My great-grandfather, Heinrich Friedrich Elling (known as Fred or Fritz) lived much of his adult life in Fulton County, so the search for his obituary led me to the Wauseon Public Library. I couldn't get to a microfilm reader the day of my visit, but the helpful library manager offered to look up the obituary for me, and today I received two of them.
Fred died on July 9, 1927, and you can read about him and this memorial photo on a previous post.
The first obituary appeared in the Democratic Expositor on July 14, 1927:
"FRED ELLING, SR. DIES
Fred Elling, Sr. of Swan Creek township, died Saturday night about six o'clock.
He had leakage of the heart for about twenty years. Mr. Elling laid down for a few minutes and soon was dead. Cause of death was heart failure.
He leaves a wife, four boys and five girls."
The second obituary appeared in the Wauseon Republican on the next day, July 15, 1927, with a vivid headline and a slightly different scenerio:
"DROPPED DEAD
Fred Elling, Sr., 74, a farmer of Swan Creek township, died suddenly at his home southeast of Delta, Saturday evening. He was in his usual health and was talking to his wife when the summons came. Coroner N. C. Wright was called and announced that death was due to heart failure. Mr. Elling was the father of nine children, 4 boys and 5 girls."
I am still searching for Fritz's wife's obituary and that of his mother. My next stop will be the Delta Public Library for those, as they did not appear in the Wauseon papers.
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