Obit: Beyerl, John (1876 - 1913)

Contact: Stan

Surnames: BERYL WEIX SCHUH

----Sources: Colby Phonograph (Colby, Clark County, Wis.) 04/17/1913

Beyerl, John (15 DEC 1876 - 13 APR 1913)

From the Ashland Daily News of Monday, April 14th, 1913, we glean the following particulars of the sad accident that caused the death of one of our young citizens:

"A fatal accident occurred Sunday afternoon at 2:30 on the Soo Line ore dock when John Beyerl, the foreman of the pile driving outfit for the Soo Line bridge crew, fell from the second deck of the dock. The Soo Line have been repairing their dock this winter and Mr. Beyerl was engaged in working among the timbers when he suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ice below, a distance of about fifty feet. He was immediately taken into the Soo line office and Dr. Hosmer and the ambulance of St. Joseph’s Hospital called, but he died half an hour later before he could be taken to the hospital. Beyerl had his skull crushed in the fall and could not have lived had he been taken to the hospital.

"Mr. Beyerl has been with the bride crew of the Soo line for the past fourteen years and was a single man and resided at Colby, Clark Co., Wis.. His remains were taken to Colby, Sunday night by W.J. Burmeister, who was also a member of the crew and who also resides in Colby."

John Beyerl, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Beyerl of the town of Colby, Clark Co., was born in the town of Leroy, Dodge Co., Wis., on Dec. 15th, 1876; came to Colby with his parents in the year 1878, and remained on the farm until about fifteen years ago, when he took a position with the Wisconsin Central bridge and carpenter crew, and continued in that line of work with the Soo line. The past six years he has been one of the Company’s most trusted foremen, and was always helping in the most dangerous positions of the work his crew was engaged on, as was the case last Sunday, when he met his untimely death.

The large number of railroad men and citizens generally, who attended the funeral, gave evidence of the high esteem in which he was held by the Soo line and all who knew him.

Besides his parents, he leaves five sisters and four brothers to mourn his death. They are Mrs. Lawrence Weix, Frank, Mrs. John Schuh Jr., of Colby; Miss Ida of Manitowoc; Louis, Ambrose, Caroline, Veronica and Henry of Colby.

The funeral was held from St. Mary’s Church, Wednesday morning, Rev. H.J. Artmann officiating, the pallbearers being members of the local Woodman lodge, of which he was a member. Interment took place in the Catholic Cemetery.

The railroad men present to attend the funeral were: Assistant Supt. Of Bridge and Building, Gust Monthy of Minneapolis; Arthur Purdee, bridge foreman, and Joe and Frank Shefsick of his crew; Lyman Eivert, bridge foreman; also the following members of Mr. Beyerl’s crew: Henry Krueger, Richard Klimpkie, W.J. Burmeister, Ray Marsh, Matt Hinkes, L.O. Hudson, Brayton Whitney, Adolph Voge, Herman Tesmer, H.D. Creed and August Prange.