John Bronkhorst 1876 - 1927

BRONKHORST

Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 10/6/2016 at 13:25:37

Sioux City Journal
19 May 1927

Last Rites For Victim of Fire

John Bronkhorst Laid in Grave After Brief Funeral Services

In a flower bedecked coffin, John Bronkhorst, one of the victims of the tragic explosion and fire of Monday night, was laid in a grave in Graceland Park Cemetery, Wednesday.

Relatives and friends gathered in Westcott’s Funeral Chapel for short but solemn services, before the body was taken to the grave.

In the front row of the pews set aside for the mourners were Mr. and Mrs. William B. Bronkhorst, 1617 West Second Street, elderly parents of the victim. They kept bravely calm during the service, and except for the deep grief written plainly upon their faces no one would have been aware of the sorrow under which they labored.

Brief Message

Words of the pastor, Rev. John H. Andress, were brief, and were given more as a message of comfort than a sermon.

“In these days when we have so many intentions, so much machinery of which our father’s did not know, we have many tragic accidents, “ said the pastor. “We do not know why such things happen. We do not always understand the mysteries of death, nor of life, but we have the consolation of knowing that God’s way is best and in such consolation death is robbed of its sting.”

Following the service the coffin was placed tenderly in the hearse. At the cemetery further brief services were held.

So marked the closing chapter in the early history of John Bronkhorst, his body lies in Graceland, but at least during the lifetime of his parents, he will be alive in two loving memories.