ARY, Francis Phyllis (Miller) 1898-1963

ARY, MILLER, POWELL, GURKO, THOMPSON, MCCARTHY, CONVERSE

Posted By: Diane M Scott (email)
Date: 9/27/2011 at 11:01:21

Francis Phyllis (Miller) Ary – 1898-1963

#1

FUNERAL WEDNESDAY

Funeral services for Mrs. Ary will be held at 3 Wednesday afternoon at the George M. Wittich Funeral Home, with the Rev. Herbert Beuoy, pastor of Illinois City Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Muscatine Memorial Park Cemetery.
Friends may call tonight at the funeral home.

The former Frances Miller was born March 10, 1898, in Mitchell County, Iowa.

The Arys resided in Rock Island from 1933 to 1936 moving to their present home opposite Lock 16 in 1936.

Mr. Ary, the last of the original lock masters, planned to retire at the end of this month. The couple had purchased a home at 3150 12th St., Rock Island, where they planned to reside following retirement.
He has worked for the Corps of Engineers for 43 years.

Surviving are the widower; a son, Merrill Brunson Jr., San Pedro, Calif.; a daughter, Mrs. Sherman Powell Jr., of Illinois City; a brother, Harold Miller of Waterloo, and four sisters, Mrs. Dora Gurko of Chicago, Mrs. Mamie Thompson of Fort Worth, Tex., Mrs. Alice McCarthy of Effingham and Mrs. Fay Converse of Waterloo and 11 grandchildren.

The Rock Island Argus -- December 8, 1963

#2

Mrs. Ary, 65, Drury, Is Victim

An inquest is pending this Week into Rock Island's eighth traffic death of the year which occurred in a two-car crash on 11th St. during the rain late Saturday afternoon.
Dead is Mrs. Frances P. Ary, 65, of Drury Township in lower Rock Island County, a passenger in the car driven by her husband, Harold W. Ary, 63. She was a former resident of Rock Island.
Ary and another passenger in his auto, Louis Powell, 14, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Powell Jr., Illinois City, are listed in fair condition in St. Anthony's Hospital. The boy is Ary's grandson.
The other driver, Mrs. Esther Stoye, 37, Airport Road, Milan, also is in fair condition in St. Anthony's Hospital.
Police said the accident occurred at 4:55 p.m. at 11th St. near the Zayre Department Store entrance near 39th Ave. Visibility was hampered by the rainstorm.

WORE SEAT BELT Mrs. Ary, according to Coroner Leslie Banning, incurred crushing chest injuries and skull and jaw fractures.
Officers said she was the only person in the two vehicles using a seat belt.
The death is Rock Island County's 36th of the year.
Banning said he will conduct the inquest into the death later this week.
Police said the water-soaked paving veiled many of the tire tracks which normally aid an accident investigation. No witnesses to the crash were found.
Authorities believe the Ary auto was northbound and Mrs Stoye was driving south.

THREE CHARGES It is believed Ary was attempting to turn into the Zayre entrance. His car was in the southbound lane nearest the curb, facing north and about 30 feet south of the entrance to the lot. The auto was extensively damaged on the right side.
Tickets have been issued bearing charges against both drivers, pending their recovery.
Ary, who is the lock master at Lock 16 near Muscatine, will be charged with failing to grant the right-of-way and driving without a license. Officers said they found no driver's license in Ary's possessions.
Mrs. Stoye will be charged with driving too fast for conditions.
Mrs. Ary was pronounced dead-on-arrival at St. Anthony's Hospital at 5:15 p.m.
The body was removed to the Hodgson Funeral Home, then later was taken to the George Wittich Funeral Home in Muscatine.

Research Credit: Dianna Powell Martin Strosche