Ernest Rairigh

Ernest was the 4th child born to John Ezra Rairigh and Mina Fox Rairigh. He was born in a log cabin. Occupations throughout his lifetime included farming, working on a threshing crew, and construction. He did not serve in World War I due to a foot injury. A horse stepped on him injuring his foot and breaking his toe.

Ernest married Daisy Trowbridge, daughter of Jerome Trowbridge and Lillian Day, on Tuesday June 24, 1913. They had one daughter, Ilda Marie Rairigh, born in July of 1916. Ilda Marie was told that she was named after two of Daisy's friends.

Ilda was their only child and she grew up to look very much like her mother. She recalls that her father, Ernest, was fun-loving and had a good sense of humor. He liked to play jokes on the young Ilda, to which she claimed she was always gullible.

According to daughter, Ilda, Ernest was known to be a sharp dresser, and she was told by others that he was a very handsome man. His build was almost identical to that of his father, John Ezra Rairigh, who was able to make good use of Ernest's clothing after his death.

Wife Daisy Trowbridge Rairigh died in December of 1918 at age 27 due to complications of the Spanish Flu. Ernest was away working with his brother Manam, and he became ill during this time as well and suffered a collapsed lung. Upon his recovery he learned that his daughter Ilda was fine, but his wife Daisy had passed away. This loss was said to have greatly affected him.

After the death of her mother, the young Ilda Marie was raised primarily by her strict religious (Church of the Brethren) paternal grandparents, John Ezra and Mina (Fox) Rairigh, along with the help of Ernest's sisters (Edna "May", Mildred, Coral, and Zellma). Ilda Marie always appreciated the special help she received from her Rairigh aunts.

Ernest married a second time to Edith Peterson (of Danish origin) in 1923. No children were born to this union. He passed away on August 11, 1924 at the young age of 31.

John Ezra Rairigh and Mina Fox Rairigh were laid to rest beside the gravesite of their son, Ernest, in the Woodland Memorial Park Cemetery.

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• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97360066/ernest-rairigh
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHDL-DMV
• https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/51851825/person/33...
• MyHeritage Family Trees, Linderman Web Site, managed by Dan Linderman