It Happened Here – November 16, 2016
It Happened Here
Eighty Years Ago
(1936)
The trial of Michael Jankowski began in Washington County Circuit Court. He was charged with an attempt to kill State’s Attorney J.D. Maxwell. A doctor’s commission ruled Jankowski mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Washco Stores featured Gib’s condensed vegetable soup for 10 cents a can.
Deaths: Ann Doelling, 71, of Addieville; Herman Hellmeyer, 77, a native of Plum Hill; and Joseph Wheeles, 85, a native of Ashley.
Seventy-Five Years Ago
(1941)
Lorraine Hoffman of Pinckneyville purchased the Hildebrand restaurant in Nashville.
Rev. Charles Montgomery of the First Methodist Church estimated not over 10 percent of the citizens were in church on Sunday.
F.E. Gronemeyer, 39, of Belleville died of exhaustion and exposure when his boat capsized at Twin Lakes while on a hunting trip on the Okaw River.
Other deaths: Ernest Stull, 47.
Seventy Years Ago
(1946)
A county multiplier of 2.5641 was assessed by the state for taxes to be paid in 1947. A survey indicated Washington County property had been assessed at 39 percent of market value.
Quail were said to be plentiful, rabbits about the same as last year and pheasants nowhere as the hunting season began.
Deaths: William Nieman, 67, of Hoyleton; Emma Ellerbusch, 69, of New Minden; Mary Ellen Robinson, 83, formerly of Ashley; John Kleiboeker, 71, of Beckmeyer; Anna McCarrey, 82, of Centralia; and Anna Hoelscher, 85, of Okawville.
Sixty-Five Years Ago
(1951)
John Hoffman, 17, of Du Bois lost an eye in a farm accident.
Washington County Butane Co. advertised gas ranges from $98.50.
Benedict Piasecki was wounded in the Korean War.
The junior class play at Ashley was to be presented. The cast included Jo Ann Costephens, William Smalley, Stanley Vaughn, Carolyn May, Joe Pitchford, Virgil Riechman, Jo Ann Cohlmeyer, Patsy Johnson, Delores Konkel, Louis Paszkiewicz and Mary Lynn Hagebush.
Deaths: James Randell, 59, formerly of Hoyleton; Beeman Edwards, 75, of Richview; Glen Carter of Marion; Frank Perrot, 70; Michael Shannon,; and Darcia Sue Campbell, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Campbell of Okawville.
Sixty Years Ago
(1956)
Nashville City Council voted to impose a ½ cent sales tax on all retail establishments. The money was to go into a special hospital fund.
Two champion sheep were killed, but Philip Heggemeier escaped with minor injuries in an accident in Indiana while en route to Toronto, Canada, for a livestock show.
Ashley, Irvington and Hoyleton grade schools were burglarized. Irvington suffered the loss of $200.
Local grocery prices had two packages of cranberries for 29 cents and two cans of pumpkin for 25 cents.
Deaths: Emma Meyer, 84, of Nashville; Frances Brink, 90, of Pilot Knob Township; Ernest Reminger, 48, native of Du Bios; John Bauer, 83, of Radom; Bryan Livesay, 60, formerly of Nashville; Theresa Wellpot, of Hoyleton; and Mrs. Frank Obremski of Coulterville.
Fifty-Five Years Ago
(1961)
Voters in Ashley approved a 76,000 bond issue for a sanitary sewer system by a vote of 183 – 56.
Deaths: Bliss Rountree, 58, of Nashville; Blair Baker, four-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Baker of Livonia, MI; Mrs. Owen Windler, 68, of Nashville; George Nowicki, 69, of Ashley; John Fortag, 91, of Radom; Louis Petri, 73, a native of Washington County; and Fern Howard, 63, of Woodlawn.
Fifty Years Ago
(1966)
Washington County began participating in the Food Stamp program for public aid recipients.
Burglars stole $500 from the Irvington Elevator.
Ashley City Council awarded a $33,000 contract to Jack Trotter of Mt. Vernon to double the capacity of the city’s water plant.
Richard Pinski, 30, of Posen was killed in a traffic accident south of Nashville.
Other deaths: Ernst Gummersheimer, 61, of Nashville; Mollie Walker, 81, of Sandoval; Gus Koenig of Oakdale; Sam Parr, 64, of Springfield; Mary Todd, 90, of Pinckneyville; William Livesay, 89, of Richview; Charles Edward Sauerhage, 64, of Oakdale; and Martin Helman.
Forty-Five Years Ago
(1971)
Washington County Board authorized its Building Committee to consult an architect on the cost of a new jail.
