Unruh, Leonard (1925-1962)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1962 Jan 25 p. 3

Birth date: 1925

text of obituary:

Highway Crash Near Great Bend, Kan. Wipes Out Family of Five

Pretty Prairie, Kan. — The tragic head-on collision of two autos on snow-covered US 281 south of Great Bend, Kan. on Jan. 18 claimed the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Unruh, formerly of Pretty Prairie, and their three small children.

Two of the Unruh children, David, 8, and Alison, 6, died in the wreckage. Mrs. Unruh, the former Ruth Marie Reeves of Abilene, Kan. died shortly after entering St. Rose Hospital in Great Bend, and nine-week old Amy Beth died en route to the hospital. Mr. Unruh, 37, was critically injured and died in St. Rose Hospital Monday night.

The crash occurred as the Unruhs, residents of Denver, Colo. for the past ten years, were en route to their new home in Wichita. Mr. Unruh was being transferred there by his employer, the Chas. D. Bruning Company.

The Unruhs were traveling south when a northbound motorist, trying to pass another vehicle, apparently was blinded by swirling snow and met the Unruh car head-on. The two men in the other car were injured but are recovering.

Unruh was the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Unruh of Pretty Prairie and the late Alfred Unruh.

Funeral services for Mrs. Unruh and the three children were conducted at the First Mennonite Church here Monday afternoon. Officiating ministers were Rev. P. P. Tschetter of the local church, Rev. Lutz of the Presbyterian Church in Denver which the Unruhs attended, and Rev. Davis B. Cecil of Great Bend. Services for Mr. Unruh were announced for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, also at the Pretty Prairie church.