Schwinefus, Olivia Edna (Hegland) -- 1899 - 1964

HEGLAND, SCHWINEFUS, SCHARA, GRENNEMAN, ANFINSON, POSSEHL, JONES, STEE

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 7/4/2004 at 19:45:45

Rites Held for Mrs. Schwinefus

Funeral services were held Monday, November 16, at the Stavanger Lutheran Church at Ossian for Mrs. Olivia Edna Schwinefus of West Union. The Rev. A Duane Manson was in charge of the rites; burial was in the church cemetery.

Mrs. Schwinefus died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident which occurred near Ossian on a gravel road about one half mile south of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church. She apparently lost control of the car which skidded on the gravel as it crossed the "Scheidel" bridge. The car slid off the left side of the road, overturned in the ditch, bounced over a wire fence and came to a stop in the adjacent field.

Leo Barthelme of Ossian discovered the accident about 6:00 p.m. on November 12 only a few minutes after the mishap. He found the injured woman near the fence where she had crawled. An ambulance was summoned and with the Ossian emergency unit rushed the woman to the Community Memorial Hospital in Postville where she died shortly after admittance. The accident was investigated by the Winneshiek County Sheriff.

Mrs. Olivia Edna Hegland Schwinefus was born August 24, 1899 at Ossian, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ole J. and Sissel Hegland. She died Thursday evening, November 12, at Community Memorial Hospital, Postville.

The deceased was educated in the Winneshiek county public schools. On January 21, 1919, she was married to William H. Schwinefus. She had been employed at the Good Samaritan home in West Union for several years. Most of her lifetime was spent in the Ossian vicinity. She was an active member of Stavanger Lutheran church.

Mrs. Schwinefus was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 1950; four brothers, Halvor, Severt, John and Martin; and two sisters, Gurina (Mrs. Frank Jones) and Ellen (Mrs. Melvin Stee).

She is survived by four daughters, Verla (Mrs. Ray Schara) of Castalia, Donna (Mrs. Charles Schara) of Austin, Minnesota, Phyllis (Mrs. Virgil Grenneman) of West Union, LaVonne (Mrs. Kermit Anfinson) of Ossian; one son, Wayne of Ossian; one brother, Helmer Hegland at the Good Samaritan home, West Union; one sister, Mrs. Clara Possehl of Mitchell, South Dakota; nine grandchildren; and one great grandchild.

Postville Herald newspaper clipping, hand dated 1964, from my mother's obituary collection.