Services For Rev. Primrose Held In St. Paul Nov. 17 - William James Primrose, retired Presbyterian minister, were held at the Presbyterian church at St. Paul at 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, November 17 with burial in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings. The Rev. Leland Rubesh of Cascade, Iowa, who studied for the ministry under Mr. Primrose's guidance, conducted the services, assisted by the Rev. E. A. Ahrens of St. Paul. Mr. Rubesh, who had been attending a convention in California, drove back for that purpose. Mr. Primrose, who died in the Penney Memorial Home, Penney Farms, Fla., Nov. 11, was born in Allegheny, Pa., later a part of Pittsburgh, July 1, 1876. He was a son of John and Martha Johnston Primrose. The family moved to Boone county Nebraska when he was eight years old. He was graduated from Cedar Rapids high school in 1898. In 1899 Mr. Primrose taught school near Primrose, a town named for an uncle, Dave Primrose. Between 1900 and 1903 he farmed in that vicinity and in 1903 he was licensed as an evangelist by the presbytery of Kearney and was named pastor of the church at Bridgeport. Attending the University of Nebraska and the Presbyterian Theological seminary in Omaha, he received his A. B. degree from Bellevue College, near Omaha in 1910. In 1911 he taught in the Primrose High School, and was also named as supply pastor of the Presbyterian church at Spalding. He was ordained that year. From 1911 to 1930, one of the longest pastorates in Nebraska Presbyterian history, Mr. Primrose was pastor at Spalding, and from 1930 to 1945, when he retired, he held the pastorate at St. Paul. He was married June 14, 1911 to Miss Jewell E. Jones at Rushville, Neb., who survives, as do five children: Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Binderup of Hastings, John W. Primrose of Grand Island, Mrs. Kathryn Mae Balsey of Seaside, Cal., Mrs. Martha Irene Dumse of Mt. Union, Ia., Mrs. Jewel Fredrica Christensen of Wahoo. He is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Sadie Culbertson of Fort Worth and Mrs. Margaret McClanahan of Hot Springs, S.D., and by 13 grandchildren.
Wolbach Messenger, Wolbach, Nebraska, Thursday, December 2, 1948