Ruegnitz, Walter died 1911

RUEGNITZ

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 8/5/2021 at 20:31:25

Elkader Register & Argus, Thur., 12 Jan. 1911.

We learn that Walter Ruegnitz, the 18 year old son of Louis, a former resident of Elkader, now residing at Pueblo, Colo., was accidentally shot in the head while extracting a cartridge from a twenty-two caliber rifle last week Wednesday, and died a few minutes after.

He had been attending college during the past few years and had only just recovered from a bad attack of typhoid fever.

The young man was a lover of hunting and other outdoor sports and while sick was unable to enjoy his favorite pastime. Nevertheless he kept his little gun and other reminders of his enjoyable days spent in the woods near him during his convalescences and was well on the road to recovery when the fatal accident occurred. The gun was loaded at the time and one of the cartridges refused to budge when he tried to remove it. Walter then persisted, but it is not known just how the gun happened to explode. The barrel was pointed toward him and when discharged the bullet entered his head and penetrated the brain. He was dead in a few minutes. Besides his parents the boy is survived by a brother and many close relatives at Elkader, Clayton and Dubuque.

His father has many old friends in this section, who will join us in sympathy for him in this great sorrow.