KERSTETTER, Simon 1878-1945

KERSTETTER, BLACK, ELWELL, SIMON, PATAVA, FOLSOM, NORMAN, KUHN

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 12/31/2012 at 02:14:50

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Thursday, April 12, 1945, Waterloo, Iowa]

La Porte City Man Killed
in Crash Near Washburn

Simon Kerstetter, 67, retired Benton County farmer residing in La Porte City, Iowa, died at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, April 12, 1945 in St. Francis Hospital (Waterloo, Iowa) on hour and five minutes after a head-on crash between an automobile which he was driving and a grain truck driven by Joe Myers, 18, Route 1, Waterloo, seven miles south of Waterloo on Highway 218, near Washburn. Myers was uninjured. The accident occurred when the grain truck, traveling north and Kerstetter's 1940 Ford passenger car going south, came into collision near Duke's filling station. Kerstetter was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he died shortly after arrival.

The accident occurred when the grain truck, traveling north and Kerstetter's 1940 Ford passenger car going south, came into collision near Duke's filling station.

Kerstettef was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he died.

Born in January 1878, in Black Hawk County son of John and Bell Black Kerstetter. He moved to Benton County with his parents at the age of three weeks.

He married Susan Elwell March 19, 1902 in La Porte City. The couple made their home in Benton, where he farmed until last year, when he retired and moved to La Porte City. He attended the Methodist Church at La Porte City.

He was preceded in death by his wife June 12, 1938.

Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Emory Simon, Black Hawk Road, and Mrs. Frank Patava, 507 Bratnober Street; one son, Merle Kerstetter, at home; three sisters, Mrs. Roy Folsom, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mrs. Susan Norman, Ames, Iowa; and Mrs. Margaret Kuhn, Frederick, South Dakota; one brother, Birt Kerstetter, Saint Petersburg, Florida; besides John, and three grandchildren.

The body is at the Barnhart & Johansen funeral home in La Porte City.

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#2
[Progress Review, Thursday, April 12, 1945, La Porte City, Iowa]

RETIRED FARMER'S CAR
MEETS TRUCK

SIMON KERSTETTER DIES A
FEW MINUTES AFTER
ACCIDENT THIS MORNING

Simon Kerstetter, 67, retired La Porte City farmer, suffered fatal injuries shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday when the car he was driving collided almost head-on with a truck driven by Joe Myers, 18, of route one, Waterloo. Kerstetter died on the way to a hospital.

The accident happened near Waterloo, in the vicinity of the Waterloo Gladiolus Farm on Highway 218.

According to the Black Hawk County Sheriff's office, Kerstetter was driving toward La Porte City when the accident happened while Myers was headed north in a truck belonging to the Franta Produce Company of Gilbertville, for which his father is manager of the Waterloo branch.

According to the report filed in the sheriff's office, Myers came up rapidly behind another truck, and swerved into the opposite lane to avoid hitting it from the rear. He misjudged the space available for the maneuver, and could not pass in time to avoid meeting the Kerstetter car head-on. The car and truck were nearly telescoped and both went into the ditch.

Kerstetter, trapped behind his steering wheel, suffered a broken leg, several broken ribs, internal chest injuries and shock, and died soon afterward. Myers was unhurt.

The sheriff's office reported that Myers had no driver's license, and further investigation of the accident is under way. In the meantime Myers had to leave today for his army physical examination and will be out of town for two to four days.

Mr. Kerstetter was born in January 1978. On March 19, 1902, he married the former Susan Elwell, who died on June 12, 1938.

Mr. Kerstetter retired about two years ago from the farm near here on which he had spent his entire married life.

Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Emery Simon and Mrs. Frank Patava of Waterloo, a son, Merle, at home, as well as two brothers, John of La Porte City and Bert of St. Petersburg, Florida; and three sisters: Mrs. Margaret Kuhn of Frederick, South Dakota, Mrs. Roy Norman of Ames and Mrs. Roy Folsom of Cedar Rapids. Three grandchildren, daughters of Mrs. Patava, also survive.

The remains are at the Barnhart Funeral Home here. Funeral arrangements have not as yet been made.

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#3
[Progress Review, Thursday, April 19, 1945, La Porte City, Iowa]

KERSTETTER RITES
HELD HERE MONDAY

Funeral services were held on Monday at 2:30 p.m. at the Barnhart and Johannsen Funeral Home for Simon Kerstetter.

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Burial was in Westview Cemetery, La Porte City, Iowa. His gravestone shows his date of birth as January 2, 1878. Parents of Ruth, Robert, Mary & Merle.
His wife, Susan Jane "Susie" was born September 5, 1879 and died June 12, 1938