Obit: Varney, Robert M. (1957 - 1975)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Varney, Fagen, Gregorich, Lulloff, Houston

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/30/1975

Varney, Robert M. (11 Apr 1957 – 27 January 1975)

A young Greenwood are youth was pronounced dead on arrival at Neillsville Memorial Hospital, Monday evening, after receiving a fatal chest would in a Greenwood industrial accident.

The youth, Robert M. Varney, 17, son of Mrs. Larry Fagan of Eau Claire, was employed at the Greenwood Milk Products Company factory in that community at t4he time of the accident.

According to Clark County Coroner Robert Lulloff, Varney was struck by a whey discharge spout on a milk separator. The blow struck the victim on the chest, causing a laceration and according to Lulloff, “pierced the heart.”

Varney, a senior at Greenwood High School, worked full time at the factory under a special employment provision at the high school, beginning his hours shortly after noon and finishing around 8:00 p.m. The accident occurred at approximately 6:50 p.m.

According to investigating officer’s reports and eye witness accounts, Varney “had applied the brakes” on the separator and began disassembling the machine. He apparently loosened a lock nut on top of the machine before the machine had stopped, causing the eight-inch stainless steel spout to rotate, striking him.

Varney made his home in Greenwood with his grandfather, Matt Gregorich.

Services for Varney were scheduled for 10 a.m. this (Thursday) morning from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwood with the Rev. Robert Houston officiating. Burial was to follow in the parish cemetery.

The body was to be in state beginning Wednesday afternoon at the Hill Funeral Home in Greenwood, where a wake service was set for 8 p.m. that evening.