Obit: Tessmer, Gust H. (1900? - 1943)

Contact: Stan

Surnames: Tessmer, Lulloff, Meck, Meyers, Matthewson, Beilfuss,, Brown, Wilson, Wendt, Hull, Tiedeman, Hill, Conzemius, Spencer

----Sources: Colby Phonograph (Colby, Clark County, Wis.) 08/05/1943

Tessmer, Gust H. (1900? - 2 Aug. 1943)

Gust H. Tessmer, age 43, of Dorchester was instantly killed in an auto-truck collision at the outskirts of Owen at midnight Monday when the car he was driving collided with a milk truck driven by Raymond Lulloff of Greenwood. A wrecking car had to be called to pry the vehicle open enough so that Tessmer’s body could be extricated. His skull was fractured, his left arm shattered and he suffered other injuries.

Lulloff, panic-stricken by the crash, drove two miles beyond the scene without stopping, then turned and came back, he told authorities.

He was operating a light milk truck laden with whey and empty milk cans, owned by his employer, Theodore Meck of Greenwood, and was returning from a visit with an uncle, George Meyers, at Abbotsford, Wis.

Meck said the truck was being driven without authorization, declaring he had given orders that it was not to be driven except on the milk route.

The front left fender, headlight, and running board of the Tessmer car were wrapped around the rear of the vehicle in the crash, and the car was smashed entirely out of shape, but the truck was not badly damaged. Empty milk cans were scattered about the scene.

Lulloff was taken to the office of a doctor for examination, but was found to be suffering only from shock.

Traffic Officer Ken Matthewson began an immediate investigation of the case and was joined by Dist. Atty. Bruce Beilfuss and Coroner H. L. Brown of Neillsville, Wis.

Tessmer, an electrician who lives on a farm a mile west of Dorchester, had gone to Withee to pay for a team of horses and was on his way home when the accident occurred.

Lulloff, whose original home is in Ashland county, has been living at the Herb Spencer home at Greenwood for the past five years. He told the authorities that he had received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army at an embarkation point, because of a stomach ailment.

Tessmer is survived by his wife and one son, Donald, age 17.

A coroner’s jury, at the conclusion of an inquest held at Owen Tuesday, brought in a verdict to the effect that Tessmer "was instantly killed accidentally due to injuries received in a collision between a car he was riding in and a milk truck" at about 11:40 P.M., August 2. Members of the jury were A. M. Wilson, Harold Wendt, Frank Hull, K. Tiedeman, W. P. Hill and Ray Conzemius.