Bio: Chekitis, Bruno (15 Nov. 1946)

Contact:  Stan

Surnames: CHEKITIS DARKOW WEHE DOMINE AMPE HILDENSPERGER

----Sources: Marathon County Register (Unity, Clark Co. Wis.) 11/15/1946

Chekitis, Bruno (9 Nov. 1946)

Three Killed in Auto-Train Crash At Spencer

Three persons were killed instantly and another is in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield, the result of a train and automobile accident which occurred at the main street crossing in Spencer early Saturday morning.

The accident happened at 1:35 a.m. when No. 21, a freight train, on the Minneapolis to Chicago run, was hit by the panel truck of Bruno Chekitis, Greenwood, route 1. Mr. Chekitis, who was driving the car is in the hospital suffering from bruises to the chest, left hip and right shoulder, and minor lacerations.

The dead are: Harold A. Darkow, 23, Athens, who received a broken neck, a fractured right knee, and cuts and bruises.

Mrs. Martha Ampe Wehe, 31, Loyal, route 2, who sustained a frontal skull fracture and a broken neck.

Mrs. Mildred Domine, 30, also of Loyal, route 2, who suffered a broken neck and a fractured left leg.

All of the victims were riding in the front seat of the vehicle.

The tragedy occurred when Chekitis, driving west on Highway 98, collided with the south bound freight. The light truck was carried 52 feet from the point of impact. All of the victims remained in the vehicle.

The right front of the demolished car collided with the left front of the cow catcher of the locomotive. The engine was not damaged.

John Hildensperger, acting Marathon County coroner, quoted Chekitis as saying that the panel truck was moving about 15 miles per hour when it reached the crossing.

Hildensperger said an inquest will be held early this week.

Chekitis, a veteran receiving on-the-job training as a mechanic at the Otto Stock garage at Loyal, told a reporter Saturday morning that he had been with Darkow since early evening and that they had met the women at Loyal about 1 ½ hours before the tragedy.

***The rest of the article is cut off, and not available at the time of transcription.***