Roena (Lester) Brown
Transcribed from the Wellsville Daily Reporter, February 22, 1982, by S. Stout.
Roena L. Brown, formerly of 34 E. State St., died Saturday (Feb. 20, 1982) at the skilled nursing facility at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, Pa. Mrs. Brown was 101 years old and a descendant of the first settlers of the Richburg area, where she was born Nov. 3, 1880, a daughter of Crandall and Frances Richardson Lester. She was the widow of Rufus L. Brown, whom she married June 1899. They had two sons; both are deceased.
She had lived in Richburg, Indiana, Oklahoma and Rochester, prior to moving to Wellsville, where she lived for 40 years. In Wellsville she had managed the former Hotel Fassett and also owned and operated the former Wellsville Hotel. She had been employed by J.W. Embser Sons for 25 years.
Her ancestors were among the original settlers of Richburg. Her father drilled the first oil well on the Harding lease in 1881. Several oil leases were operated by her family during the early days of discovery of oil in Richburg.
She was a member of the Brookside Wesleyan Church in Wellsville. She is survived by a niece Lucille Whittenhall of Lecando, Fla.; two great-grandnieces. Mrs. Gus Rigas of Wellsville and Mrs. Joseph Beyers of Grosse Point, Mich., and a great grandnephew, Donald Lester of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Friends may call from 2-4 and 7-9 today at Embser Funeral Home, where funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with the Rev. Alton J. Shea of Houghton and the Rev. Gordon Chapman of Brookside Wesleyan Church officiating. Burial will be in Richburg Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Charity of the donor’s choice.