Obituary Misdirection

Have you ever struggled to figure out parent-child relationships when multiple marriages are involved? If so, do you turn to an obituary of a parent to help figure out the children?

While researching the descendants of my third great grandfather, Sameul Christy, I’ve encountered the family of Ernest Evert Stoops. Ernest was first married to Edith Ethel Christy and later married to Edith’s sister, Lydia Alice Christy. Prior to Lydia’s marriage to Ernest Stoops, Lydia was married to Basel Henderson. These multiple marriages can make it difficult to figure out who the mother of the children is.

So far, I haven’t located an obituary for Edith Christy Stoops who died in 1929. I have located an obituary for her sister, Lydia, who was also married to Ernest Stopps

Obituaries
Lydia Stoops

Lydia A. Stoops, 82, Rt. 1, Frankfort, died at 1:30 a.m. Friday in St. Joseph’s memorial Hospital,, Kokomo. She had been ill for six years.
Born May 11, 1894 in Tipton County, she was the daughter of Milton and Florinda Suites Christy.
She was married on Oct 3, 1932 to Earnest Stoops, who survives.
Mrs. Stoops was a member of the Geetingsville Presbyterian Church and Chapter No. 491 of the Order of Eastern Star.
Surviving with her husband are: four daughters, Mrs. Raymond (Gladys) Unger of Sedalia, Mrs. William (Juanita) Bolinger of Smyrna, Tenn., Mrs. Marvin (Lois) Click of Brownsburg, and Mrs. Iola Rodenbarger of Niles, Mich.; two sons, Wayne Stoops of Albany, Ore. and Olas Stoops of Frankfort; 28 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Mrs. Lorain VanBuskirk of Wickenberg, Ariz.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Monday in the Stout Funeral Chapel in Russiaville. Rev. Oral Duckworth and Rev. Dennis Ladd will officiate and burial will be in Liberty Baptist Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Sunday.

“Obituaries,” Tipton County Tribune (Tipton, Indiana), 16 April 1977, page 7; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 1 January 2022).

Based on the above obituary, one would likely assume that all of the children named in the obituary were Lydia’s. While Ernest Stoops’ obituary names his first wife, Edith Christy, it does not help figure out the identity of the children’s mother. In fact, it just adds to the confusion by claiming a child of Lydia’s from her first marriage as his own.

Ernest Stoops
Rossville, Ind. — Enrest E. Stoops, 94, Rossville R.R. 1, died at 1:33 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, 1988, in Saint Joseph Hospital & Health Center, Kokomo.
Born June 28, 1894, in Tipton County, he was a son of Irvin and Martha (Peters) Stoops. In 1912, he married Edith Ethel Christy, who died in 1929. On Oct. 3, 1932, he married Lydia Alice Christy, who died April 15, 1977.
Surviving are two sons, Wayne Stoops of Albany, Ore., and Olas Stoops of Frankfort; four daughters, Mrs. Cleatis (Juanita) Zook of Rossville, Mrs. Marvin (Lois) Click of Brownsburg, Mrs. Robert (Iola) Rodgers of Niles, Mich., and Mrs. Raymond (Gladys) Unger of Sedalia, Ind.; 28 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great-grandchildren. Two sons, four brothers and two sisters preceded him in death.
He was resident of the Geetingsville area since 1927. He was a member of Geetingsville Presbyterian Church, the Beard Order of Eastern Star, Moose Lodge 1529 at Lafayette.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Stout & Son Funeral Home, Russiaville with the Rev. Oral Duckworth officiating. Burial will be in Liberty Baptist Cemeter in Tipton county. Friends may call from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday at the mortuary. A twilight Masonic service will be conducted at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

“Ernest Stoops,” The Kokomo Tribune (Kokomo, Indiana), 2 October 1988, page 6; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 21 November 2020).

Fortunately, the obituary of Ernest’s son, Olas Harold Stoops helps figure out who the mother is of Ernest’s children.

Olas H. Stoops, 76
Geetingsville — Olas H. Stoops, 76, died at 6 a.m. Thursday, May 4, 2000, in his residence following an illness of several months.
he was born on Feb. 14, 1924, in Howard County near Kokomo. He resided in the Geetingsville area most of his life, and had resided in Lafayette for several years.
He was a 1943 graduate of Rossville High School,. In 1989, he retired from Richard Huffer Construction Co.
On Nov. 9, 1957, he married Carole Ann Biggs in Lafayette, and she died April 11, 1997.
He was a member of Rossville United Methodist Church.
Surviving are two sons, Sheldon H. “Butch” Stoops of Mulberry, and Andrew H. Stoops of Forest; two daughters, Ava Melton (husband: Stephen) of Bedford, and Avonne Krug (husband: Steven) of Lafayette; a brother, Wayne Stoops (wife: Wilma) of Albany, ore.; a sister, Juanita Zook (husband: Cletus) of Rossville; and a stepsister, Gladys Unger (husband: Raymond) of Sedalia.

“Olas H. Stoops, 76,” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana), 7 May 2000, page 12; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 31 December 2021).

With the addition of this third obituary, additional sources are needed to verify the family relationships. For this family the 1930 census record is very helpful.

In the 1930 census for Clinton County, Indiana, the household of Ernest Stoops has a Lydia Henderson listed. Lydia is identified as Ernest Stoops sister-in-law. Also listed in the household is Gladys Henderson. Gladys is listed as a niece of Ernest Stoops.

This census record provides a lot of clues to the family structure. Based on all of the above records, i have concluded that Ernest and Edith (Christy) Stoops are the parents of Sylvester Eugene, Juanita, Lois Evelyn, Everett Wayne, Charles Irvin, Olas Harold and Iola Jean. After the death of his first wife, Ernest married his sister-in-law and merged her family with his own. Thus, his obituary listed Gladys as a surviving daughter even though the census record identifies Gladys as Gladys Henderson, niece of Ernest Stoops.

While I don’t do extensive ‘digging’ when researching the descendants of my 3rd great grandfathers, I realize that I need to locate as many sources as I can. Sometimes an abundance of sources is needed to figure out a family structure.