Funeral Rites
Are Held For
Mrs. Ausland
(The following obituary appeared in The Emmetsburg (Iowa) Democrat on Thursday, February 3, 1955. It was probably written by Mary Kelley Knutson.)
Funeral services for Mrs. Martin Ausland, a resident of Emmetsburg since 1907, were held Monday afternoon at the First Congregational Church, here, with the Rev. Alvin Boettcher, minister, officiating. Serving as pall bearers were Lon Helgen, John Kelley, D.M. Amspoker, Henry Brumm, Robert Storck of Britt, and Joseph P. Hand.
During the services, Mrs. Jack Cook, organist, played a number of hymns and accompanied the congregation in the hymn, How Firm a Foundation. The Rev. Boettcher read appropriate passages of Scripture, including the 23rd Psalm. He also read an obituary commenting on the unselfish life and strong faith of Mrs. Ausland, longtime member of the church.
Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery where the Rev. Martin Bailey of Evanston, Ill., Mrs. Ausland’s grandson, offered the committal prayers. The Foy-Ellsworth Funeral Home was in charge.
Mrs. Ausland, the former Una Ochsner, was born January 23, 1878, the daughter of William and Lola Kathryn Schontz Ochsner, at Bear Creek, Wis. The family moved to Chamberlain, where Mrs. Ausland was a child and graduated from the schools there, later enrolling at the State Normal College in South Dakota. Completing her course there, she taught school before her marriage June 25, 1901 to Martin Ausland.
Mr. Ausland was a young Norwegian who had come to America to establish his own business. The young couple moved to Royal, Ia., where Mr. Ausland was one of the founders of the now well-known Royal Lumber Co. Later Mr. and Mrs. Ausland moved to Graettinger in the interests of the lumber firm, coming to Emmetsburg about 48 years ago, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
When the family first moved here they resided in the large home now occupied by the B.F. Bradley family on 7th Street. In a few years, Mr. Ausland purchased the spacious home now converted into the Ausland Apartment building and he and his family lived there until his death in 1924.
Mr. and Mrs. Ausland were the parents of three children, Mrs. Allen Bailey of Emmetsburg, James Ausland of Curlew, and William Ausland of Dallas, Tex. Long prominent in Emmetsburg church and civic affairs, the senior Auslands will be remembered as one of the town’s most hospitable couples. Mr. Ausland was president of the Emmetsburg Civic Club, a forerunner of the present Chamber of Commerce, and his wife was one of the community’s most gracious hostesses.
She was a past president of the Emmetsburg Friday Club and also was at one time active in the Order of Eastern Star. As long as her health permitted she took part in the work of her church, willingly performing any task assigned to her and always ready to help others.
Quiet and self-effacing, Mrs. Ausland liked to remain in the background but her many friends knew of her skill and efficiency and she was often called upon to assist in charitable and community projects, duties which she never refused but for which she never sought credit. Never in robust health, she had been ill for several years preceding her death and for the past year and a half whe was a patient in the local hospital.
Resigned to her illness, she never complained but looked forward to the frequent visits of her children and friends. Her daughter, Mrs. Bailey, spent part of each day with her and other relatives, including her grand-children, helped to make her last days more pleasant.
In addition to her children, Mrs. Ausland is survived by five grand-children, Susan, Katie and Betsy Ausland of Curlew, Tom Bailey of Emmetsburg and the Rev. Bailey of Evanston. Two sisters, Miss Louise Ochsner and Mrs. Josephine Stevens of San Diego, Calif., also survive. Among other relatives is the famous surgeon, Dr. Alton Ochsner of New Orleans, La. Dr. Ochsner was a “double cousin” of Mrs. Ausland, his mother and father being a sister and brother, respectively, of Mrs. Ausland’s mother and father.
See also "Grandma Gets a New Name," by J. Martin Bailey