Titus Johannes MENNENGA

MENNENGA, BARTH, HAYUNGA, ROSS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/21/2015 at 01:59:09

April 5, 1877 ---- June 10, 1959

FIRE WHICH KILLED 2 STARTED IN KITCHEN

Various eyewitness accounts of the fire which claimed the lives of an elderly Freeport couple Thursday morning indicate that the blaze started in the kitchen of their home at 913 S. West Ave. Despite the accounts, Fire Chief Albin Franz said he doubted that the actual cause of the fire would ever be determined. Franz based this doubt on two reasons: 1. The kitchen of the home was so badly charred. 2. The only two people who actually know what happened, Mr. and Mrs. Titus J. Mennenga, died of suffocation in the fire. A neighbor told Chief Franz that she saw Mrs. Mennenga merge from the back door with a burning object in her hands and throw it on the porch. The neighbor added that she then looked at the house and saw flames through the kitchen window. The call was received at 10:48 a.m. in the Central Fire Station. Police Lt. Karl Stroh who was investigating a call in the 500 block of West Homer street around the corner from the Mennenga home was the first official on the scene. Stroh said it was impossible for him to enter the home because of intense heat and smoke. This same reason also kept firemen from getting into the house until 15 minutes after they arrived on the scene, indicating a flash fire. After the blaze was partially under control and firemen were able to enter the house, Mrs. Mennenga was found lying on the floor in a bedroom at the rear of the house. Mr. Mennenga was found sitting in his wheelchair a short distance from his wife. He was an invalid. Firemen who carried Mr. Mennenga from the bedroom, which adjoins the kitchen, said they thought he was still breathing and call­ed for the ambulance to take him to Deaconess Hospital. How­ever, he was dead on arrival. Mrs. Mennenga apparently tried to extinguish the flames before firemen were called, Chief Franz said. He added the telephone receiver was off the cradle and lying on a nearby shelf. The blaze must have been burning for a short time before firemen were called, the chief said. Stroh said that when he arrived flames were coming from the kitchen window and shooting 10 feet toward the south. There were fla­mes on the rear porch and roof and black smoke was coming from upstairs windows of the two-story brick structure, he added. The entire first floor of the house had heavy fire damage while the basement suffered only water and smoke damage. The upstairs was badly charred and scorched. Firemen battled the stubborn blaze for 40 minutes using gas masks, booster lines, axes, shovels, ladders and the smokeejestor. The new pumper truck was used for pump pressure and the hydrant at the corner of W. Homer St. and S. West Ave. supplied the water. One fireman, Lester Heck, 225 E. Jackson St., received small lacerations on both hands when he suffered cuts on broken glass while fighting the fire. He was treated at Deaconess and dismissed. Several firemen were overcome by smoke, but none seriously enough to have medical care.

Joint funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Zion United Church of Christ. The Rev. Carl E. Grahl, pastor, will officiate. Interment will be in Chapel Hill Cemetery. Friends may call at the Eichmeier Funeral Home from noon Saturday until 10 a.m. Monday and then at the church.

Titus J. Mennenga was born in Belmond, Iowa, April 5, 1877, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Heye Mennenga. His marriage to Kathryn Barth took place in Belmond Feb. 8, 1905. They moved to German Valley the same year and continued farming until 1948 when they moved to Freeport.

Survivors include three sons, Edward of German Valley; John of Crystal Lake and Harry of Dakota; three daughters, Mrs. Ethel Hayunga of Baileyville; Mrs. Esther Ross of German Valley and Miss Harriet at home; seven grandchildren; four brothers, John of Belmond, Iowa; Fred of Watford City, N.D. Bernard of Santa Monica, Calif., and Menno of Waterloo, Iowa; and one sister, Miss Margaret of Belmond. Two brothers and two sisters died previously.

Kathryn Barth was born in German Valley, Dec. 3. 1881, the dau­ghter of Mr. and Mrs. John Barth. The sons, daughter and grandchildren survive. One brother and one sister died previously.

Freeport Journal Standard -- Freeport, Illinois
June 1959