John B. Beyer Passes Away Well known Aged Gentleman Goes to His Reward - Will Be Buried Thursday Afternoon

John Baptist Beyer died at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. George Bruer, Tuesday evening at eight-thirty o'clock. Mr. Beyer had been in poor health since Christmas, when he had a bad attack of the flu, which left his heart weakened. The past two months he has been practically bedfast, but was conscious up to the last. Mr. Beyer has lived a great many years of his life in Sterling, passing away at the age of eight-two years.

Funeral services will be held from the home, Thursday afternoon at four o'clock, in charge of the I. O. O. F. Lodge.

Obituary of John Baptist

Beyer Tribute to the Memory of a Well Known Sterling Man Written for Publication in the Bulletin After a good, long, and active life, John B. Beyer, smiled lovingly and gratefully at the dear ones ministering to him and gently closed his eyes upon the scenes of mortal existence, consciously laying aside the life of the visible world to take up life on a higher plane of consciousness with a host of loved ones who have preceded him. To him "Death was but the veil that hides the invisible and immortal from the visible and mortal. He fully believed that the sufferings and trials and afflictions of the present time were but the opposite of the glory which is to come when we have overcome all sense of life, as material, and as man as being anything but spiritual since God, the Father is Spirit. He thought of death as being as natural and no more to be feared than birth, and often expressed the faith that as love welcomes the babe born into this life, so love will welcome us when we are born into the "undying life." He believed with Tennyson that "there is no death, what seems so is transition." He did not fear life, nor falter nor faint when the burdens of the physical seemed almost more than he could bear. He did not think that God punishes man for often he said "God is Love and Love does not willingly afflict or punish the children of man. He believed that all our suffering, sickness and trouble came from our ignorance of God and our failure to obey His laws. He believed God creates each one and sends him into the world on a mission, and to perform a certain work, and that leaving, discharged his duties to the best of his ability and according to the understanding he possessed, he is again summoned Home to his Father, which is in Heaven. He met the duties of life as they came and toiled always, loyally and faithfully, depending upon that power which had created him to support and sustain him in all he was called upon to do. In the prime of his life he was considered the strongest man in this section of the country, and his pride in his strength caused him to overestimate the strength of his physical endurance, taxing his bodily strength to such limits that injured him internally, and caused his strong, straight form to bend and almost break, and brought years of constant suffering. This he often referred to as "The price of human pride." He was like a strong oak, bent by the storms and so constantly bending under the weight of the strong gale, finally is bowed to the earth. He had a great love for all nature, and especially for trees, and those knowing him intimately and well can affirm that he had all of the splendid qualities that are found in the oak and elm, in his character. He fully believed that the life and intelligence manifested in trees was of the same kind and quality as that of man His dear ones looking out of the windows of the home which he so recently vacated, see on every side trees of his planting; his thought was to give protection, shelter and shade, and in these trees reaching Heavenward, his dear ones see the symbol of his eager inquiring mind, always reaching out and up to better understand, appreciate and appropriate life that God had given, and the world that God had made. In his younger years he felt a keen interest in, and a great enjoyment of life and mankind, but after the death of his beloved wife on May 1, 1912, he withdraw from the world of man, and lived much within himself, spending all of his leisure time in reading and thinking. He loved his children alike, and left a message for each one. Several hours before his transition took place, he clearly saw the Heavenly vision and declared the invisible loved ones had come for him. John Baptist Bayer was born in a village in the Province of Alsac France, December 20, 1847. He came to the United States March 12, 1866. In 1867 he was married in Cincinnati, Ohio December 10; to Mary Catherine Lubben. To this union were born thirteen children, five of whom passed on in infancy. Four sons and four daughters survive, Mrs. Anna Elbe, Mrs. Emma Adams, Mrs. Josephine Bruer, all of this city, Mrs. Mayne Felt of Hollywood, Calif; F. J, E. F; and J. H Beyer, all of Wichita and J. E. Beyer of Hereford, Texas. With his family he came to Kansas May, 1, 1879 from Indiana and settled in Sterling, September 1, 1882. His wife, Mary Catherine Beyer, preceded him in death. Out of town relatives and friends who attended the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Frank Beyer, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Beyer, Mr. and Mrs. John Beyer, Mr. and Mrs. Will Foote all of Wichita; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Beyer of Hereford, Texas; Mrs. Nellie Woolly of Topeka; Mrs. Joe Blagion of Ellinwood; Frank Blagion of Hutchinson; Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Whalen, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Hazelton of Hutchinson; Mr. Talbot and Mr. Grover of Salina; Mrs. Emil Cramer and Mr. Cramer, Mrs. Pete Roberts and Mr. and Mrs. Leo Walker all of Lyons. Services, simple as he had wished them, were conducted at the home where he was loved and cared for by his dear ones, July 2, and the I. O. O F. lodge conducted burial services.