Obit: Staszak, John (1924 – 1979)

Contact: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Staszak, Plonka, Kling, Schanen, Jelinek, Bloczynski, Zingelman

----Source: Staszak Family Memoirs Collection by Agnes Staszak Schanen

Staszak, John (25 August 1924 – 7 February 1979)

County man killed in accident at Sawmill

A rural Merrillan man was killed Feb. 7 in an industrial accident.  John Staszak, 54, died following an accident at Fifield Forest Products, near the junction of state Highway 27 and 71, 15 miles south of Black River Falls.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. when a chain binder on a tractor trailer loaded with logs broke loose and a log rolled off. The log struck Staszak on the head.  He was pronounced dead when the Sparta Area Ambulance Service arrived on the scene.

Monroe County Coroner Gary Winningham said Staszak died of a skull fracture and massive chest injuries.

John Staszak, 54, died Feb. 7, 1979, in an industrial accident at Fifield Forest Producers, near Sparta.

Mr. Staszak was born at Hatfield on Aug. 25, 1924, and he lived in the Hatfield area all of his life.  He married Patricia Kling on August 23, 1958.  He was employed by the DNR for 14 years in the Game Division, and was self-employed as a pulper from 1966 until his death.  He hunted and fished the area all his life.

Survivors include his wife; three sons, Michael, William and Randy, all of Hatfield; three sisters, Agnes (Lawrence) Schanen, Port Washington, and Stella (Charles) Jelinek, and Mary (Leo) Bloczynski, both of Black River Falls.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Pauline (Plonka) Staszak and by a brother Albert (1951) and two brothers in infancy.

Funeral services were held Feb. 10 from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Black River Falls, and interment was made at the Hatfield Cemetery. 

The Torgerson Funeral Home of Black River Falls handled the arrangements.