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Obituary for Caleb J. Bieber Esq.

NATIVE SON AND WELL KNOWN ATTORNEY. WAS NOTED DEMOCRAT.



Funeral services were held this (Thursday) afternoon for Caleb J. Bieber, a native son of Kutztown, who died in the Homeopathic Hospital, Reading on Sunday, after an illness of about four years. Mr Bieber was widely known as a lawyer and had a host of friends here. He had attained the age of 67 years. The funeral services were held from the funeral home of George S. Schaeffer, which is built in the site of the Bieber family home. Interment was made in the hope cemetery. Rev. H. F. Miller, of Reading and Rev. R. B. Lynch, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Kutztown, conducted the services.
Mr. Bieber left Kutztown to make his home in Reading 40 years ago , and has resided there ever since. He had not been in the best of health for the past four years. His illness started early in 1928, when he was struck by a trolley car and suffered a hip fracture. This accident kept him in St. Joseph’s Hospital for considerably over a year. He had made arrangements for a trip to the Mediterranean at the time of the accident. He never fully recovered and for several years walked with the aid of a cane. Last year he was admitted to the Homeopathic Hospital for heart trouble. There was a marked improvement for a time and he was able to leave the institution for several weeks, but returned Wednesday, March 24. His condition gradually became worse, until death came on Sunday morning.

LARGE OFFICE PRACTICE.


Mr. Bieber was considered one of the best office lawyers at the Berks bar. The major part of his practice was in the Orphans Court. He was well versed in the law, and usually heeded. Mr. Bieber seldom appeared in court as a trial lawyer, but when he did he had his case well prepared, and his address to the jury concise, and delivered in conversational fashion. Twenty five years ago he was often called for addresses in Democratic campaigns and was considered a valuable man on the stump in rural Berks because of his fluency in the Pennsylvania German tongue. In the days when county nominations were made by the delegate system. Mr. Bieber’s name was presented in several campaigns for the District Attorneyship, but he was never high man.
WON IMPORTANT CASE, Many years ago, the Cunnius Case, involving a dower resting on land now occupied by the administration building of the Reading School District, took up much time in the Court. Mr. Bieber represented the claimant, a woman living in California, and won. The litigation was closely contested and reached the State and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Bieber was a close and careful reader, not only of legal works but of literature works in general. His memory was retentive and his analysis of public affairs, unusually most original, was always interesting. As a result, his conversion, tinged with much common sense philosophy, was well worth listening to. Before he met with the accident in 1928 his principal recreation was walking. He was acquainted with every side road and path of Mt. Penn and Neversink Mountain. He took an interest in politics and usually voted the Democratic ticket in county, State and national affairs.
ADMITTED TO BAR IN 1894. Mr. Bieber was graduated from Lafayette College, Easton. For a time after he left college he studied in the offices of the late Isaac Hiester, and was admitted to the Berks county bar in 1894. He was the son of Joshua Bieber and his wife, Mary (Bast) Bieber, and was born in Kutztown, being the last of a family of nine sons, all gaining prominence. Mr. Bieber had offices at 530 Washington st., Reading, and until recently, when he made his home at the Berkshire, lived at 223 North sixth street. He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church, he was never married. A brother, Walter B. Bieber, who was a Kutztown merchant and at one time a candidate for Congress, died several years ago. Two other brothers, Lutheran ministers in Nor