Agnes Marie Keefe

1889 - 1958  (69 years)

• Name	Agnes Marie Keefe
  Born	12 Jan 1889	Minnesota, USA
  Gender	Female
  Died	23 Apr 1958	Washington, USA
  Buried	Y  [1]
  Person ID	I126341	Suedpfalz
  Last Modified	27 Sep 2014

  
  

  Family	Desmer Lawrence Stoffel,   b. 16 Aug 1887, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 16 Dec 1927, Washington, USA  (Age 40 years)
  Married	4 Nov 1910	South Dakota, USA
  Children	1. Lillian A. Stoffel,   b. 14 Jun 1912, Saskatchewan, Canada ,   d. 29 May 1974, California, USA  (Age 61 years)   2. Kathleen E. Stoffel,   b. 25 May 1913, Saskatchewan, Canada ,   d. 3 Feb 1988, Washington, USA  (Age 74 years)   3. Vaughan George Stoffel,   b. 16 Aug 1915, Saskatchewan, Canada ,   d. 21 Jun 1987, Washington, USA  (Age 71 years)   4. Gerald Vernon Stoffel,   b. 26 Mar 1917, Montana, USA ,   d. 29 Mar 1995, Virginia, USA  (Age 78 years)   5. Woodrow Clement Stoffel,   b. 18 Jun 1918, Montana, USA ,   d. 15 Oct 1974, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA  (Age 56 years)   6. Desmer Lawrence Stoffel,   b. 1 Nov 1919, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA ,   d. 29 Nov 1925, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA  (Age 6 years)   7. Mary Elizabeth Stoffel,   b. 23 Mar 1921, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA ,   d. 4 Aug 1970, Washington, USA  (Age 49 years)   8. Edna Marguerite Stoffel,   b. 23 Jun 1923, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA ,   d. 19 Oct 1977, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA  (Age 54 years)
  Last Modified	1 May 2018
  Family ID	F53923	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Agnes, or Gramma Agie to her grandchildren, was widowed in 1927 when her husband contracted blood poisoning after a fall at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Because of no antibotics during that time, she was left to raise 7 children on her own. Along with the older children, she work a variety of jobs to support her children following his death. After they were raised, she sold her house to Vaughan Stoffel (her third oldest child) . He and his wife, Louise, raised their three children until the untimely death of Louise at age 33 (1948). Following Louise's death, Agnes moved back into her old home with Vaughan and helped him raise his three chidren; Paul, Jill and Judy. Vaughan never remarried and Agnes lived with him until her death in 1958 from a broken hip, after a fall on the street.

  
  

• Sources

  [S927] Obituary. Bremerton Sun ObituaryApril 24, 1958 Issue Mrs. Agnes Stoffel One of Bremerton?s best-known women, widely regarded for her success in rearing seven children after being widowed in 1927, Mrs. Agnes Marie Stoffel died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. She was 69. Death came at the home of a son, Vaughn G. Stoffel, 1333 N. Lafayette Ave., with whom she had lived for the past 15 years. She had been confined to the home since she suffered a broken hip in a fall on the street, while going to church a month ago. Mrs. Stoffel was active in PTA affairs for many years while her family was young. A notable citation came to her in 1947 when she was chosen by a civic committee as Bremerton?s ?Mother of the Year.? She was showered with gifts from local merchants and received the hospitality of the city. One highlight of that occasion was her first airplane flight, which she made from the Kitsap County Airport accompanied by one of her grandsons, Vaughn Paul Stoffel. She was a past president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles auxiliary and the Naval Avenue PTA and was a member of the Royal Neighbors of America. She was a devout member of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church. Mrs. Stoffel was born Agnes Marie Keefe on a farm near Graceville, Minn., January 12, 1889. After her marriage to Desmer Stoffel in South Dakota in 1910, the family located in Saskatchewan, Canada, where the first three of their eight children were born. Later, they moved to Montana and came to Bremerton in 1918, where Mr. Stoffel was employed in the navy yard. The family?s first home was at the present location of a service station at Burwell Street and Callow Avenue. One child, a son, Desmer, Jr., died in 1925 at the age of 6, but the other children grew to adulthood at the well-known Stoffel residence at 15th Street and Naval Avenue. When Mr. Stoffel?s death resulted from an injury suffered in the shipyard, his wife took on the full burden of rearing the children, whose ages then ranged from 2 to 16. Her devotion and courage were widely acclaimed. The Navel Avenue home was sold in 1942 and she had since shared residence with her children here. When Louise Stoffel, the wife of her son Vaughan, died in 1948, Mrs. Stoffel moved to his home and helped to rear his children ~ three of her 17 grandchildren. Of the surviving children, the three boys remain in Bremerton~ Vaughn G., Gerald V. and Woodrow C. Stoffel. Her daughters are Mrs. Lillian A. Petrusich of San Francisco, Mrs. Kathleen Augustyn of Kodiak, Alaska, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Schairer of Winslow, Bainbridge Island, and Mrs. Marguerite Rourke, now in France with her husband, an air force master Sergeant. Rosary will be said at 7:30 o?clock Friday evening at the Lewis Chapel. Requiem mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church. Burial will be at Forest Lawn, under direction of Lewis.