Guy Garfield Moritz

WHIRLED TO DEATH ON SHAFT
GUY MORITZ, FORMERLY RESIDENT OF THIS VICINITY DIES FROM INJURIES RECEIVED NEAR CAMPUS, KANSAS
WIFE AND 8 CHILDREN LEFT
THEY WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE THEIR HOME IN KANSAS
FUNERAL HELD MONDAY AT ARLINGTON CHURCH
The body of Guy Garfield Moritz, formerly a resident of this vicinity, arrived in Villisca Saturday evening at 8:30 o’clock on the south branch following his death on Thursday morning at the hospital in Hays, Kansas, from injuries which he received that morning while repairing a large traction engine near Campus, Kansas.
Mr. Moritz who was in the employ of O. P. Cramer, a grading contractor and farmer, was working with Mr. Cramer on a platform which they had build by the side of the tractor on which they were working and which was being run by a belt from another tractor, when his clothing was caught on the crank shaft of the machine and his body was whirled rapidly around the shaft and beaten against the platform and tractor as it whirled.
Mr. Cramer had sat down on the platform to read some mail which had been brought to him just at that time, and Mr. Moritz was caught on the shaft while his employer’s back was turned to him. Mr. Cramer felt the unusual motion of the tractor and looking up saw something which on account of its rapid motion he thought was only a coat, whirling on the shaft and he once motioned to Mr. Moritz’s son Mervin, who was operating the other tractor, to shut off the power.
Mervin also had noticed that something was wrong and stopped the engine at once, but before it came to a stop, Mr. Moritz had been fatally injured. He was unconscious when taken from the shaft and laid on the ground but soon regained consciousness again and made some remark to the effect that he was afraid he was body hurt. He was placed in an automobile and take ninety-two miles to Saint Anthony hospital in Hays, Kansas, where he lived only about an hour after his arrival there. He was conscious practically all the eight hours from the time of the accident until his death.
The body was accompanied to Villisca by Mr. Moritz’s son Earl and by O. P. Cramer, and Mrs. Moritz and her seven other children arrived here on No. 14 that evening. The body was taken Sunday morning to Henry Enarson home northwest of Villisca and the funeral was held Monday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at the Arlington Church, with Dr. A. P. Walton in charge of the service.
Those besides the wife and children and Mr. Cramer who were here from a distance to attend the funeral were Mr. Moritz’s mother, Mrs. Leonara Moritz, his brother, A. N. Moritz, of Waterloo, Iowa, and his brother Frank M. Moritz loving five miles southeast of Nodaway. The pall bearers at the funeral were O. P. Cramer, J. D. and Elmer Thomason, Scott Smith, H. E. Talbot, and J. A. Dunn. Burial was in the Arlington Cemetery.
Guy Garfield Moritz was born July 22, 1880 on a farm now owned by Elmer Hyde, three miles northwest of Villisca and he grew to manhood in that neighborhood. All of his life has been spent in Villisca and vicinity, with the exception of two years spent in Minnesota and the last two years which he spent in Kansas.
He was married to Miss Clara When of Villisca at Detroit, Minnesota, October 19, 1901, and to this union nine children were born, one of whom is deceased. Those living are Earl, 19 years of age, Marvin,17, Everett, 14, Elmo, 11, Bernice, 8, Merle, 6, Maxine, 3, and Lester, 2. He also leaves another brother, Harry Moritz of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Mr. Cramer, who accompanied the body here from Kansas, left Tuesday morning to return home. Mrs. Moritz and her children will remain here for a few days and will then return to their home in Kansas.
Villisca Review, Friday, March 24, 1922, page 1* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Oct 20 2023, 5:27:57 UTC