Mabel Bristow Cordner
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 11 Feb 1898 - Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS 253,254,396,397,398
Christening:
Death: 24 Nov 1993 - Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS 255,376,396,397
Burial: in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS 397
Cause of Death: cerebral vascular accident 255
Events
Notes
• Soc Sec Num: 510-16-0639. 254,396 Issued in KS, last residence zip: 66109
• She appeared on the census in 1900 in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS. 374 She is listed with Thos. Cordner
• She appeared on the census in 1905 in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS. 375 Mabel Cordner is listed with Thos. Cordner as age 7, female, white
• She appeared on the census in 1915 in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS. 377 Mable Codrner is listed with T B Cordner as age 17, female, white
• She appeared on the census in 1920 in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS. 378 Mabel is listed with Thomas B. Cordner.
Parents
Father: Thomas Bristow Cordner (1859-1945) 114,253,254,255,256
Mother: Sarah Jane Hutchinson (1870-1921) 114,253,254,255
Spouses and Children
1. *Ivory Alonzo Greathouse (9 Jun 1897 - 21 Jul 1979) 50,86,116
Marriage: 24 Nov 1920 - Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS 399
Children:
1. Leonard Thomas Greathouse (1922-1989) 50,86
2. Nadyne Artie Greathouse
3. Evelyn Mary Greathouse
4. E. Marjorie Greathouse (1929-1929) 50,400
5. Edward Ivory Greathouse
6. Robert John Greathouse
7. Marilyn Joyce Greathouse
Notes
Death Notes:
Mabel B. Greathouse, widowed (actually divorced before her husband died), born Feb 11, 1898, and died 24 Nov 1993, at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Wyandotte, KS. She was a secretary for a Farm Implement Company. Social Security Number: 510-16-0639. She completed 12 years of elementary school, and 1 year of college. Father: Thomas B. Cordner. Mother: Sarah Jane Hutchinson. Informant Evelyn Anderson (daughter), 2411 N. 73rd, Kansas City, KS. Buried: Chapel Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas. Funeral services by George F. Porter & Son. Cause of death: cerebral vascular accident.Burial Notes:
She is buried in Chapel Hill Cemetery.General:
Mabel Bristow Cordner was born in Kansas City, Kansas on February 11, 1898 and was the first of four children born in America to Sarah Jane and Thomas B. Cordner. She had two other half-sisters (Ellen and Margaret) born to Thomas and his first wife in Belfast, Ireland.Marriage Notes (Ivory Alonzo Greathouse)
Mabel graduated from High School in Kansas City, Kansas. She also graduated from business school. She worked as a secretary. In 1920, she married Ivory Alonzo Greathouse, and this union produced seven children. The family lived at 1710 Wood Avenue in Kansas City. Later they moved to Bethel (a suburb of Kansas City), Kansas to provide a country environment for the children. The house in Kansas City was rented out as a laundry. The family lived in Bethel until about 1937 when Ivory decided to leave Mabel with the awesome responsibility of raising 6 children. Marjorie had died in infancy. She moved the children back into the house in Kansas City on Wood Avenue because the schools were better there. Both houses had gone into foreclosure when Ivory left. Mabel's father Thomas, arranged to have the Wood Avenue house refinanced for Mabel and the children.
These were very difficult years for Mabel, but she was a very strong lady and had a great deal of trust in God, and believed He would see her through the tough times. She believed that if she took the kids to Sunday School and Church and kept them close to home, they would turn out okay. For this purpose, she learned how to play cards and other family games although she had been raised in a very strict family where card playing and dancing were not allowed. So, she did indeed teach her children that they could play cards and games and have fun at home rather than looking for entertainment outside the home. She also encouraged the children's friends to come home with them. Often there were lots of young people in the house playing games. During those years, with little financial help from Ivory, Mabel worked at different part time jobs (e.g., baby-sitting, election board, ironing) to earn money. In about 1946, Mabel started working full time again for John Deere Plow Company and stayed there until she retired in 1963. (Her obituary says she worked for John Deere for 23 years, retiring in 1973)
Her family all remember her as terrible driver. They say that when she saw something in the way, including another car coming at her, that she aimed straight towards it. She had a Falcon Knight 4 door 1920's era automobile that sat in the yard most of the time. The children mostly walked or took the bus because Mabel was afraid to drive.
She was a member of the Hyacinth Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of Central Christian Church of Kansas City, and the Fidelis Circle. She was a member of the Sunflower Navy Mother Club, the Wyandotte Rebekah Lodge #6 American Association, Retired Persons John Calving Senior Citizens Club.
Her son Bob contracted scarlet fever, which went into his ears, and caused him to loose his hearing. When the public school system insisted that he attended a school for the deaf, out of town, Mabel insisted that he come home every weekend to be with family.
Mabel was a very fun loving person who was always ready to "GO", no matter where! She took many family car trips with children, and many Greyhound bus trips with grandchildren.
Mabel was stubborn as the proverbial mule - more nicely interpreted as determined and strong, which helped her to be positive and happy. She was kind and sweet and generous, and everyone who knew her respected and loved her.
Mabel suffered a number of strokes in her declining years. She died at Thanksgiving in 1993. On her deathbed, she sent a message to her son-in-law Charles Thompson, who was to die at Christmas of that year, that she would be waiting at the pearly gates for him. Mabel lived to the ripe old age of 95 1/2 years and her mind was sharp and clear to the very end of her life. At the time of her death, she had 15 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
First 3 kids born at 1710 Wood Avenue Kansas City Kansas
Move to Bethel, Kansas in 1927/8
Moved back to Wood Avenue 1938/9
Met at a church meeting.