Reinhart Opelt 1908-1927

OPELT

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 7/19/2011 at 21:25:08

Rinehart Opelt is Killed in Wreck
Rinehart Opelt, 19 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Opelt, farmers northeast of Estherville, was killed Saturday [September 3, 1927] in an automobile wreck at Gettysburg, South Dakota. The body arrived in Estherville last night, and funeral services will be conducted today at the Catholic church.

The boy has been working on a farm near Gettysburg with his brother, Edward, and at the time of the accident was returning home in a Ford car, after attending a dance.

He was crushed to death when an approaching car locked wheels with his car, throwing him against the steering wheel. Neither car overturned or was thrown in to the ditch. The collision was so severe, however, that the boy was killed almost instantly. (Estherville News, Estherville, IA, September 7, 1927)