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Schroeder, W. F. (d. 1939)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1939 Jun 14 p. 1
Birth date:
text of obituary:
DR. W. F. SCHROEDER ON WAY HOME FROM CALL WHEN END COMES SUDDENLY
Dr. W. F. Schroeder, a widely known member of the Bethel Hospital staff of surgeons and Harvey county health officer, was killed almost instantly in an automobile accident about four miles south of Newton shortly after midnight Monday morning.
The Newton physician was alone in his car when he crashed into the rear of a trailer with livestock. The trailer was stuck in the wet ground along the four-lane highway but a part of it was not entirely off the pavement.
The terrific impact threw Dr. Schroeder through the glass and against the side of a door in such a manner that he suffered a crushing blow on the side of his head. He was rushed to the Bethel Hospital, but life had fled before medical aid could be administered.
Dr. Schroeder was a member of the Congregational church. However, funeral services will be held today at the Mennonite church because of its larger seating capacity.
Born in the Mennonite community at Mt. Lake, Minn., Dr. Schroeder spent his boyhood there. Later he attended a prominent medical school and upon completion of his course established his residence in Newton.
He is survived by his wife and two children, his mother, Mrs. H. H. Schroeder of Mt. Lake, one brother and one sister.
The Mennonite obituary: 1939 Jun 20 p. 15
Text of obituary:
DR. W. F. SCHROEDER, son of Frank D. and Katharina (Rempel) Schroeder of Mountain Lake, MInn., suddenly lost his life Sunday night, June 11, 1939, in an automobile tragedy that deeply shocked Newton, Kansas, and vicinity, where he has been a beloved and signally successful physician and surgeon for the last 16 years. On this Sunday night, on his return from a duty call as county health physician, his car collided with a stalled truck. He was struck with a terrific force on his left temple that caused almost instant death.
On Saturday evening he had a telephone conversation with his relatives in Mountain Lake in which he was fervently importuned to join them in a family reunion there, but as he told a patient later he just couldn't make up his mind to do so, as he felt constrained to remain with his patients. On Sunday night, as he stopped with the same patient, at the Bethel Hospital, a picture of health and a will to do things, it was remarked that even Sunday had probably kept him duty bound, and his vigorous reply was, "Yes, but I enjoy the work very much!" With that he left, and in about an hour and a half later he had gone to meet his Creator.
Dr. Schroeder will be greatly missed in the community, by the medical staff and nurses of the Bethel Hospital. He leaves behind to mourn his untimely passing his wife, Mrs. Irene Widlick Schroeder, two sons of grade school age, William Widlick and Frederick Arthur, his mother, three brothers, Peter Schroeder, Waterville, Washington; Frank Schroeder, Mountain Lake, Minnesota; Bernard Schroeder, Oak Park, Illinois, one sister, Mrs. Martha Balog, Chicago, Illinois, and many people who know him. Funeral services were held at the large First Mennonite Church, his pastor, Rev. J. D. Schmidt of the Congregational Church, officiating. J. R. T.