When I found these two obituaries, I thought this is what an obituary is supposed to sound like.  Loving words were said about each individual and their family.  How beautiful.  Not just a list of dates and names.  These people came alive reading their last notice 109 years later. 

Thomas H. Grubbs and Mary E. Jarman were married in 1866 and enjoyed twenty-five years of married life together, celebrating their 25^th anniversary the April previous to her death.  Thomas lived another 21 years. 

The Mt. Sterling Advocate, Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky

Tuesday, December 15, 1891

On Thursday morning our community was startled by the news of the death of one of the noblest women that lived in our midst.  Mrs. Mary E. Grubbs, wife of Thomas Grubbs, died at her home, near this city, at 8 o’clock Thursday morning, December 10^th, aged 54 years.  So well known was she, and so short had been her illness, that the news came in the nature of a rude shock to her wide circle of friends.  Always bright and cheerful, full of vim and energy, with a smile and a good word for all, ever ready to do for those she loved or those who needed her good offices, we had not looked upon her as one who was likely to leave us.  A noble, earnest, humble disciple of the Master, she gave Him the service of her life in no half-hearted manner, but with a devotion born of a confiding trust in Him in Whom she believed, she gave Him the service of her life.  She was for many years a member of the Christian church of this city, and her loss will be sadly felt.  But it is in her home where the loss falls with keenest force; there it was where her virtues shone brightest; her home was her kingdom, and she was the queen of a realm of devoted hearts.  She knew the strength of love, and right royally did she exercise her power.  Her ambition was to make her home an ideal one, and she fell as little short of it as any may do in this imperfect world of ours.  On the 12^th of April last, she, with her husband, celebrated the 25^th anniversary of their married life, and of all those who gathered to wish her joy on that occasion, none seemed to give more promise of long life than she.  She leaves four children – two sons, Charles D. and Edward, and two daughters, Misses Katie and Virginia.  Last week she took a trip to Cincinnati and caught cold, which by Sunday had developed into pneumonia; even this did not assume a violent form till a few hours before the end.  The funeral services were held at the Christian church by Elder H. D. Clark, on Saturday morning at 10 o’clock.  Burial in Machpelah cemetery.

The Mt. Sterling Advocate, Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky

Wednesday, September 11, 1912

Peacefully Slumbers

The Remains of Thomas H. Grubbs in Beautiful Machpelah

Was One of This County’s Highest Esteemed Citizens

Mr. Thomas H. Grubbs, one of the best beloved men that ever lived in Montgomery County, passed to the Great Beyond Thursday morning, September 5, 1912, after an illness which lasted a little over two weeks.  Mr. Grubbs was about 77 years of age and belonged to a family through whose veins nothing but blue blood ever trickled.  He had spent fifty-six years in the same house in which he died and during his long life had made countless friends by his generous and congenial manner who will always remember him as a true, kind and loving friend.

The death of Mr. Grubbs has caused wide-spread sorrow, and in the passing of this gentleman everyone that bore his acquaintance has lost a friend, tried and true.  And while his living spirit has left its tenement of clay and took its long and lasting flight to the house of the Redeemed, the memory of Mr. Thomas H. Grubbs still lingers, and his children will instill into their offspring the character of this grand old man and so on through generation after generation will the memory of the life of this gentleman be re-lived.

Mr. Grubbs was a native of Montgomery County, having been born on January 4, 1836, and lived all his long years in this community, played an important part in the life and affairs of the county.  On April 12, 1866, Mr. Grubbs was married to Miss Mary E. Jarman, of Madison County, and to them four children were born, Charles D. Grubbs, Mrs. Henry R. Prewitt, Mrs. Harry G. Hoffman, of this city, and J. Ed. Grubbs of Winchester, all of whom survive him.  His wife preceded him to the grave in December, 1891.  Until prevented by old age, he was one of the most prominent and successful farmers in the county and accumulated a large estate.

Besides his children, Mr. Grubbs is survived by one sister, Mrs. Sarah E. Winn, of this city.

The funeral, with services conducted by Rev. H. D. Clark, was held at the residence at 3:30 o’clock Friday afternoon, and the remains were followed to their last resting place in Machpelah Cemetery by a large number of sorrowing friends and relatives.