Bruer, Josephine Anna ‘Josie’ (Beyer) divorced wife of George W Bruer
Burial Date: 1967, 01/18 Age: 87 Lot: 055
| Mrs. Josephine A. Bruer, of Sterling, 87, died yesterday at 3 p.m. in the Sterling Community hospital after an illness of several months. She had entered the hospital Saturday. Born in Stafford County on a claim eight miles southwest of Raymond, June 7, 1879, she married George W. Bruer, September 29, 1897. He died on May 12, 1940. She lived in the Sterling community since 1883. She owned the Bruer cafe.
She was a member of the Mother Church First Church of Christ Science of Boston, Massachusetts, and had been a science reader of the Sterling Christian Science for eight years. Survivors include one son J. Ellery of Sterling; 12 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Porter and Sillin Funeral home in Sterling. Joseph E. Beyer, Jr. will be the science reader. Burial will be in the Sterling community cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 6 p.m. this evening.
This article was written in the middle of Josephine’s obituary: The death of Josephine A. Bruer of Sterling, 87, brought to a close what was undoubtedly one of the longest business careers in the history of Rice county. Mrs. Bruer became a citizen of Sterling in May 1883, as a youngster of four, and on September 20, 1897, the Bruer cafe was started. It has been in continuous operation since that day. Her son, J Ellery Bruer, has managed the business since her retirement. However, she still visited the business on a daily schedule. Ends Sixty-Nine Years on Broadway Mrs. Josephine A. Bruer, Sterling’s oldest business person from standpoint of continuous proprietorship, died Sunday afternoon at the local hospital at the age of 87. Mrs. Bruer, the owner of Bruer’s cafe and bus agency, had been in business on Broadway for 69 years. With her husband, the late George Bruer, she opened the Bruer Cafe here on September 20, 1897. The firm was initially located in the building occupied by Maurice Schmitt’s barbershop. They later moved to the present location of Rodger’s store where they operated a dining room, in addition to the counter and soda fountain, serving civic clubs and other organizations. Following Mr. Bruer’s death in 1940, Mrs. Bruer later moved to the Cafe’s present location. From 1940 until her son Ellery joined her here a few years ago she operated the business alone. In addition to her lengthy career in the cafe business, Mrs. Bruer was the oldest bus agent in the Central division of the Continental Bus Company. The cafe served as local agent from the day the first bus ran through Sterling, probably about 1920. The first bus was known as the “paper car,” an auto which hauled the daily newspapers and transported occasional passengers. Later followed the Central Kansas Bus Company, the Cardinal Bus Line, Santa Fe and finally Continental. Mrs. Bruer had been in ill health for about two months. She had been a patient at the local hospital three times in recent months, entering there again the day before her death. Mrs. Bruer was born June 7, 1879, on a homestead eight miles southwest of Raymond, in Stafford County, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Beyer. She was married to George W. Bruer on September 29, 1897, at Sterling and had made her home here since 1883. She was a member of the Mother Church First Church of Christ Scientist, Boston, Mass. She served as a reader in the Sterling Christian Science Church for eight years. Survivors include a son, J. Ellery Bruer of Sterling; 12 grandchildren; 24 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. Glen Bruer, who has been assisting at the Cafe is a grandson. Louis Elbl, her business neighbor for many years is a nephew. A son, Harold Bruer died in 1964. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at the Porter Sillin Funeral Home with Joseph E. Beyer, Jr. of Hutchinson officiating. Burial was in the Sterling Community Cemetery. Most Sterling business houses were closed during the service in honor of the veteran Sterling businesswoman. Family links: Spouse: Children: Siblings: *Calculated relationship |
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| Burial: Sterling Cemetery Sterling Rice County Kansas, USA |
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| Maintained by: Shirley Thacker Hartman Originally Created by: Diane Smith Battershell Record added: Nov 01, 2011 Find A Grave Memorial# 79677078 |