Shank, Helen E. Hassler (1898-1971)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 May 20 p. 5

Birth date: 1898

text of obituary:

Couple Found Dead in Home

LANCASTER, PA. — A Smoketown couple, Mr. and Mrs. John S. Shank, were found dead in their home on May 6 after having apparently been dead for five days. On the following day the Lancaster County coroner ruled that death was caused by accidental asphyxiation.

Mr. Shank, 53, was a partial deaf mute and his wife, Helen E. (Hassler) Shenk, 73, was a total deaf mute. Several persons in the neighborhood suspected that something was wrong when the Shanks were not seen for several days and did not take the mail out of their box. Elvin R. Stoltzfus, pastor of the First Deaf Mennonite Church where the Shanks were members, was notified and with others entered the home to find the couple.

IT IS BELIEVED that when Mr. and Mrs. Shank returned home on Sunday, May 2, they for some reason left their car running in the carport attached to the house, perhaps to charge the battery. The ignition was turned on and the gas tank was empty. Exhaust fumes had entered the house to cause their deaths.

Mr. and Mrs. Shank formerly lived near Marion in Franklin County, and largely attended memorial services were held at the Marion Mennonite Church on Sunday afternoon, May 9. Pastor J. Irvin Lehman of the Marion congregation gave the sermon on II Cor. 1:3-11 while Elvin Stoltzfus of the First Deaf Mennonite Church conveyed the message in sign language to about 25 deaf friends who attended.

DURING the service the bodies were brought to the adjoining cemetery, and most of the congregation attended the burial service. The bodies were not brought into the church and there was no viewing.

Another memorial service was held at the First Deaf Mennonite Church in Lancaster on Sunday, May 16.

Mr. Shank was employed as an upholsterer. He is survived by his step-mother, Naomi (Martin) Shank, five brothers and one sister. His wife was the last surviving member of her family.