The Hyphen Family Lineage

[Obituary for Lester J. Fredrick, from the Oconomowoc Enterprise, 18 Dec 1947.]

[headline] Hold Funeral On Saturday For Man Killed In Accident

Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock at Our Saviour's English Lutheran Church for Lester J. Fredrick, 32, 430 W. Charles St., who was killed last Wednesday night in an automobile accident at highway 100 and Silver Spring Road, Milwaukee. Private services were held at the Lyke Funeral Home at 11 a.m. The Rev. I.J. Tanner officiated. Burial was in La Belle Cemetery.

Fredrick met his death when the light panel truck in which he was riding skidded on icy pavement and overturned. The driver, Albert Rogahn, 25, Oconomowoc, was taken to Milwaukee County General Hospital suffering from a brain concussion and shock. Milwaukee County deputies said Fredrick was thrown from his seat out the rear door, suffering severe internal and head injuries. Rogahn told deputies he was trying to stop skidding when the truck hit the shoulder of the road and tipped into the ditch.

Mr. Fredrick was born July 25, 1915, In Oconomowoc, the son of Joseph and Lydia Stargard Fredrick. On February 11, 1938, he was united in marriage to Merland Munger. Mr. Fredrick was in the electric sign business.

Besides his wife, he is survived by a brother, Lawrence, and his grandmother, Mrs. Julius Stargard, Oconomowoc.

Note: Merland (Munger) Fredrick, widow of Lester Fredrick

Family oral history recalls that Lester's widow, Merland, remarried and moved further north in Wisconsin; no information has been found to indicate what happened to her since the death of her first husband. I have no information on whether or not Lester and Merland had children prior to his death. There is a gravestone and empty plot for her in La Belle Cemetery in Oconomowoc, Waukesha Cty, Wisconsin, next to Lester; she is likely buried elsewhere (if she is not still living), but I do not at this point know under what surname she would be buried.

ADDENDUM: Family members recall that Lester and Merland had no children prior to his death.

SECOND ADDENDUM: Lester was living with wife Merland and her grandmother, Catherine Turgrimson, in Oconomowoc, Waukesha Cty, Wisconsin in the 1940 US Census. A bit more searching for Catherine's households find a one-year-old Merland Munger living with the Turgronson family in Oconomowoc in the 1920 US Census.

THIRD ADDENDUM: In the Marshfield News-Herald, 14 Jun 1951, p2, is notice of a marriage license issued to Charles Yeager and Merland Fredrick, both of Cleveland, Marathon Cty, Wisconsin. The two of them appear to have remained married until Charles' death in 1997, with Merland following him in death in 2002. The two of them appear to be buried in Hannibal Cemetery in Hannibal, Taylor Cty, Wisconsin. I do not know if they had any children, though I will note that at the time of their presumed marriage (June of 1951), Merland would only have been in her early thirties.