Surnames: WINSCHER SOWA

----Source: HUMBIRD ENTERPRISE (Humbird, Clark County, Wis.) 05/13/1916

Winscher, Fred J. (11 Sep 1881 - 11 May 1916)

Fred Winscher was instantly killed by an electric shock received at the farm of P. A. Hemmy at about nine o'clock Thursday evening. Since the last storms there had been trouble with the lights at Mr. Hemmy's and Mr. Zerbel's farms, and Thursday evening Henry Rundle was called to the farms to see if the trouble could be located. Mr. Winscher joined him and it was while looking over a witch in Mr. Hemmy's barn that Mr. Winscher received the shock which snuffed out his life. He was an experienced and careful workman, and how the fatal accident happened is not known.

Several were in the barn at the time Mr. Winscher met his death. Mr. Rundle caught him as he fell, and immediately carried him into the open air, but all efforts to revive him were futile. The offices of the Light & Power Co. were notified immediately of the accident, and a number of men representing the company came at once to investigate the cause. Members of the families of Mr. Hemmy and Mr. Zerbel had received shocks previously during the day, but none serious.

When one loses a close friend and associate, it brings to our mind the uncertainties of human life. For a year or more past we had worked with him at different times, had visited back and forth and had learned to look for his regular call at our office when he was in town. His was a cheerful disposition and looking at all times on the brighter side of life. But a few weeks ago Mr. Winscher was called upon to mourn the death of his father, a loss which he bore with fortitude, although it cut deep into his soul. There are left to mourn his untimely death, besides his aged mother, brothers and sisters, his wife and five small children, the youngest a babe of about two weeks old. Our sincerest sympathies are extended to the sorrowing ones in their great bereavement.

The funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon.

(Follow on in 5/20/1916 Humbird Enterprise)

Fred John Winscher was born Sept. 11, 1881, in Kolozik, Wierbitz, Germany. In 1885 the family immigrated to America, where they located on a homestead near Leland, in Sauk Co., Wis. There he grew to manhood, and after sixteen years residence in Sauk Co., the family moved to the farm south of Humbird, Clark County, Wis.. In 1904, Mr. Winscher went to Chicago, where he was employed as stationary engineer and electrician. He was united in the holy bonds of matrimony in the year 1906, to Miss Mary Sowa of Chicago, and to them five children were born, three daughters and two sons, the youngest a babe of two weeks. They lived in Chicago for ten years and in 1914 moved to the home south of Humbird, where he resided until his untimely death Thursday evening at about ten o'clock, May 11, 1916, at 35 years and 8 months of age. There are left to mourn an irreparable loss, besides his wife and children, an aged mother, three sisters and two brothers, and a large number of other relatives and friends.

The funeral services were held at the home Sunday afternoon and at the Presbyterian Church at Alma Center, Rev. O. A. Hillmann, pastor of the Evangelical Association Church, preaching the sermon. Mr. Winscher was a member of Grand Crossing lodge No. 776, A. F. & A. M., of Chicago, and burial was under the auspices of the Masonic Lodge of Humbird. Pallbearers were M. R. cross, R. A. Creviston, W. H. Russell, M. B. Baumgartner, C. B. Fristad and E. T. Hale. Burial was in the cemetery at Alma Center. The services were attend by a large number of sympathizing friends. Relatives and others from away who were here to attend the funeral were Charles and Gottlieb Winscher from St. Charles, Minn., Mrs. George Welfel, Racine, Bert Wilchel, Indianapolis, Ind., Robert and Herman Heimlich, Merrimac, and Mrs. Irwin Woodford, LaPorte, Ind.