KANNEGIETER, Kerry 1956-1979

KANNEGITER, JOHNSON

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 5/13/2016 at 20:56:55

Two Men Die Inside Silo At Corn Country Beef Feedlot

Two employees died of apparent nitrogen dioxide poisoning Tuesday afternoon inside an 80-foot silo at the Corn Country Beef feedlot two miles south and two and a half miles east of Dike.

Pronounced dead at the scene by the Grundy county medical examiner were Trent Le Finger, 18, and Kerry Allyn Kannegieter, 23, both of RR 1, Aplington.

Autopsies will be performed to determine the cause of death, but it is believed the two men were the victims of nitrogen dioxide, the deadly 'silo gas.'

Grundy County Sheriff Bill Marten said his office was advised at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday that two men were trapped in a silo at Corn Country Beef.

According to the sheriff, Finger and Kannegieter had been working on top of an 80-foot silo and were attempting to retrieve a part inside the silo.

"The last time the employees were seen they were on their stomachs, looking into the silo thru a 16-inch opening," Sheriff Marten stated.

About 10 minutes later neither of the men could be seen from the ground, and another employee climbed to the top of the silo and saw Finger and Kannegieter lying on corn silage about 20 feet below the opening.

The Dike fire department was called, and the Cedar Falls fire department assisted.

Several Dike firemen equipped with air tanks were lowered into the silo and retrieved the bodies.

Sheriff Marten said firemen were hampered by the presence of poisonous gas, the cramped working area atop the silo, and by high winds.

The bodies were removed from the silo at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Both men were employees of Corn Country Beef.

Funeral arrangements for Kannegieter and Finger are pending at the Schwartz-Engelkes Funeral Home in Parkersburg and Aplington.

--The Grundy Register/Wellsburg Herald (Grundy Center, Iowa), 1 November 1979, pg 1

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Funeral Rites For Accident Victims Friday

Funeral services were held Friday for the two victims of the October 30 silo accident at the Corn Country Beef feedlot southeast of Dike.

Services for Trent Finger, 18, were held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Peter's United Church of Christ, rural Wellsburg, and services for Kerry Kannegieter, 23, were held at 2 p.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church in Aplington.

Kannegieter had been employed by Corn Country Beef since June, 1978, and was foreman. Finger had worked there for about eight weeks. Both were of rural Aplington.

Kerry Kannegieter
Funeral services for Kerry Kannegieter were held at 2 p.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church in Aplington with Rev. Charles Orr officiating. Interment was in Pleasant Valley cemetery, rural Aplington.

Casket bearers were Jim Boelman, Kevin Harms, Doyle Smiens, Doyle Voss, Galen Hippen and Darwin Janssen.

Miss Sheila Best was organist and vocal music was provided by the quartet consisting of Leon Johnson, Michael Schutte, Darrel Koenen and Verlyn Schipper, with Cathy Stevenson the accompanist.

Kerry was born March 25, 1956, in Grundy Center, the son of Calvin and Johanna Johnson Kannegieter. His family lived in Ackley until he was two years old, and then moved to their present farm near Aplington.

He graduated from Aplington high school in 1974, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Iowa. He had been employed at Corn Country Beef since June, 1978, and was foreman.

Kerry was baptized in the First Reformed Church of Aplington, and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Aplington. He enjoyed teaching Sunday School and was a former member of the Aplington Jaycees.

At the time of his death he was 23 years, seven months and five days old.

He is survived by his parents; one sister, Mrs. Philip (Wava Jean) Buschman, Sigourney; one brother, Dr. Curtis Kannegieter, Knoxville; one niece, Michelle; one nephew, Aaron; his maternal grandfather, Henry Johnson, Aplington; and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Maggie Kannegieter, Aplington.

The Schwartz-Engelkes Funeral Chapel in Aplington was in charge of arrangements.

--The Grundy Register/Wellsburg Herald (Grundy Center, Iowa), 8 November 1979, pg 7