CYNTHIA MARIE ROBY BERKEY
CYNTHIA MARIE ROBY, DAUGHTER OF NANCY DAVIS AND HARMON ROBY, WAS BORN AT BROWNSVILLE, INDIANA, AUGUST 31, 1848 AND PASSED AWAY IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 3, 1930, BEING 81 YEARS, SIX MONTHS AND TWO DAYS.
WHEN A CHILD THE FAMILY MOVED TO CORYDON, IOWA, WHERE THE FATHER DIED AND WAS BURIED. LATER THE FAMILY MOVED TO MOUNT AYR, IOWA, WHERE SHE LIVED UNTIL GOING IN 1911, TO BUFFALO, N.Y., WHERE SHE RESIDED UNTIL HER DEATH.
WHEN A YOUNG WOMAN SHE WORKED AS A TYPE SETTER IN HER BROTHER GEORGE’S PRINTING OFFICE IN MOUNT AYR AND CONTINUED IN THIS WORK UNTIL HER MARRIAGE.
HER BROTHER HENRY DIED IN THE CIVIL WAR AND WAS BURIED IN THE NATIONAL CEMETERY AT KEOKUK, IOWA. HER MOTHER DIED IN 1888. HER BROTHER GEORGE AND SISTERS, CATHERINE ROBY, RUTH ROBY, AND MRS. NAOMI KIRBY, HAVE ALSO PRECEDED HER IN DEATH. HER SISTER, MRS. JENNIE MARSHALL OF MOUNT AYR SURVIVES.
ON FEBRUARY 22, 1878, SHE WAS MARRIED TO WILLAM STUART BERKEY AND TO THIS UNION WERE BORN JAMES CLIFFORD, WHO DIED IN NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. IN 1924; RUTH MARIE, WHO DIED IN BUFFALO, N.Y. IN 1915; WALTER E. OF HUMESTON, IOWA; RODNEY R. AND HENRY LYNDON OF BUFFALO, N.Y.WHO SURVIVE.THERE ARE ALSO ELEVEN GRANDCHILDREN AND ONE GREAT GRANDCHILD, BESIDES MANY OTHER RELATIVES AND FRIENDS. HER HUSBAND PASSED AWAY IN 1902.
HER PARENTS SAT UNDER THE TEACHING OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELL AND WALTER SCOTT IN THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT, SO IT WAS NATURAL THAT SHE BECAME A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MOUNT AYR, IOWA. PREVIOUS TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE MOUNT AYR CHRISTIAN CHURCH SHE HAD BEEN A FAITHFUL WORKER IN THE METHODIST CHURCH. SHE LIVED TO SEE HER HUSBAND AND HER CHILDREN AND HER GRANDCHILDREN ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
HER HOME LIFE WAS DEVOTED TO HER FAMILY AND HER CHURCH. SHE HEARD AND ENTERTAINED MANY OF THE PIONEER MINISTERS WHO FREQUENTED THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING SUCH MEN AS J.B. BRINEY, B. H. BRUNER, D.R. DUNGAN, J.H. PAINTER, J.H. GARRISON, A.M. COLLINS, J.P. LUCAS AND MANY OTHERS.
THE HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS OF HER EARLY LIFE WERE REFLECTED BY HER GENEROSITY IN NEVER TURNING A DEAF EAR TO THOSE IN NEED.
THE PIONEER SPIRIT OF THE WEST REFLECTED THE STAUNCH CHARACTER THAT DOMINATED HER LIFE.
SHE WAS ALWAYS TRUE TO THE GOSPEL OF HER LORD JESUS CHRIST. FOR SEVERAL YEARS SHE TAUGHT A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS. ONE OF HER GREATEST SERVICES WERE PREPARING AND TAKING CARE OF THE COMMUNION EMBLEMS DURING THE GREATER PART OF A PERIOD OF 25 YEARS, AND SHE HAD THE TWO ORIGINAL PLATES USED IN THE SERVICE.
