Surnames: Ehlers, Pruka, Atwood, Hogue, Meyers, Begley, Braatz

----Source: Marshfield New Herald (Marshfield, Wis.) 05/10/1948

Ehlers, John J. (27 JUL 1874 - 8 MAY 1948)

Neillsville, Clark Co., Wis. - John Julius Ehlers, 73, Town of Levis (Clark Co.), a resident of Clark County since November 1906, died suddenly of a heart attack at 11 a.m. Saturday at his farm while operating a tractor.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Georgas Funeral Home and at 2 o’clock at the Congregational Church, the Rev. S.D. Robbins officiating. Burial will take place in the Neillsville City Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Georgas Funeral Home.

Mr. Ehlers was found by his son, Eugene, who heard the noise of the tractor motor. The tractor was causht on a lumber pile with one wheel elevated. The drivers feet were caught among the tractor’s pedals and his body was slumped backwards, supported by the seat.

Marks left by the drag being pulled by the tractor indicated that the vehicle had made one round in the field, then began a zigzag course which led through a fence and into the pile of lumber. The farmer had left Neillsville with the tractor Saturday morning, arriving at the home farm at approximately 10:30 o’clock. It is supposed that he died about one-half hour before being found.

Mr. Ehlers was born July 27, 1874, at Winona, Minn., and received his early education the Town of Wilson, Minn. He was married June 2, 1898, to the former Mary Pruka at Winona, after which he took over the management of his parents’ farm. They remained there six years, then came to Clark County in 1906 and purchased the present farm. He was a member of the Congregational Church.

Surviving are his wife and the following children: Mrs. George (Minnie) Atwood, Elko, Nev.; Arthur, Woodstock, Ill.; Mrs. Clarence (Helen) Hogue, Merrillan; Mrs. Arthur (Lillian) Meyers, Mrs. Ernest (Evelyn) Begley, Mrs. Robert (Jeanette) Braatz, and Paul, Neillsville; William, Marshfield; Irving, Phoenix, Arizona; Mrs. Paul (Dorothy) Meyers, and Glenn, Milwaukee; and Eugene, at home.

Also surviving are 18 grandchildren and one brother, Emil, Winona, Minn. One son, two brothers and one sister preceded him in death.