Surnames: Olson, Nutter, Staffeil, Lau, Skinner

----Source: Abbotsford Tribune (Abbotsford, Clark County, Wis.) 02/17/1944

Olson, Merwin R. (13 Nov. 1919 - 13 Feb. 1944)

Funeral services for Merwin R. Olson, who died of a broken neck early Monday morning as a result of an automobile accident, were held this afternoon at 2:00 o’clock at the Norwegian Lutheran church at Curtiss, and internment was made in the Pine Hill cemetery.

The fatal accident occurred about 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, east of Colby when Mr. Olson was returning from a dance at Cherokee. Mr. Olson, according to Marathon county Traffic Officer John Nutter, was attempting to pass two other cars on County Trunk N when he apparently lost control of his own vehicle.

Nutter said Olson’s car traveled for some distance on the left shoulder of the highway, then veered directly across the road, struck a bank there, throwing Mr. Olson out and against a telephone pole, and then continued 20 feet farther before stopping.

The injured man was taken to Colby by Roger Staffeil, for medical attention, and was then rushed to the Marshfield, Wisconsin Hospital where he died at about 4:00 a.m. Monday morning.

Mr. Olson lived at the home of his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Chester Lau, three-fourths of a mile north of Curtiss. His father died in 1929 and his mother, Mrs. James Skinner, lives at Burlington. He also leaves a brother, Pfc. Wayne Olson, now in Australia. He was a native of Curtiss and a graduate of the Owen high school. He was 24 years old.