Obituary - John Raasch

The Hooper Sentinel
March 15, 1917

Fatally Injured

John Raasch died this afternoon at 3 o'clock. Mr. Raasch was working about a friend's home place yesterday afternoon and about 4:00 a pole fell upon him striking him in the side and injuring him internally. It was found necessary to operate on him and he passed away during the operation.

The funeral was held Sunday. Those going up from here for the services were Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Schroeder and daughter, Hilda, Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Tillman, Mrs. Aug. Wagner, Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Kroeger, Mrs. Geo. Rabe, Henry Raasch, John F. Meyer, and Albert and C. W. Wagner.

Death of John Raasch

Just as we were closing the forms last Thursday the news came that John Raasch, an old-time, well-respected citizen of this place, had died. The hour was so late that it was impossible to tell any of the facts and we had no time to investigate, therefore only a general statement was made. Mr. Raasch met death in a very peculiar manner and most suddenly. The family are grief-stricken beyond words to express and in fact his illness was so short that the
whole matter seems more like a dream than a reality.

Mr. Raasch was injured in an accident while on the Jacob Hagedorn place just west of town. He had been assisting Mr. Hagedorn in the dehorning of some cattle and they were almost through with the job when the accident happened. A critter had been driven into the dehorning chute for being dehorned and was inclined to lie down in the chute and to avoid such things a small pole was used to poke through underneath the critter and passed through a small hole on the opposite side, thus keeping the critter up during the process.

Mr. Raasch attempted to shove this pole through the stanchion and when about through the animal came down on it rather suddenly and the end to which Mr. Raasch had held came up and struck him in the abdomen low down on the right side. Mr. Raasch did not pay much attention to the incident and went on about his work, completing the work on this animal and the dehorning the last animal, a small heifer, before he noticed anything particularly wrong. He grew faint, however, and went into the barn and lay down for a few moments, thinking he would be all right shortly but he gradually became worse and Mr. Hagedorn insisted that he go into the house and lie down, which he did and he was given a stimulant and for a time felt much better and as he was through dehorning for the day, Mr. Hagedorn hitched up and brought him home. He dismounted from the wagon and went into the house and announced that he had got hurt and that it was nothing serious only he felt a little faint and he lay down. Soon his condition became more serious and about 6:00, barely two hours after the incident, a physician was called but it could not be determined just what was the real trouble. Later, however, physicians from Fremont were called and upon examination it was discovered he had bursted an intestine, which had been caused by the force of the blow from the pole at the dehorning chute. It was further decided that the only possible hope of saving his life was a surgical operation but he passed away before this could be accomplished. No blame whatever is attached
to Mr. Hagedorn in any way. Everything about the dehorning chute and all tools used were in first-class condition and the pole was not inferior nor did it break when the strain was placed upon it by the animal. It was just one of those indescribable accidents for which nobody can be blamed.

Mr. Hagedorn did all in his power to relieve the man and offered every possible assistance. He is a very careful and painstaking farmer and keeps everything up nicely on his place. The accident happened thru no negligence on his part.

John Raasch was born June 1, 1862, and died at his home in Beemer, March 8th, 1917, aged 54 years, 9 months and 7 days. He was a son of John and Barbara Raasch and came to this county from Hooper some thirty years ago. In 1883 he was married at Hooper to Sophia Sass on August 24th of that year, and to this union were born nine children, John, Martha, wife of Charles Toelle, Ida, wife of Harry Nellor, Barbara, wife of Wm. Mahnke, Lenore, wife of Emil Schultz, Victor, Adolph, Ina and Agatha, the latter four being at home and the others being residents of the surrounding community. One child, Hedwig, died some years ago. The near relatives surviving besides his wife and children are five brothers and two sisters, Henry at Ashland, Gottlieb, Emil and Fred of Fremont, and Casper of South Dakota, Mrs. Paulsen of Bancroft and Mrs. Mary Heofener of Pierce.

Mr. Raasch had been a resident of this county for thirty years, living in Beemer most of that time with the exception of three years when he resided on a farm. He also followed the carpenter trade to some extent. He was a member of the German Lutheran church of this place and in fact was a charter member of the local organization of which he remained a faithful and consistent member
throughout the remainder of his life.

The funeral services were held from the Lutheran church in this city Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, March 11th. The Rev. J. H. Tagler, the family pastor, conducting the services which were very impressive. The casket was fairly smothered in flowers and the church was by no means large enough to contain the sympathizing friends and mourners, there being many more people outside than inside the building. The pallbearers were Sam Reich, Wm. Wendt, Fred and Carl Krueger, Fred Siebrandt and August Raabe.

Interment was made in the Beemer cemetery.

Those attending the funeral from a distance were many, but among those noted were Mrs. Gus Lillian, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Sass, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Krueger, Mrs. August Wagner, John Myer, Mr. and Mrs. John Schroeder, and Mrs. Lida Raabe, all of Hooper, the old home and old time friends and relatives of the deceased, and Emil Heofner and family from Pierce. The bereaved family are extended heart-felt sympathy.