, 1906-12-31

Born at Leeds, May &c, 1871.
Came to Laramie in 1901.
Elected Mayor in November, 1904.
Leaves wife Inc infant son.
Member of Odd Fellows and Canton.
Joseph B. Mckee, mayor of Lar
annie, died at the home of Judge and
Mrs. c. w. Bramel, on Second street,
at 5 o'clock Sunday morning, of dia-
betes, his illness having assumed a
serious turn or Saturday, as told in
The Republican of that afternoon.
Present at h time of his death were
his wife, Mrs. Annie Bramel Mckee,
their son, Joseph Bramel Mckee, and
Judge and Mrs. Bramel. The end
came peacefully, after a day and part
of the night of intense suffering, Mr..
Mckee seeming to fall asleep without
an effort and with hardly the changing
of a muscle. The grief of the family
was intense, although for hours they
had been momentarily expecting the
coming of the death angel. Mr.. Nc
Kee had realized his condition, and
before losing consciousness in the
nearing end of earthly existence, he
had put his house in order" COM
mending his wife and little one to the
loving care of their Heavenly Father
and the help of their friends and
neighbors.
Serving at the Church..
Mr.. Mckee was a member of Albany
lodge, ODD Fellows, being a past
grand of that body, and was also a
member of Wyoming canton, the mil
itary branch Of that order. having
held the office of treasurer at the be-
ginning of the year and been com
PEELED by failing health to give that
up. The funeral will be held at the
Methodist church, with services by
Rev. J.. T. Pierce, attended by the
Odd Fellows, members of the city ad-
m~inistration and citizens. The SER
vices at the cemetery will be by the
Odd Fellows.
Native of Canada.
Joseph b. Mckee was born at
Leeds, Province of Quebec, Canada,
May 26, 1871, and was in his Seth
year at the time of his death. His
parents removed to Haverhill, Mass,
from Canada during his boyhood and
he grew to manhood in that city,
where he was married, bringing his
wife to this city in 1901, she dying
within the year. Her remains are
buried here. Three years ago he
welded Mrs. Annie Bramel DeaLrio.
daughter of Judge and Mrs. Bramel,
and they have one son, Joseph Bramel
Mckee, now a little more than a year
old.
In Massachusetts young Mckee
early showed what was in him and he
entered the office of Isaac Van Horn
& Co. in the early stages of the pres
ent Van Horn-Miller syndicate, where
he was given a responsible position
oihioot llOHl tuS ulSl. Whth ilSu n
Miller came to Laramie he had Mr..
Mckee sent here to assume the nan
agement of the secretary's office for
the western headquarters of the syndi-
cate. He rose from an office clerk
step by step until he became secre-
tary of some of the companies and
finally a nanbar IF tha boarde pf trIIS.
tees of several of them. Within the
year he was compelled to r%elinquish
active work and went with his family
to Boulder, Colo, where he entered
the Boulder-C Colorado sanitarium in
hope of finding relief from and cure
Tor the dread disease which had fast
ened itself upon him. In this he and
his wife were disappointed, and about
a fortnight ago he returned. At the
time the illness took so serious a turn
they were planning another trip that
promised better results.
Was Mayor for Term.
In 1904 Mr.. Mckee was elected
mayor Of Laramie, defeating DR.. D. E,
brown for the position, and his term
of office would have expired next Mon
day, when his successor. c.. d. Spald
ing, will be indicted into office. Dur
ing the past few months, while the
mayor was away, President N. F. Spi
Ger was the acting mayor, by virtue
Of his Office as president, and will con
unue to act until the changing Of the
administration On the It'll. For the
two years the mayor missed very few
meetings except those occurring dur
ing his absence at the sanitarium, and