Krumnaker, Leon 1916 - 1938

KRUMNAKER, KANN

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 7/13/2023 at 22:23:36

Clayton County Register, 17 Aug. 1938.

GUTTENBERG: Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon for Leon Krumnaker, 22-year-old Guttenberg youth, who died at Mercy hospital, Dubuque, Saturday morning. His death resulted from injuries received in a motorcycle-automobile collision on highway 52 two miles west of Holy Cross, Wednesday evening.

Rev. J. A. Dupont, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church, officiated at the requiem mass at the church at 8 o'clock and at the graveside in St. Mary's cemetery, where burial was made.

The youth was born in Guttenberg on April 25, 1916, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Krumnaker. He attended St. Mary's parochial school and was later employed for a time in Milwaukee. During the past several months he had been staying with his parents in this city.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by his grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kann, of Guttenberg; a brother, Albert, and a sister, Viola, both of Milwaukee.

Krumnaker was fatally injured while he and Harold Kann another Guttenberg youth, were riding tandem on the former's motorcycle. They were traveling west on highway 52 near Holy Cross when they met a car driven by Elmer Schrunk of Osterdock. The meeting occurred on a curve in the road and it is alleged that the Schrunk car sideswiped the motorcycle, with both machines going in the ditch.

Krumnaker was knocked unconscious and suffered severe head and face injuries, together with a broken ___. Kann escaped with a number of cuts and bruises. Both boys were brought to Guttenberg that evening for medical treatment. When gangrene infection set in, Krumnaker was taken to the hospital Friday afternoon, where he died at 10 o'clock the following day.

Schrunk was arrested and lodged in the Dubuque county jail. On Thursday, he appeared before Justice of the Peace Thomas M. Barrett on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. His trial date was tentatively set for Aug. 22, after which he was released on bond of $1,000.

Following Krumnaker's death Assistant County Attorney Edmund C. Tschudi said that the charge against Schrunk would be changed to manslaughter.