Obit: Colby, Hermie #3 (1895 - 1952)

Contact: History Buffs 

Surnames: Colby, Daley, Nixdorf, Dray, Westerman, Knobloch, Pascoe, Gokey, Hemphill, Scheibe, Dorn, Ingersoll, Lieders, Scheel, Laabs, Waldhart, Treat, Neitzel, Thompson, Moore, Garske, Domer

----Source: Abbotsford Tribune (Abbotsford, Clark County, Wis.) 07/17/1952 
 

Colby, Hermie (29 Mar. 1895 - 12 July 1952) 
 

Mrs. W. O. Colby, 57, was fatally injured Saturday morning in an automobile crash on Highway 13, two miles north of Abbotsford, at 11:45. Her son, William Colby, Jr., and a Shorewood couple, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Daley, were injured in the crash.  
 

Mrs. Colby and her son were on their way to the farm of her son-in-law, Walter Nixdorf, to pick up an auto trailer. They had proceeded on Highway 13 to the town road two miles north, on which the Nixdorf’s live.  
 

Mr. Colby had stopped on the right side of Highway 13 to permit traffic to pass before making a left hand turn. Lynn Batten, who resides near the scene of the accident, was coming down the side road with a tractor drawing a side delivery rake, and saw the Colby car stop, but stated he did not see the actual crash as a tree obstructed his vision at that moment.  
 

The Daleys were traveling south, having been at Hayward where Mrs. Daley was visiting relatives. Her husband, a Shorewood policeman, had gone to get her and they were returning home.  
 

Mrs. Colby’s was thrown clear of the car in which she was riding, and death came almost instantly. The Daley’s were taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s hospital, Marshfield. Mr. Daley, 23, suffered multiple lacerations and bruises on the head and left knee and was to be discharged Monday. Mrs. Daley, 20, had a fractured rib and pierced lung, but was expected to leave the hospital in a few days. Mr. Colby, 21, was treated at a doctor’s office at Colby, for a broken collar bone, shoulder separation and minor bruises, and is being cared for at home.  
 

The Colby car was badly damaged but remained on the highway, while the Daley car was thrown into the ditch on the west side of the road and was badly damaged. 
 

Mrs. Colby, the former Hermie Colby, was born at Unity, March 29, 1895. She attended the Unity public schools. Her marriage to William O. Colby took place Aug. 25, 1922, at Winona, Minn. For the past 24 years, the Colbys lived in Abbotsford, Wis.  
 

Survivors include her husband and three sons, Donald and Leonard, La Crosse; and William, Jr., at home; three daughters, Mrs. Walter (Lorna) Nixdorf, Abbotsford; Mrs. Melvin (Joyce) Dray, Medford, and Wilma, Abbotsford; all of whom were here for the funeral. There are eight grand children.  
 

Two brothers, Paul and Louis Colby, La Crosse; and a sister, Mrs. Wayne (Marietta) Westerman, Chicago, Ill., also survive.  
 

Two children, three brothers and four sisters preceded her in death.  
 

Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 o’clock at the Presbyterian church, with the Rev. William Knobloch officiating. During the services, Miss Darlene Pascoe, accompanied by her father, Ed Pascoe, sang "Shadows," and "The Old Rugged Cross." Burial was made in the Abbotsford cemetery. 
 

Pallbearers were Vane Gokey, Vern Hemphill, Art Scheibe, Dale Elliott, Lowell Dorn, and Kenneth Ingersoll. 
 

The flowers were carried by Mmes. Orville Lieders, Alfred Scheel, Bernard Laabs, Herman Waldhart, Harry Treat, Lawrence Neitzel, Maurice Thompson, Lowell Dorn, Vern Hemphill, Art Scheibe, of Abbotsford; Mrs. Joe Moore, Wisconsin Rapids; Mrs. Alta Garske, and Mrs. Len Domer of La Crosse.