Wieck, Henry 1896-1949

WIECK, BLACKMORE

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Volunteer (email)
Date: 10/26/2012 at 09:47:23

LeMars Globe-Post
June 30, 1949

HENRY WIECK, MERRILL RETIRED FARMER, PARKED CAR ON STEEP SLOPE—FOUND BURNED TO DEATH
Firemen Didn’t Know Car Was Funeral Pyre

Henry Wieck, 53, retired Merrill farmer, was burned to death late Tuesday when his car left a gravel road near Merrill and caught fire under undetermined circumstances.

Sylvester Luken, Plymouth County Coroner, and Sheriff Frank Scholer both of LeMars, investigated the accident. Lucken gave this report:

Wieck had been driving his automobile on a road about three miles south and one and one-half miles west of Merrill. For some undetermined reason, the car left the road and caught fire after he had managed to stop it.

Coroner Luken reconstructed the fatal incident as follows:

Mr. Wieck had driven down a rather big hill, and near the foot of the hill he apparently felt sick. It is not believed that he was overcome by fumes of the car, as all the windows were down and the car was well ventilated.

Becoming sick, it is believed, Mr. Wieck instinctly pulled off the road to stop. But at this point there is a high and steep bank to still lower ground. The car went down this steep bank a little, then stopped, then slid sideways about the width of the car. It did not roll over, but clung to the steep slope.

Donald Boehm, who drove past the scene a short time later, saw the burning car and returned to his brother’s farm nearby to call the Merrill fire department. The fire company arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, discovering the body of Wieck after the flames had subsided.

The firemen did not know there was a body in the car when they were fighting the fire. After the fire was out, when they opened the righthand door, the victim’s body tumbled out; very badly burned. He had been lying on the front seat, one foot still near the brake.

Mr. Wieck was born March 20, 1896, at Correctionville, Ia. He moved to the Merrill vicinity in 1915 and operated a farm near Merrill until a little more than a year ago, when he retired and moved into town.

He married Miss Jessie Blackmore, December 18, 1918, in Sioux City.

Surviving, in addition to the widow, are two sons: Raymond and Lloyd, both also of Merrill; four sisters, Mrs. Bertha Anderson and Mrs. Amanda Paul, both of Sioux City; Mrs. Annie Keuck of Moville, Ia.; and Mrs. Hedwig Blackmore, of Merrill; two brothers, August Wieck of Correctionville, and Otto Schultz, of Hinton; and five grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lutheran Church at Merrill. Burial will be in the Merrill cemetery under the direction of the Luken Funeral Home of LeMars.