Daley, Walter R., 1903-1939

DALEY, WILTGEN, CLAUSIUS

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/15/2021 at 10:21:42

From the Alton Democrat, September 22, 1939:

Walter R. Daley Dies Following Brief Illness

Walter R. Daley, 36, of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a former resident of Alton, died Thursday, September 14, after a lingering illness of several months duration. Funeral services were held Monday evening from St. Mary’s church at Alton and interment made in St. Mary’s cemetery.

For the past few years Mr. Daley had been traveling sales representative for the Consolidated Slipper Corporation of Malone, New York, and had headquartered out of Alton for several years previous to moving to Glen Ellyn last winter.

Just a month ago Mr. Daley, his wife, the former Claire Wiltgen of Alton, and his two baby daughters were visiting friends and relatives at Alton. It was at this time he was seeking medical relief for his illness and went to Rochester for a medical examination. The doctors there found he was suffering from a streptococcus infection and could do nothing for him.

Walter R. Daley was born September 7, 1903, at Berkeley, California. In April, 1934, he was married to Miss Claire Wiltgen, daughter of Mr. Peter Wiltgen of Alton. He was a member of the Native Sons of California, Berkeley Lodge.

Besides his wife and two young daughters, Rita Rae, four years old, and Mary Ellen, two years old, he is survived by his mother, Mrs. R. Daley of Napa, Calif., and by two brothers, Allen of Boston, Mass., and Elliot of Stockton, Calif.

Among the relatives attending the funeral here Monday were his mother of Napa, Calif., and his brother Allen and wife of Boston. Pallbearers were Ivo Schroeder, A. J. Mack, Frank Allen, Julius Homan, Otto Kettler and Gilbert Brunsman.

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From the Napa (California) Journal, September 16, 1939:

Former Napa Man Dies in Illinois

After being in poor health for the past year, Walter Daley, 38, former well-known Napan and son of Mrs. Mildred Daley, of 1151 Willow avenue, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Glenellyn, Ill., this week, it was learned last night.

Daley was a traveling salesman for a national shoe company and his home during the past few years had been in Alton, Iowa, where he will be buried this morning. Deceased was educated in the Napa schools.

He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Mildred Daley; by his wife, Claire; two small daughters; two brothers, Alan of Boston, and Elliott, of Stockton; a half-sister in Red Bluff; an aunt, Mrs. Carrie Hickman, of Hermosa Beach, and several other aunts and uncles in the Eastbay.

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RESEARCH NOTES

He does not appear in the Sioux County Cemetery Index or in the Iowa Gravestones Photo Project. He does have a brief FindaGrave.com page: Walter R. Daley, born 7 Sep 1903 in Berkeley, died 14 Sep 1939 in Glen Ellyn, buried in Saint Marys Cemetery, Alton. An added note says he was the husband of Clara Wiltgen.

The Iowa Deaths and Stillbirths Index on Ancestry.com adds his parents, James Daley, born in California, and Mildred Clausuis, born in Wisconsin. [A California Death Index record for Mildred Daley, 1886-1952, gives her father’s surname as Clausius, as does a Social Security Applications Index entry for her.]