Kern Whalen (1891 - 1946)

WHALEN, ONEILL, ELLIOTT, BOHRER, FITZGERALD

Posted By: M. J. Fitzgerald (email)
Date: 10/11/2009 at 19:39:28

Kern Whalen (b. 1891) died September 23, 1940. Obituary in the October 2, 1946, edition of the Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, reads:

Funeral Rites Held For Kern Whalen

The remains of Kern Whalen arrived in Lansing last Thursday morning from Sturgeon, Mo., where he died suddenly Monday, Sept. 23rd, from a heart ailment. He had been in failing health the past three years or so and was preparing to move from his home in Monclova, Ohio, to the Missouri city when he was called in death which was a great shock to his family and friends.

Kern Whalen was born Sept. 25, 1891 in Lafayette township, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Will Whalen. Following his education in the rural schools, he went to Dubuque and started railroading which he continued there as well as later at Milwaukee, Wis., He was married to Miss Monica O’Neill, of Harpers Ferry, who preceded him in death in 1940 and in June 1942 he was married to Mrs. Leona Elliott, who with a step-daughter, Carol Ann Elliott, mourn the loss of a loving and devoted husband and father. Other immediate survivors include his aged father Mr. Will Whalen, and daughter Mrs. Nellie Bohrer and brother Karl and Frank, of Milwaukee, Wis.; his brother Vince, Florence, Minn., and his sister, Mrs. Edw. Fitzgerald, of Lansing. His mother died in January 1924, and a sister and two brothers also preceded him in death.

Mr. Whalen was a member of the Brotherhood of Local Trainmen, a life long Catholic and held in high esteem by all who knew him. The remains were taken from the Burke Funeral Chapel Saturday morning to St. Joseph’s Church at Paint Rock where the Mass of Requiem was offered by Father John Costelloe, who also said the final prayers at the graveside nearby. Casket bearers were Tim and Leo Collins and Leo Brazell of Harpers Ferry, Peter Flood of Milwaukee, Elma and Ray Street, of Sturgeon, Missouri.

Among other out of town relatives and friends attending the services were: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Manning, Madison, Wis.; Mr. and Mrs., S. P. Wright, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Ball, Dubuque; Mrs. Ray Evans, Hillsdale, Mich.; Mr. and Mrs. James Brennan and son Ralph, La Crosse: Will Whalen, Mr. and Mrs. Will Bohrer and son Bert, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Whalen and daughter Rita and friend, Mrs. Charles Steffen, Milwaukee, Wis.