SCHONEMAN, Randall D. 1952-1970

SCHONEMAN, ESKE

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 10/21/2009 at 01:50:27

TOP FFA YOUTH's RITES TOMORROW

(Courier News Service)

ST. ANSGAR, IOWA -- Services for Randall Schoneman, 18, Iowa's "Star Farmer of 1970" who was killed in a tractor accident Friday morning, have been set for 2 p.m. tomorrow at St. John's Lutheran Church in Rock Township, southwest of St. Ansgar.

Burial will be in the church cemetery with the Schroeder and Houg Funeral Home in charge.

Mitchell County Sheriff's officials said that Schoneman was driving a tractor that was pulling a heavily loaded trailer of corn. They said the trailer may have been hooked up a little wrong or the load might have been too heavy. When the tractor started forward, the front end went up and the tractor tipped over backward on Schoneman, pinning him underneath and killing him instantly as a result of a crushed chest.

Schoneman, who had received the top FFA award in Iowa at the annual state FFA convention in Cedar Rapid last April, was attending Austin, Minnesota, Junior College, about 20 miles from here.

He was president of the St. Ansgar FFA chapter last year and had a well-developed supervised farming program. He began his program as a freshman with two sows and four litters and had two dairy cows.

When he received the Star Iowa Farmer award, he owned 75 per cent of 24 head of dairy cattle, 12 sows and 24 litters and he and his brother were farming 105 acres.

Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Schoneman; his brother, Kenneth, at home; and a maternal grandmother, Mrs. Theresa Eske of St. Ansgar.

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Nov. 29, 1970]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

1. Randall's mother was Evelyn Marie (nee Eske) Schoneman, and she died in 2001.

2. His funeral service folder said his birth date was 27 SEP 1952, and his date of death was 27 NOV 1970. Rev. Elmer Jacobs officiated at the funeral service. Burial was in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery. Casket bearers were: Dennis Rachut, Dennis Becker, Neil Hernan, Richard Rosenberg, Elmer Wilde Jr., and John L. Borchardt.
Honorary bearers were Dave Hinman, Charles Madsen, Roy Rachut, Hal B. McKinley, Harold Steinberg and Alvin Frank. (Credit: Karen Robertson)