Charles Riches 1914-1943

RICHES, FRITZ

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 1/3/2021 at 07:49:12

2 December 1943 - The Anamosa Journal

WYOMING--Charles F. Riches, 30, Raymond C. Denniston, 44, and Henry M. Hansen, 34, farmers of the Wyoming community, met instant death, when the car in which they were riding, collided with the west-bound Hiawatha of the Milwaukee railroad at an intersection in Lost Nation.

Car, driven by Riches, was headed south and stopped at the crossing, but started forward again, as the train reached the intersection, according to eye-witness reports given to Clinton county coroner, Fred Morgan, of Clinton, who was called to the scene.

Car was carried 250 feet by the train and caught on fire. Lost Nation fire department was called to extinguish the flames.

Men were taking Hansen to Delmar, where he planned to board the east-bound Hiawatha to Chicago, where he had shipped cattle.

Riches, who was unmarried, had been living with his widowed mother, Mrs. Frank Riches, on the farm home, 1 1/2 miles south of Wyoming. Other survivors include his brothers, Eddie and John, of Wyoming; Frank in the armed forces overseas, and one sister, Mrs. Fred Fritz. Wyoming.

9 December 1943 - The Anamosa Journal

WYOMING--Funeral services were held last week, Thursday and Friday, for the three Wyoming men who lost their lives in a grade crossing accident, in Lost Nation on Tuesday.

Rites for Charles Riches, 31, driver of the car, were held Thursday morning in the Presbyterian church in Wyoming. Rev. Robert Allen officiated. Burial was in the Wyoming cemetery.

Riches was born, Nov. 29, 1914, in Hale township, son of Blanche Stupka Riches, and the last Frank Riches. He attended the rural schools near Hale and since then has operated the home farm with his brother.

He is survived by his mother; four brothers, Ed, Joseph, and John, all of Wyoming, and Cpl. Frank Riches, stationed with the army in England, and one sister, Mrs. Fannie Fritz of Wyoming.