Lillian Evelyn Northey, nee Atkinson, was born at Albany, Wisconsin, October 20, 1858, and died at her home near Mariposa, Calif., August 11, 1941. When she was a small girl her parents moved to Pawnee City, Nebraska, and there, at the age of twelve, she began a life of service which ended only with the final call. There her mother died leaving a large family of small children, the youngest but an infant, and Lillian assumed a mother’s care over them during the long trek by covered wagon with her father back to Wisconsin. Of this family only one sister, Mrs. Lila Swift of Loma Linda, California, survives, two brothers Herbert and Delbert Atkinson, and two sisters, Mrs. T. T. (Ruby) Marcott and Mrs. Ruth Young having preceded her in death.

After she was grown she again went to Nebraska where she worked for a time with one of her sisters at Beatrice, later returning to Albany. In 1885 the urge to pioneer led her back to Nebraska the third time where she located near Gothenburg. There she was married to Thomas C. Northey, March 14, 1886. To this unionwere born six children, one of which died in infancy. Surviving are the husband, two daughters, Mrs. Oren I. (Vyena) Alcox and Mrs. Norman J. (Margie) Pinkston, and a son Neil Wayne Northey, all of Mariposa, California, and two daughters, Mrs. Wm. A. (Lila) Morgan and Miss Fay Northey, who live in San Diego, California, and one grandchild, Val Clenom Morgan, resides with his parents in San Diego.

Her father having married again there are also left to mourn a half-sister, Mrs. L. C. (Gertrude) Craig of Ingham, Nebraska, and four half-brothers: Eugene E. Atkinson of Brady, Nebraska; Robert Atkinson of Laton, California; and Ray E. and Charles Atkinson of Turlock, California. Surviving also are Mrs. Myna Northey, wife of her stepson (Clyde E. Northey, deceased) and her children: Earl and Fred of Gothenburg, Mrs. Eldora Brown of Brady, Nebr., Clyde Northey of North Platte, Nebr., and Mrs. Aleen Moore of Fort Shaw, Montana. Many nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends will be saddened to hear of her death.

In 1913 the deceased and her husband moved to Colorado where they lived until 1928, and then sought a milder climate in Calif. There amid the orange groves they celebrated their Golden Wedding, March 14, 1936. Soon after they found a spot in the hills near Mariposa, Calif., which suited their pioneer spirits better, and it was there amid the things of nature which she loved so much that she went to her final rest. There on a sun-kissed slope beneath an oak she sleeps, awaiting the coming of the life-giver.

Mrs. Northey was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church for half a century, and enjoyed an abiding faith in God which sustained her in every time of need. Like the Master whose example she followed, she gave the best she had in service and self sacrifice for others, living the golden Rule and ever trusting that God, who gave His only begotten Son that all might live, would in the long last, care for her soul. Words are insufficient to express this inner confidence which she held that God doeth all things well, but the following verse are dedicated to the memory of a loving and faithful wife and mother by one in whose memory she has left a sacred spot, providing as it were an ever-present connection between earth and heaven.

There may be shadows on the road,
Where I must stray;

Dark lowering mists may fling their arms
Across the way;

But I am sure that though the path
May hidden be,

I’ll see wild flower faces, God
Put there for me.

There may be storms along the trail,
Which I would shun;

Clouds of despair may across the sky
And veil the sun;

But though no human voice may bring
A word of cheer,

I know that song of bird will greet
My hungry ear.

There may be turns beyond which point
No man can see;
The deep dark valley at the end,
All mystery;

But though to some I walk alone,
It may appear,

These works of His proclaim to me
That He is near.

— Submitted, Neil Wayne Northey.

The Gothenburg Times 34(9):5 Thursday, August 28, 1941