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                            Obituar
ies in 1936
                                                      Hartford Michigan

        Click here to return to the to Obituary Index

Please email the webmaster if you have obituaries of people who have lived in Hartford Michigan, or was active in the Hartford community, at some time during their lives. To find a specific obituary, use the  Search Our Site  feature, also located on the left menu of every page.  The Obituary section was started January 30, 2008 and current obituaries will be posted as they become available.  Obituaries are from the local newspapers, unless otherwise noted.  If you have an obituary notice (or learn of the passing away of someone who lived in Hartford at one time) of a former Hartford resident from a newspaper away from the Hartford area, please send it. Past obituaries will be added as time permits.  Death notices are also posted in the HHS graduate database.
Note:  if you have a good or different photo to insert with present or past obituaries for the History of Hartford website and email newsletters, please click here to email them unedited directly to the webmaster.  If you don’t have a scanner, send photo by US Mail to Emma Thornburg Sefcik, 59320 62nd St., Hartford MI  49057.

Many requests are made for obituary notices and this is a good genealogical resource, as well as providing obits to extended family members who may not have an original.  Searching previous year obituaries (mainly prior to 2003) requires a good deal of time.  If you found this to be a valuable resource and would like to be a sponsor toward keeping the obituaries page updated, send donations to History of Hartford Obituaries, Emma Sefcik, 59320 62nd St, Hartford MI  49057.  Since the History of Hartford website is a voluntary effort, your contribution is much appreciated.

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Howard Pomeroy, Local Truck Driver, Is Killed In Collision With Street Car

      When the heavily loaded truck he was driving crashed into the rear end of a street car in Chicago at 7 o’clock Saturday morning, Howard Pomeroy, 22, popular Hartford young man and eldest son of Chief of Police and Mrs. Clarence Pomeroy, was instantly killed.
     The impact drove the motor back into the truck cab, while the 216 bushels of apples with which the truck was loaded shucked forward, crushing the cab and pinning him in the wreckage.
     The post of the steering wheel pierced the young man’s chest, but his body was not otherwise mutilated.  The steering wheel was torn from the post and his body was pinned in a space of not more than four inches between the back of the crushed cab and the steering post.  Chicago officers worked for a half hour tearing away the wreckage before his body could be removed.
     The truck, which was almost completely demolished, was owned by E. Rasmuson, Hartford trucker, by whom Howard had been employed as a driver for some time.
     Mr. and Mrs. Rasmuson left by motor Friday evening to visit relatives in Minnesota, two hours before Howard started on the fatal trip to Chicago.  Difficulty was experienced in locating them en route to apprise them of the tragedy
     At New Liston, Wi., some 400 miles distant, Mr. and Mrs. Rasmuson had a minor accident with their car.  They telegraphed Henry Aides Fowler, local insurance agent for instructions as to repairs.  In replying they were informed of the tragedy, and returned the entire distance without stopping.
    The apples with which the truck was loaded came from the farm of Supervisor Bela Kennedy, six miles north of Hartford in Bangor Township.
     The accident occurred at 33rd and Wentworth avenue.  Witnesses said that the Hartford driver had followed the street car for some distance.  He intended to turn at that street intersection to reach his destination, some 20 blocks away.  When a passenger gave a tardy signal to the conductor, the street car stopped suddenly.  Howard was obviously unable to stop his truck and crashed into the car just as it began to move again.
     The street car was heavily loaded.  The crash caused a panic among the passengers, but none were injured.
     Howard’s body was removed to a morgue, and difficulty was experienced in identifying him. His billfold, containing his chauffeur’s license among other papers and a small amount of money, was missing when his clothing was searched.
     The truck was identified by its Van Buren county license plates and a card of the Rasmuson trucking concern with its Hartford address that was tacked in the cab.  Chicago officers notified Sheriff Warren J. Dodge at Paw Paw, and the sheriff’s officers notified the family here.
     The body was not definitely identified until Clarence Pomeroy, local village marshal and deputy sheriff, and officer Glen Bigelow drove to Chicago Saturday forenoon, where the former identified the crash victim as his son.
     An inquest into his death was begun in Chicago Saturday, and continued to November 6.  The crash occurred in a Negro district of the city.  The truck load of apples was partially spilled in the street, and colored residents with baskets and pails carried away all but about 35 of the 216 bushels before police arrived to stop them.
     The body was brought to Hartford Saturday night and taken to Zuver & Calvin funeral home.  Funeral rites were largely attended at the Methodist church Monday afternoon, with Rev. John Brokholm of Hubbardston, former local pastor, officiating.  Burial was at Maple Hill.
     Mr. Pomeroy was born in Hartford April 21, 1914 and had spent his entire life here.  He was a graduate of the local high school with the class of 1932.
     On February 11, 1933, he was married to Miss Doris Garner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Garner of this village.  Their marriage was the culmination of a high school romance and the bride continued her high school career, graduating with the class of 1933.  The have two daughters, Patricia, who was two years old last November 21, and Delores, one year old.  They formed a happy family circle and the young wife was prostrated by the tragic death of her husband.
     Besides his wife and two children, he is survived by his parents, five brothers, Ray, Theron, Gerald, Junior, and Kenneth, and three sisters, Helen, Reta and Mary, all at home.  His death is also mourned by R.R. Knapp, retired Hartford merchant and uncle of the dead youth’s mother, with whom Howard made his home during much of his boyhood days
.

As published in the
Hartford Day Spring
Hartford Michigan
Wednesday, November 4, 1936

RILEY M’ARTHUR [McArthur], 71, VETERAN RAILROAD EMPLOYEEE, IS DEAD

     Rites Will Be Held Tomorrow for former Operator and Station Agent Riley McArthur, 71, for thirty years an employee of the G.R.& I. and Pere Marquette railroads and for many years a resident of Hartford, died at his home on Oak street at 6:45 yesterday morning, following a stroke of paralysis which he suffered during the night.
     Mr. McArthur suffered a slight stroke two months ago from which he had not fully recovered.  He had also suffered from a heart ailment for the past six years, but had been able to be about and spent part of Saturday down town.
     During his railroad career Mr. McArthur served 11 years as telegraph operator at the Hartford depot, and later served as station agent at Riverside, McDonald and Mears.  He left the employ of the railroad several years ago and resumed his residence in Hartford.
     The deceased was born near Muskegon on June 6, 1865, and first entered the employ of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad for four years before he cast his lot with the Pere Marquette.  His life had been spent in this section of Michigan.
     Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Lucena McArthur, to whom he was married on January 3, 1918 [actual date January 13, 1919], a daughter, Mrs. Ethel Fay of Muskegon Heights, and a granddaughter there.
     Funeral rites for him will be held at the Zuver & Calvin funeral home at 2 o’clock Thursday afternoon, the Rev. Wm. E. Goltz officiating and interment will be at Maple Hill cemetery beside the grave of his first wife, the former Miss May Phillips of Hartford, who died here in 1916.

As published in the
HARTFORD DAY SPRING
Hartford, Michigan
Wednesday, September 30, 1936

 

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Pearls In Our Past - Hartford Michigan
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A Pictorial History of Hartford Michigan
Emma Thornburg Sefcik
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Revised: March 23, 2009