Beeck, Christian August 1917-1953

BEECK, MANGELSON, NANNEN

Posted By: Doris Hoffman, Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/19/2013 at 14:55:25

Note: His mother's name was Mangelson.
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Trucker Kills Self with Motor Gas.

Chris Beeck Jr. Ends Life in a Parked Vehicle.

Chris Beeck Jr., 37, a World War II veteran,was found dead in his truck 3 1/2 miles south of the R. H. Witt corner near LeMars at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Plymouth County coroner Sylvester Luken and Sheriff Frank Scholer arrived at the scene at about 6 p.m. and Mr. Luken pronounced the death as suicide.

Carl Mammon who was helping combine in the vicinity went by the truck at about 4 p.m. but did not notice anything out of the way. He saw the man sitting in the truck and he appeared to be wiping his brow. This was just before the rain and he thought the man had just stopped to cool off.

However at about 5:30 Wally Rolfes drove past the truck which had been headed south but which pulled off on the east side of the road in a rather secluded spot.

He saw that a garden hose had been inserted into the exhaust pipe and run under the truck and around the side facing the road to the right cab door. He rushed to the truck and pulled the hose from the exhaust. Rags had been used to fill in around the hose.

The small plastic tie used to wrap the hose was found on the road near the truck, indicating a recent purchase and that the hose was unwrapped at the scene. The motor of the truck was still running and the body could be seen slumped on the seat through the tightly closed window.

Sheriff Frank Scholer and Coroner S.H. Luken was called and upon the arriving they raised the hood of the truck and disconnected the spark plug wires,killing the motor. They then pried the right door open and found the end of the hose near the dead man's face. Death was believed to have taken place shorty after 4 p.m.

The body was taken to the Mauer Funeral Home in LeMars.

Mr. Beeck who up until a year ago had farmed and who had lost his farm was in financial difficulty. He with his wife Marie,and two children,lived in a farm house near Kingsley and he was employed hauling gravel to his own truck.

Oil dripping from the underside of the truck indicated he had traveled a newly oiled road before stopping his truck.

His brother Paul who lives only two miles south of the suicide scene, said he had not seen his brother that day. A billfold found on the body contained a fishing license for Beeck and one for his wife. There was no money on the body.

Christian August Beeck was born June 7, 1917, near Hawarden in Sioux County. He lived there until he was three years old and had since lived in Plymouth County. For the past three years he had lived near Kingsley. He was 36 years,one month and 14 days of age and was a veteran of World War II.

On January 11, 1940 he was united in marriage with Marie Nannen in Preston township Lutheran Church. Two children were born to this union.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. on Friday. July 24 at the Mauer Funeral Chapel in Le Mars with Rev. L. L. Belk will be officiate and burial will be near Le Mars.

Survivors include his wife Marie: two children, Ronald and Shirley all of Kingsley: his parents Mr. Mrs. Chris H. Beeck Sr. of Akron; five sisters, Mrs. Ida Koch, Mrs. Elsie Frerichs and Mrs. Ella Frerichs all of Akron, Mrs. Rose Feauto of Hawarden and Mrs. Lillian Alberts of Kingsley: two brothers, Paul Beeck of Le Mars and Edward Beeck of Sioux City.

Source: LeMars Globe Post,
LeMars,Plymouth County,Iowa.
Thursday July 23,1953;Vol: 72,
Number 59 page 1.
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The Kingsley News-Times, Kingsley, Plymouth, Iowa Thursday, July 30, 1953

Kingsley Trucker Committed Suicide In Truck Cab
Hose On Exhaust Pipe Was Fastened In Cab Door

Christian Beeck, 36, who has been living in the house at the Art Lage farm west of Kingsley, was found dead in the cab of his gravel truck at five o’clock Tuesday afternoon of last week. The truck was parked on a county road about three and a half miles south of LeMars a mile west of the Neptune road.

A new garden hose had been attached to the exhaust pipe to the truck cab and the doors of the cab had been locked. Coroner S. H. Lucken pronounced the death a suicide.

Sheriff Scholer and Coroner Lucken were called to the scene by Gordon Mammen who had been combining at a nearby farm. Men working at the combine had seen the truck stop an hour or so before, and Mr. Mammen noticed the hose as he drove by and stopped to investigate. He pulled the hose from the exhaust but he could do nothing because the cab doors were locked.

Mr. Beeck was born June 7, 1917, near Hawarden, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Beeck. Financial worries were given as the cause of the man taking his own life.

Survivors include his wife, a son, and daughter; his parents, of Akron, two brothers and five sisters; Paul Beeck of LeMars; Edward, of Sioux City, Mrs. Ida Koch, Akron; Mrs. Elsie Frerichs and Mrs. Ella Frerichs Kingsley; Mrs. Rose Feauto, of Hawarden; Mrs. Lillian Albert, Kingsley.
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