Person:Anna Connelly (1)

OESER, Anna (d. 1926)

Oldest South Bellingham Resident Leaves a Host of Friends--Was Noted Pioneer.
A neighborhood was in mourning Tuesday following the death of Mrs. Anna Oeser of 1705 25th Street, and old friends were recounting the many virtues of a departed companion. Mrs. Oeser was a wonderful woman,-a mother to the community,-generous to a fault,-she knew everyone in her neighborhood and everyone new her," was the general comment when the sad news of her passing was given out. Mrs. Oeser had been a resident of Bellingham and the towns that make up the present city for forty-nine years, the oldest resident in South Bellingham and numbered more friends than any of her district.
According to local history Mrs. Oeser came to what is now Bellingham in 1877 as the bride of Michael Padden who was the discoverer of Lake Padden. The young couple settled on a homestead,-the location of the present family residence. The story of that home is the story of the life of a pioneer. The life of the community then was more tightly bound in the homes of its settlers and as newcomers arrived in the wilderness that was to be a city, they all found a welcome in the hospitable door of that home. The garden that surrounded the home place was always full of green stuff that was freely shared with any who wanted. The highest tribute that can be paid to any member of a community was voiced yesterday when one of Mrs. Oeser's friends said: "She was a mother to us all."

Six children - three sons and three daughters - survive their mother and in addition there are six grandchildren, a brother and a sister. The daughters are Mrs. J. P. Munly of Spokane; Mrs. M. P. Flannery of Spokane, and Mrs. H. W. Gillespie of Bellingham, and the sons are John V. Padden, Henry Oeser and Francis Oeser. Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but it is probable that the services will be held on Thursday.

OLD SETTLER OF SOUTH SIDE WHO DIED THIS WEEK
The Sacred Heart Catholic Church was filled to capacity yesterday morning when funeral services for Mrs. Anna Oeser, widely known old settler of South Bellingham were held. Requiem high mass was celebrated with Monsignor Hanly, of St. Mary's Church, Seattle, officiating assisted by two other priests. Father Hanly preached the funeral sermon. Pallbearers were Hugh Eldridge, John Kellogg, Charles Nolte, Victor Roeder, J. P. deMattos and Thomas R,. Earles and the music was directed by J. N. Hermsen and Ed. Ahern. Mrs. Oeser came to South Bellingham, then Fairhaven on October 31, 1877, and up to the time of her death was the oldest living settler of the south side. She arrived here on the J. B. Libby, an old sound vessel which called here once a week. The trip then required from twenty-four to forty-eight house, depending upon the tides. There were no roads in Fairhaven at that time and only a few homes, all of which were in Happy Valley. There Mrs. Oeser took up her residence and lived their continuously. Her father was Edward Connelly.
(From The Bellingham Herald) Submitted by Cathy Padden Atkinson