Bessie Harvey was a daughter of Newman Harvey and Gertrude (Shirley) Harvey. She was born in 1908 and married Earl J. Conklin and had one son.
Aunt Bessie was the older sister of my great-grandmother, Mary (Harvey) Reese Gaul. Others in the family describe her as being very strict, which I found surprising because I remember her being a sweet little old lady. I felt sorry for her because she suffered from arthritis in both of her hands.
Bessie Conklin was an ordained minister (see news clippings below) and Pastor of Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church in Groton. She was also a Nurse at George Junior Republic in Freeville, New York, a campus for orphaned and/or troubled youth from the cities to learn life skills and trades.
She died on July 7, 1986 in New York and rests in Willow Glen Cemetery in Dryden, Tompkins County, New York. (Lot 19, Section 39).
Notice the error in The Independent Villager's version of her obituary. "Mrs. Mary Paul" should be Mary Gaul.
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