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Oconto County Reporter
May 31, 1884

Departed this Life

In the town of Oconto, May 24, 1884, Mrs. Catherine Lawler aged 78 years. Mrs. Lawler was born in Forest Hill, county Wexford, Ireland, in 1806. She was the daughter of Col. John Sparrow, one of the most influential and wealthy families in Ireland, two of her brothers being merchants in Dublin.

She came with her family to America in 1849, residing in Albany, N. Y., one year, and in Louisville, Ky., about two years, coming to Oconto in the fall of 1862. Her husband died June 27, 1873, at the age of 87, since which time she has lived with her son John Lawler, where she died. Mrs. Lawler was the mother of ten children, three sons and ten daughters, all of who survive her. She had fifty-three grand children and eight great grandchildren.

She was a large strong woman, possessed of great energy, always enjoying good health until about a year ago, since when she has been confined to her bed most of the time. She bore her sickness without a murmur and at the last passed quietly away without a struggle, firm in the faith of the Catholic Church, of which she was a consistent member.

She was buried on Monday last, and the long procession of seventy-nine carriages which followed her to her last resting place, showed in what esteem she was held by her neighbors and friends.