Obit: Beck, Gregory (1961 – 1964)

Contact:  Pat Braun

Email:  pat@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames:  Beck, Mertens, Wesenberg

----Source:  Owen Enterprise (Owen, Clark Co., Wis.) 2/13/1964

Beck, Gregory (1961 – 1964)

STANLEY CHILD DIES SWALLOWING TOY

Mother is The Former Nona Mertens, Withee

Funeral services will be held this morning at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Stanley, for three-year-old Gregory Beck, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Beck.  Mrs. Beck is the former Nona Mertens of Withee.

Gregory apparently died of suffocation in his sleep Monday morning after a small toy lodged in his throat.  The boy was found by his mother about 9:30 a.m. Monday when she went to wake him for the day.

An autopsy report completed Monday afternoon by Dr.Robert Fink of Eau Claire at the request of Chippewa County Coroner Dr. Clifford T. Bowe of Cadott showed the little boy died of suffocation from a tiny, inch long plastic pig, apparently taken to bed with him.  The toy had lodged at the entrance to the child’s windpipe.

Death was ruled by Dr. Bowe as accidental.

The coroner said the child had a past history of swallowing items and four pennies also were found in his stomach during the course of the autopsy.  They apparently had been swallowed the same day, Dr. Bowe revealed.

Death was set by Dr. Bowe at 2:00 a.m.  The father told authorities he had given his son a drink of water at 1:30 a.m. and he appeared to be normal.  The father and boy sleep in the same bedroom.

Mrs. Beck, after failing to wake her child, notified the family physician, who in turn notified Dr. Bowe.

The child was born in Plymouth, Wis., in 1961 and had lived in Appleton and Thorp where his father was employed with a finance company.

He is survived, in addition to his parents, by a brother, Gary, at home, a grandmother, Mrs. Veda Mertens, Withee; and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Wesenberg, Cornell.