Mary Ann Stabler

     Mary Ann Stabler was born on 20 May 1869 at Fairfield Center, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.¹ She was the daughter of George Stabler and Elizabeth Ulmer. Mary Ann Stabler married, at age 20, John M. Boyer, age 27, son of John Baier and Walburga Moyer, on Thursday, 24 October 1889.¹ Mary Ann Stabler died on 5 June 1936 at The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon, at age 67 years and 16 days.¹ She was buried in the Bethel Cemetery, located in Bethel, Polk County, Oregon.¹
     Written by Rev. Elmer G. Boyer - Son

Mary Ann Stabler, the daughter of George and Elizabeth Ulmer Stabler, was born May 20, 1869 on a farm near Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Mary was the oldest of seven children. She attended the local one-room country school and the Fox Hollow Baptist Church where all the family were faithful members. George was a successful farmer, and all of the children grew up on the farm.

When a girl, Mary wanted to become a missionary, but there was not enough money for her to attend college. Her mother told her perhaps someday that one of her children might become a missionary. From that time on she prayed that this dream might be realized. The writer of this biography became that missionary and with his wife spent thirty years in the Belgian Congo.

As a young lady, Mary worked as a hired girl for about four years doing all kinds of housework. On October 24, 1889 she married John M. Boyer, a farmer living near Fairfield, about six miles from Muncy, Pennsylvania. They lived on the old Boyer homestead. On Sundays the family drove with team and wagon four miles to the Fox Hollow Baptist Church where the two eldest children were baptized.

In April 1908 John and Mary Ann Boyer moved to Bethel, Oregon. John became a prosperous farmer finally owning 300 acres of land. The family attended the only church in Bethel, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Later, when they owned a car, they drove to the Baptist Church in Amity; the two youngest children were baptized here. About 1925 the members of the family remaining at home transferred to the Apostolic Faith Church, The Dalles, Oregon. Here they experienced a deeper religious faith. Mary taught a Sunday School class and became even more faithful and loyal to her Lord. She was eager to attend all meetings and her daughter, Ruth, drove her in all kinds of weather. Mother enjoyed her religion and received much satisfaction from it.

Ruth, who was nearer her mother in her declining years than the other children, testifies to her mother's faith. Mary prayed for the salvation of her children and for others. Her life was an influence on us all to live for Christ. Among her last words were the Lord's Prayer and the Twenty-Third Psalm. Just before she breathed her last, several of the family were called to her bedside. She could only nod her head but her face lit up like the face of an angel, color came back to her cheeks, and quietly, peacefully she passed away on June 5, 1936. Mary was buried in the Bethel Cemetery on a portion of ground taken from the Boyer Farm in Oregon. John M. Boyer, her faithful husband, died May 10, 1947.