Cora was born on July 2, 1880 in Parsons, Kansas, the daughter of Issac and Laura (Dean) Barnes. After her father died, she and her family moved back to Spencer to be with their relatives who lived there. She was a woman of rare charm, beauty and had a pleasant personality. She had a dazzling smile and a warm greeting for everyone she met which endeared her with all whom she came in contact. It was these qualities that caught Ernest Viquesney's attention. They were married on June 24, 1904 in Owen County, Indiana. Soon, they moved to Americus, Georgia where they spent the next 16 years. However, Spencer, Indiana tugged at their heartstrings and they moved back home to stay.
Sometime toward the end of September 1933, Cora developed a sore throat but it wasn't bad enough for her to worry about. However, as she went about her daily business, something was happening inside her body. The following week she became deathly sick and, at the relatively young age of 53, passed away on October 3, 1933 in her home on Hillside Avenue which was located at the head of Montgomery Street. Her unexpected death left Ernest devastated, reeling from shock and feeling like nothing would ever be the same again. Grief-stricken and heartbroken, Ernest wanted to do something to commemorate the memory of his wife of nineteen years. He set about creating a beautiful life-size statue of a woman with a long flowing robe. He christened it "The Unveiling" and had it placed directly behind Cora's gravestone in Riverside Cemetery, where it could watch over her for all eternity.
At the dedication service for the statue, Ernest wrote an ode to his beloved wife and read it at the ceremony. The following is what he had to say:
"The dream statuette---"The Unveiling"---is lovingly and humbly dedicated to its mission of comfort and solace to all who mourn. May it carry the "golden light" of understanding to your heart and bring in the place of heartaches and tears, a joy that "passeth understanding", as it has done for me. May its presence be a continued incentive to higher and more beautiful thoughts, that your days may bless others and enable them to also rise above clouds of suffering and despair. May it bring a deeper, sweeter, more holy understanding of the teaching of the Master that "there is no death, no parting."
To the loving memory of one, who lived that others might be happier, who in her passing, leaves a memory of such sweetness and spirituality that it has become manifested in the mission of this comfort statuette---"The Unveiling". To my wife."
E.M. Viquesney
The Sculptor
Sometime toward the end of September 1933, Cora developed a sore throat but it wasn't bad enough for her to worry about. However, as she went about her daily business, something was happening inside her body. The following week she became deathly sick and, at the relatively young age of 53, passed away on October 3, 1933 in her home on Hillside Avenue which was located at the head of Montgomery Street. Her unexpected death left Ernest devastated, reeling from shock and feeling like nothing would ever be the same again. Grief-stricken and heartbroken, Ernest wanted to do something to commemorate the memory of his wife of nineteen years. He set about creating a beautiful life-size statue of a woman with a long flowing robe. He christened it "The Unveiling" and had it placed directly behind Cora's gravestone in Riverside Cemetery, where it could watch over her for all eternity.
At the dedication service for the statue, Ernest wrote an ode to his beloved wife and read it at the ceremony. The following is what he had to say:
"The dream statuette---"The Unveiling"---is lovingly and humbly dedicated to its mission of comfort and solace to all who mourn. May it carry the "golden light" of understanding to your heart and bring in the place of heartaches and tears, a joy that "passeth understanding", as it has done for me. May its presence be a continued incentive to higher and more beautiful thoughts, that your days may bless others and enable them to also rise above clouds of suffering and despair. May it bring a deeper, sweeter, more holy understanding of the teaching of the Master that "there is no death, no parting."
To the loving memory of one, who lived that others might be happier, who in her passing, leaves a memory of such sweetness and spirituality that it has become manifested in the mission of this comfort statuette---"The Unveiling". To my wife."
E.M. Viquesney
The Sculptor
Cora was born on July 2, 1880 in Parsons, Kansas, the daughter of Issac and Laura (Dean) Barnes. After her father died, she and her family moved back to Spencer to be with their relatives who lived there. She was a woman of rare charm, beauty and had a pleasant personality. She had a dazzling smile and a warm greeting for everyone she met which endeared her with all whom she came in contact. It was these qualities that caught Ernest Viquesney's attention. They were married on June 24, 1904 in Owen County, Indiana. Soon, they moved to Americus, Georgia where they spent the next 16 years. However, Spencer, Indiana tugged at their heartstrings and they moved back home to stay.
Sometime toward the end of September 1933, Cora developed a sore throat but it wasn't bad enough for her to worry about. However, as she went about her daily business, something was happening inside her body. The following week she became deathly sick and, at the relatively young age of 53, passed away on October 3, 1933 in her home on Hillside Avenue which was located at the head of Montgomery Street. Her unexpected death left Ernest devastated, reeling from shock and feeling like nothing would ever be the same again. Grief-stricken and heartbroken, Ernest wanted to do something to commemorate the memory of his wife of nineteen years. He set about creating a beautiful life-size statue of a woman with a long flowing robe. He christened it "The Unveiling" and had it placed directly behind Cora's gravestone in Riverside Cemetery, where it could watch over her for all eternity.
At the dedication service for the statue, Ernest wrote an ode to his beloved wife and read it at the ceremony. The following is what he had to say:
"The dream statuette---"The Unveiling"---is lovingly and humbly dedicated to its mission of comfort and solace to all who mourn. May it carry the "golden light" of understanding to your heart and bring in the place of heartaches and tears, a joy that "passeth understanding", as it has done for me. May its presence be a continued incentive to higher and more beautiful thoughts, that your days may bless others and enable them to also rise above clouds of suffering and despair. May it bring a deeper, sweeter, more holy understanding of the teaching of the Master that "there is no death, no parting."
To the loving memory of one, who lived that others might be happier, who in her passing, leaves a memory of such sweetness and spirituality that it has become manifested in the mission of this comfort statuette---"The Unveiling". To my wife."
E.M. Viquesney
The Sculptor
Sometime toward the end of September 1933, Cora developed a sore throat but it wasn't bad enough for her to worry about. However, as she went about her daily business, something was happening inside her body. The following week she became deathly sick and, at the relatively young age of 53, passed away on October 3, 1933 in her home on Hillside Avenue which was located at the head of Montgomery Street. Her unexpected death left Ernest devastated, reeling from shock and feeling like nothing would ever be the same again. Grief-stricken and heartbroken, Ernest wanted to do something to commemorate the memory of his wife of nineteen years. He set about creating a beautiful life-size statue of a woman with a long flowing robe. He christened it "The Unveiling" and had it placed directly behind Cora's gravestone in Riverside Cemetery, where it could watch over her for all eternity.
At the dedication service for the statue, Ernest wrote an ode to his beloved wife and read it at the ceremony. The following is what he had to say:
"The dream statuette---"The Unveiling"---is lovingly and humbly dedicated to its mission of comfort and solace to all who mourn. May it carry the "golden light" of understanding to your heart and bring in the place of heartaches and tears, a joy that "passeth understanding", as it has done for me. May its presence be a continued incentive to higher and more beautiful thoughts, that your days may bless others and enable them to also rise above clouds of suffering and despair. May it bring a deeper, sweeter, more holy understanding of the teaching of the Master that "there is no death, no parting."
To the loving memory of one, who lived that others might be happier, who in her passing, leaves a memory of such sweetness and spirituality that it has become manifested in the mission of this comfort statuette---"The Unveiling". To my wife."
E.M. Viquesney
The Sculptor
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