Surnames: Hederer, Strathman, Hoffmann, Cutts, Rucks

----Source: Colby Phonograph (Colby, Clark County, Wis.) 06/17/1948

Hederer, Elmer (24 June 1918 - 13 June 1948)

Elmer Hederer, age 29, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Hederer of Colby, was found dead Sunday afternoon at 5:30 o’clock at the rear of the former Hederer residence here, by Edward Strathman of Colby, apparently a suicide victim. A shotgun, which caused his death, was found beside his body.

Hederer is a veteran of World War II and suffered considerable mental depression due to a brain tumor which was discovered while he was still in service. He had been a patient at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Wood, Wis., for some time. Lately, he had been suffering severe pain. Previous attempts to take his own life had been prevented. Sunday morning, it was reported, he had been in a tavern in Colby, and, when he went home at 12:00 o’clock, he said he was going home and shoot himself. No definite time of death has been fixed as Hederer was alone at the time. His mother, sister, and brother had moved recently to a farm outside Colby but he remained at the Colby residence.

Funeral services will be held this Thursday afternoon at the Lulloff Funeral Home, Rev. O. Hoffmann officiating, and internment will be made at the Colby (Colby, Clark Co. Wis.) Cemetery. The funeral will be military.

Mr. Hederer was born on June 24, 1918, in the town of Hull, Wisconsin. He attended school in Colby and was inducted into the U.S. army Oct. 31, 1941, serving 20 months overseas with the signal corps in the West Indies. He was discharged Oct. 18, 1945, with the rank of private, first class. He was awarded the Bronze Star and sharpshooter’s medal.

Since his discharge from U.S. service, he made his home in Colby, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Zion Lutheran church and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Surviving are his mother, two sisters, Mrs. Helen E. Cutts of Marshfield, Route 4, and Audrey of Colby, one brother, Herbert, of Colby, and his father, address unknown, and his grand parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rucks of Colby, Wisconsin.