of Hartford website and email newsletters, please click here to email them unedited directly to the webmaster.  If you don’t have a scanner, send photo by US Mail to Emma Thornburg Sefcik, 59320 62nd St., Hartford MI  49057.

Many requests are made for obituary notices and this is a good genealogical resource, as well as providing obits to extended family members who may not have an original.  Searching previous year obituaries (mainly prior to 2003) requires a good deal of time.  If you found this to be a valuable resource and would like to be a sponsor toward keeping the obituaries page updated, send donations to History of Hartford Obituaries, Emma Sefcik, 59320 62nd St, Hartford MI  49057.  Since the History of Hartford website is a voluntary effort, your contribution is much appreciated.

Email the webmaster with any correction of obvious errors that may have occurred in the original newspaper obit.

Click here for local library resources.
 

Julia Toomey Donovan, the youngest of seven children of Michael and Mary Toomey, Mrs. Julia Toomey Donovan was born in County Cork, Ireland, January 1, 1852, and passed away January 28. 1931, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Milton Lee, in southeast Hartford.
    At the age of 15 Julia Toomey came to America and settled in New York City. At the age of 19, she came to Lawrence, Mich., and made her home with an aunt, Mrs. Donovan. At the age of 22, she was united in marriage to John B. Donovan at St. Augustine’s Catholic church, Kalamazoo. To this union six children were born, of whom five survive. The surviving children are Mrs. P. D. Healy, Watervliet; Mrs. Julia Knapp, Battle Creek; Mrs. Bert Garrett, Hartford; Timothy Donovan, Kalamazoo, and Mrs. Milton G. Lee, Hartford. One child died in infancy.
    Mrs. Donovan was one of the pioneer settlers of Arlington township. She aided her husband in chopping the forest from their land, took their grist to Decatur and went to Kalamazoo to church over a trail through the woods.
    Although old in years, she was young in spirit, and was popularly and affectionately known among her neighbors and friends as "Grandma" Donovan.
    She was in good health until Sunday morning, January 25, when she was stricken with cerebral hemorrhage and passed away on January 28.
    Funeral services were held at Immaculate Conception church in Hartford, with solemn high mass conducted by Rev. Fr. Whitteman, Benton Harbor, Rev. Fr. Bona, Paw Paw, and Rev. Fr. Murphy, Watervliet. Burial was in the Catholic cemetery at Paw Paw beside the body of her husband.

 
 
 
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Information for this web site was gathered from personal interviews, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, personal photo albums, and other documented materials - many available to the public at the Hartford Public Library or Van Buren County Historical Museum.  Please report any typographical errors, updated information, or incorrectly stated information to the webmaster for correction.  Reprinting for personal and instructional purposes is permitted, however, unauthorized commercial reprinting of this information or unauthorized linking to photos-pictures on this site is strictly prohibited without written permission from the webmaster. 



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HartfordHistory Icon - Hartford MI

Pearls In Our Past - Hartford Michigan
© 
A Pictorial History of Hartford Michigan
Emma Thornburg Sefcik
Webmaster
Competent Secretarial Service
History of Hartford Michigan
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Revised: March 23, 2009