Joe C. Stamper, 77, prominent merchant, farmer and landowner of Grassy Creek,
died early Monday in the West Liberty Hospital after a long illness.
Mr. Stamper, suffering from a heart ailment, had been in failing health
for more and two years. He had been a patient in the hospital here for
more than a week. Pneumonia developed Sunday and he succumbed Monday at
3 a.m. Previously, he had been a patient in a Lexington hospital for several weeks.
Funeral rites were conducted Wednesday morning at the home of a
daughter, Mrs. Grace Cecil, at Grassy Creek with Rev. Dewey Havens and
Rev. J. Hayden Igleheart officiating. A large assemblage attended the
services. A West Liberty quartette composed of Rev. Igleheart, W. Major
Gardner, Mrs. Grace Adkins and Miss Margaret Adkins sang three hymns:
"Ivory Palaces", "The Beautiful Garden of Prayer", and "Abide With Me."
Atty. W.M. Gardner, lifelong friend of the deceased, read the obituary.
The body at 12:30 noon was taken to Mt. Sterling for interment in the
Macphelia cemetery after comittal rites by the Masonic Order.
Mr. Stamper is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mollie K. Caskey Stamper to
whom he was married Sept. 9, 1892; two daughters, Mrs. Custer Jones and
Mrs. Grace Cecil, both of Grassy Creek; a granddaughter, Miss Marie
Cecil, and two nephews, Leonard and William Stamper.
Mr. Stamper, one of the county’s most substantial citizens, had been an
active merchant at Grassy Creek for over 50 years and a successful
farmer since he was 13 years of age. He was a member of the Methodist
church and the Masonic Order, and was widely known by a large circle of
friends in many parts of the State.
Joseph was the son of Calvin "Cal" Stamper and Elizabeth J.
Higginbotham. (Elizabeth was the sister of Zarilda Higginbotham Greear.)
(Courtesy of Mary South/Licking Valley Courier Vol. 40 No. 35 West Liberty, Kentucky, April 18, 1948 page 1)