Oberholtzer, Anne (2000-2002)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2002 Aug 12 p. 6

Birth date: 2000

text of obituary:

Wisconsin community mourns 3 sisters' deaths

UNITY, Wis. — A community of Old Order Mennonites mourned the deaths Aug. 5 of three young girls who apparently suffocated after they locked themselves inside a homemade cedar chest.

Two-year-old Anne, 4-year-old Darlene and 6-year-old Carla Oberholtzer were "full of life, giggly, happy, normal little girls," family friend Luke Weaver told The Associated Press.

"It was like a shock wave," Weaver said. "When you have deaths like this, a community's plans, a family's plans, everyone's plans change immediately."

Authorities told the AP that the girls' mother, Shirley Oberholtzer, and two older daughters had been canning on their farm near Unity, about 130 miles northwest of Madison.

Sheriff Louis J. Rosandich said the mother noticed the younger girls were missing and found them inside the chest — about 3 feet long and 2 1/2 feet deep — in an upstairs bedroom. They were not breathing.

Rosandich said a sheriff's deputy who was first to arrive on the scene quickly instructed the girls' mother in CPR, but the two were unable to revive the children.

The family attends Pine Grove Mennonite Church in Granton, according to Bishop Clair Horst.