Obit: Larson, Leo Ronald (1941 – 1966)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Larson, Krause, Bonk, Crubel, Ackerman, Auberg, Hansen, Pogodzinski, Anderson, Bucheger

---------Source: OWEN ENTERPRISE (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 20 Jan 1966

Larson, Leo Ronald (12 NOV 1941 – 18 JAN 1966)

A 24-year-old Owen (Clark Co., Wis.) man, married and the father of two children, was killed outright Tuesday when the tractor-trailer unit he was driving collided at an intersection with another truck loaded with corn.

Killed was Leo Ronald Larson, who was returning home from Cary, Ill., with a shipment of materials for the Master Package Corp., Owen.

Larson was driving a unit leased by Master Package Corporation from Milford Smith, rural Owen, and was making his first trip for the firm. He had been on the firm’s payroll but 17 hours when the fatal mishap occurred. Previous to joining Master Package Corp., he was an employee of the West Side Garage at Withee.

According to Bill Krause, a brother-in-law of the deceased, and who went to the scene of the accident near Woodstock, Ill., the driver of the other unit sped through an arterial at the intersection and said later that he didn’t see the stop sign. Larson’s unit struck the heavily loaded corn truck broadside of its trailer. The driver escaped injury.

The accident occurred in clear weather at 2:30 p.m.

Funeral services will be held at 10 o’clock Friday morning, Jan. 21 at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Owen. Rev. H.L. Crubel will officiate, with burial being scheduled at Riverside Cemetery.

Asked to serve as pallbearers were Harry Bonk, Floyd Ackerman, Bernard Auberg, Les Hansen, Victor Pogodzinski and Tracy Hansen.

Born Nov. 12, 1941 in Seif Township, Clark County, Leo was graduated from Owen-Withee High School and Vocation Training School at Eau Claire. He served six weeks in the U.S. Navy before receiving a medical discharge.

On Sept. 29, 1962 he and the former Ruth Anderson, Owen, exchanged nuptial vows in a ceremony performed at the Holy Rosary Church in Owen.

His saddening and tragic death are mourned by his widow; two children, Robert, age two and Jonathon, one year old; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Larson, rural Owen; two sisters, Mrs. W.E. (Anne) Krause, Owen, and Mrs. Dennis (Darlene) Bucheger, Loyal; two brothers, John W. Larson, Helena, Mont.; and Lars Larson, Wausau.