Frank Eugene Cornelius 1941-1964

CORNELIUS, SIFRIT, GAPPA, CRONK, MEYERS, BEHRENDS

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 9/18/2011 at 00:59:47

Driver Killed in Crash
Spirit Lake – One man was killed and three injured slightly in a one-car accident here Thursday night. Dead is Frank Eugene Cornelius, 22, Estherville, owner and driver of the car involved.

Cornelius was headed west on a blacktop road which follows the east shore of East Okoboji Lake when his car rounded a curve one-half mile east of the intersection with Highway 9 near the east city limits, plunged out of control down a steep embankment and crashed into a tree.

The accident occurred about 9 p.m. and Cornelius was rushed to Dickinson County Memorial hospital where he died an hour later of severe head and chest injuries.

Jerry Kilts, 35, Milford, Dan Hively, 33, Spirit Lake, and Kenneth Shyrock, 26, Graettinger, passengers in the convertible, were treated at the hospital for minor lacerations and dismissed.

Funeral services for Cornelius are pending at the Fuhrman Funeral Home in Estherville.

He was born Aug. 11, 1941, at Ringsted, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Cornelius. He received his elementary and secondary education in Ringsted schools.

On June 24, 1962, he married the former Donna Sifrit of Estherville at Jackson, Minn. The couple made its home in Estherville most of the time since their marriage. Cornelius was employed by Stoller Fisheries of Spirit Lake.

In 1958 Cornelius was involved in an auto accident near Winnebago, Minn., that resulted in his being pinned beneath a car for about 12 hours. He was partially paralyzed as result of the accident and was hospitalized for three months at Rochester, Minn.

Surviving are his wife, his father, Earl, who is in the Veteran’s Hospital in Knoxville; his mother, Mrs. Mickey Gappa of Emmetsburg; and four sisters, Mrs. William (Judy) Cronk, Ringsted; Mrs. John (Karen) Meyers, Emmetsburg; Patty and Margaret, living at home in Emmetsburg, and a brother, Gregg, who also lives at home.

He was the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Sebo Behrends of Ringsted and Paul Cornelius of Fenton. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, April 24, 1964)