Obit: Pieper, Reuben #2 (1924 - 1952)

Contact: Stan

Email: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Pieper, Berrett, Johnson, Cherney, Knuth, Cook

----Source: Loyal Tribune (Loyal, Clark Co., Wis.)   08/28/1952

Pieper, Reuben #2 (13 MAY 1924 - 23 AUG 1952)

A weekend fishing trip for a former Loyal (Clark Co., Wis.) resident ended in tragedy Saturday when Reuben Pieper, 28, Milwaukee, drowned in Rock Dam, 8 miles west of Willard.

Pieper toppled from a boat at 11:30 a.m. and sank beneath the water while a witness watched helplessly from a cabin on shor.

The victim, who was alone in his boat, was having trouble with his motor and had to stand when trying to start it, according to the witness.

When the motor started, the boat lurched, casting Pieper into the water.  The accident occurred about a quarter mile off shore.  Pieper sank immediately.  He could not swim.

His body was found at 6:30 p.m. after a dragging crew had worked since 12:30.

Clark County Coroner John Bergemann, in charge of the dragging operations, said searchers just before finding the body turned up a fly rod Pieper had been using.  The victim was found a short distance away, about 30 feet from the point where he fell into the water.

A woman who saw the accident from a cabin, tried to rescue the victim.  She ran to a motorboat, but was unable to start the motor.  Bergemann said another witness was in a rowboat out in the lake, but too far away to reach the youth.

The victim, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pieper, Loyal, had come home several times this summer to fish, according to his parents.

He arrived Saturday morning and left shortly afterwards for the dam.

Pieper became the second drowning victim in Rock Dam this season.  Duane Berrett, 19, greenwood, drowned there July 5.

Funeral services for Reuben Pieper were held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Loyal.  Rev. Alvin O. Pinke, Marshfield, officiated, and burial was made in the parish cemetery.

Pieper was born May 13, 1924 at Loyal, and lived there until 1948 when he moved to Milwaukee.

He was married to the former Marjorie Johnson, Owen, Nov. 12, 1946.  They have no children.

Besides his wife and parents, he is survived by four brothers: Frank, Waverly, Iowa, Clarence, Loganville, John, Reedsburg, and Walter, Loyal; and four sisters, Mrs. Anthony (Edna) Cherney, Milwaukee, Mrs. Frank (Evelyn) ?, Milwaukee, Mrs. Herman (Verna) Knuth, Loganville, and Mrs. ? Cook, Loyal.