Family:Howard Buchanan and Vera McLaughlin (1)

Tribute to Howard and Vera Buchanan by Anna Marie Dahlquist, 1995:

VERA MAUDE McLAUGHLIN (Second child of Samuel Robb McLaughlin and Carrie Todd McLaughlin). Born April 19, 1891 in Elvira, Iowa. Graduated from Monmouth College in voice in 1914 and in liberal arts in 1916. On June 16, 1917, at Arkansas City, KS, she was married to Howard Joseph Buchanan, her father performing the ceremony at the manse. Howard Joseph Buchanan was born January 28, 1890, in Illinois, and graduated from Monmouth College in 1917. In 1921 he graduated with an M. D. from the Medical Department of Northwestern University, Chicago. They volunteered for foreign mission service and were appointed to Egypt by the United Presbyterian Board, going to their field in 1921, after a season in London where Howard took a course in tropical medicine. In 1924-1925 they went to the Sudan to fill a vacancy but in a very short time Howard contracted an infection of the eyes which cost him his sight. One eye was removed in Alexandria, Egypt, in April, 1925. They returned to the USA and after many fruitless efforts to restore some sight Howard took up life insurance as an occupation, representing the Mass. Mutual Ins. Co. in which he was remarkably successful for 16 years until his death. Howard received one of the first seeing eye dog guides in America and had his second dog before his death. Vera made a careful study and discovered that in the immediate families of the Buchanan-McLaughlin con-nection there had been 37 ministers and missionaries during her lifetime, serving in eight fields at home and abroad. Those 37 (at the time of her study) had given 827 years of service to the Lord. This did not include the years of service of the 21 members in the families of the spouses, who also served in seven countries at home and abroad. Though Howard and Vera were unable to go back to the foreign field, their enthusiasm for the work they had chosen never failed and they were both called upon very frequently for missionary addresses. Howard authored the missionary history The Promise, and also wrote articles for church papers and insurance magazines. On a trip through Yellowstone in 1934 he composed a twelve-page booklet of verses called "Vacation Time in Rhyme." On January 2, 1945, he died of a heart attack and is buried at Monmouth, Ill, where they had made their home. An obituary states: "Dr. Buchanan was a life long member of the Ninth Ave. Church of Monmouth, Ill. and his passing has created a vacancy that will be hard to fill. His broad missionary vision did much to stimulate the whole congregation in regard to both the Foreign and Local phases of spreading the Gospel." He was Mission Treasurer for several years and mission giving consistently increased during that time. In 1931 the Buchanans purchased a large home in Monmouth. It was always open to the many relatives and friends who visited briefly or who stayed longer while pursuing their studies. During the last twelve years of her life, Carrie Todd McLaughlin lived in this home. Vera devoted many years to selflessly being "eyes" for her husband, and then to caring for her elderly mother. After Carrie Todd McLaughlin died in 1950, Vera was free to travel more than previously. She revisited Egypt and the Sudan, and made many extended trips to Guatemala to visit her sister Dora, to California to visit her daughter Helen Louise, and to Indiana to visit her daughter Rachel. She loved to sew, and when she would come to visit the Sywulkas, she always "sewed up" matching dresses for the three Sywulka girls. After Paul Burgess died, Vera stayed with Dora in Guatemala and became a tower of strength to her. During her final years Vera resided in the Presbyterian Home at Washington, IA. There she made many friends, traveled extensively to visit her family, and wrote numerous letters to relatives all over the world, as was her life-long custom. Her brother Ralph remembered hearing her say many times, "Well, I have written a dozen letters today." She literally kept the family together through her correspondence. She is remembered for her cheerfulness, her selfless care of others, and her enthusiasm for life. She died Nov. 3, 1984, at age 93, in Washington, IA.

Date: 8 May 2003