Obit: Cox, George E. (1911? - 1955)

Contact: Stan

Email: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Cox, Petersen

----Source: THORP COURIER (Thorp, Clark County, Wis.) 07/28/1955

Cox, George E. (1911? - JUL 1955)

The heroic efforts of George Elwood Cox, 44, to save 13-year-old Bonnie Petersen from an electric fence line proved fatal to him instead.  Cox tried to free the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Petersen, route 1, Owen (Clark Co., Wis.), his employers, when she brushed up against the fence line near the barn and became frozen.  Acting impulsively Cox ran through the water soaked barnyard toward the fence line to aid the girl and in so doing brushed his left arm on the fence line before he got to the youngster and met sudden death.

It was about 6 p.m. when the tragedy occurred.  Bonnie was going to help her mother who was bringing the cows in from the pasture and her father was in the barn.  Perhaps three to four minutes elapsed before the plight of the two was known and then Mr. Petersen immediately pulled the current.  Cox immediate fell backwards to the ground dead.

Bonnie was saved from the same fate fortunately by her clothes and the fact that one of her arms was on the fence post, thus reducing the charge going into her body.  She suffered severe burns to both wrists of her arms, shock and was unconscious when the power was cut off.

Last Wednesday night after the tragedy, Sheriff Ray Kutsche and County Coroner John Bergemann visited the farm and said the fence line hook-up is not a regular fencer unit, but a direct 110 volt charge tied in from the granary.  Although not an approved fencer setup this practice is sometimes used on farms but with a 7 ½ volt light bulb tied into the line.  Their preliminary investigation failed to produce a bulb of this size anywhere in the granary according to a statement from Sheriff Kutsche, but they did find a 25 and 45 watt bulb.

At 6:25 Mr. Petersen called the city ambulance to his farm where they used a resuscitator on Cox for 42 minutes.  Dr. Koch, Colby, was called and his efforts to revive Cox also failed.  Bonnie was treated for the burns to her wrists, and her parents were also treated for shock.