Fire gutted the Robert Tweedy residence north of Okawville.
A survey showed there were 133 cars for each 100 families in Washington County.
Owens Jewelers in Nashville advertised love rings for $14.85.
Deaths: Raymond Hake, 69, of Irvington; Walter
Schultz, 70, of Nashville;
Frieda Miche, 86, of Okawville; Harold Backs, 71, of Belleville; Melissa Hale, 79, of Grand Tower; and William Poggemoeller, 83, of Washington County.
Forty Years Ago
(1976)
Due to recent safety standards, Washington County Hospital patients were not allowed to brig their television sets, radios or electric razors to the hospital when admitted.
The annual Lions Club Candy Day drive collection totaled $1,067,71, which was turned over to the Illinois Foundation for the Blind.
John Absher received honors for a photo he took and which appeared in the “Sierra County Sentinel” of Truth or Consequences, NM. The photo was judged “Best Spot News Picture of 1976” by the National Press Photographers Association.
Deaths: Emma Witte, 93, of New Minden; Leonard Brehm, 80, of Ashley; Leo Buescher, 80, of Venedy; Carrey Hassebrock, 87, of Mascoutah; John Nagel, 73, of Evansville; and James Basse, 40, of Venedy.
Thirty-Five Years Ago
(1981)
Norvin Bultman resigned after 25 years on the Washington County Service Co. Board of Directors. Alfred Harre of Addieville was elected to replace Bultman.
Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals joined Ben Gaebe for a Veterans Day of hunting in Washington County.
The Okawville Senior Citizens Multi-Purpose Center and nutrition site was in need of a new home after St. Barbara’s Catholic Parish in Okawville asked the site be moved.
Local grocery prices included ground beef for $1.38 a pound and a five-pound bag of flour for 89 cents.
Nashville High School’s varsity football team ended its season with a 9-2 record.
Deaths: Harry Nowak, 76, of Ashley; John Meyer, 92, of Addieville; Virgil Ferree, 84; Casimer Ryterski, 81, of Nashville; Bernard Bathon, 57, of Nashville; Lawrence Woker, 77, a native of New Minden; Maria “Mayme” Sapp, 90, a native of Hoyleton; Esther Luebke, 76, of Nashville; Clarence Dick, 73, a native of Washington County; William Timpner, 77, of Pinckneyville; and Martin Nehrt, 94, a native of New Minden.
Weddings: Lorene Easton and Darrel Eggemann Jr.; and Diana Hawkins and Larry Harre.
Thirty Years Ago
(1986)
Geri Eckart was installed as postmaster at Ashley and Eunice Hettenhausen was installed as postmaster at Okawville.
A 6 ½ ounce can of tuna was 47 cents and pork steaks were 99 cents a pound.
Deaths: Joe Berry, 79, of Nashville; Jeffrey Troutt, two-month-old son of David and Sandra Troutt of Wamac; Cornell Eckert, 78, of Freeburg; Viola Chesnek, 67, of Ashley; Bessie Smith, 82, of Mt. Vernon; Frank Malkowicz, 77, of St. Louis; and Hattie Bender, 80, formerly of Du Bois.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
(1991)
A 1992 fiscal year budget of more than $4.2 million was adopted by the Washington County Board that had a projected budget deficit of between $180,000 and $185,000.
Okawville Police Chief Bryan McGee Jr., the former Washington County Sheriff, was hired by Nashville as a patrolman.
Lester Campbell sold the Nashville Memorial Co., established in 1870, to Bob and Lois Voelkel. Campbell had taken over management of the company for his father in 1955.
H and K Construction Co. of Okawville was the apparent low bidder at $95,300 on the project to expand the Okawville Fire House.
Washington County Clerk Tom Ganz said it would take $75,000 to run two county wide elections in the coming fiscal year.
The number of households in Washington County receiving food stamps increased 15 percent compared to a 10 percent increase statewide.
Deaths: William Kramper, 82, of Venedy; Ethel Schreiber, 76, of Mayville, WI; Amos Lynch, 89, of Beaver, WI; Elbert “Red” Pruitt, 82, of Oakdale; Irene Breed, 79, of Tamaroa; and Beverly Shy, 59, of Centralia.
Weddings: Stephanie Heggemeier and James Kahroff; and Mary Kabat and David Kozuszek.
Births: Kevin and Lisa Heady of Mt. Vernon, a daughter; Peter and Lauren Bakker-Arkema of Glendale, MO, a daughter; Tom and Rose Thorton of Swanwick, a son; and Bryan and Kathy Sprehe of Sarasota, FL, a son.
Twenty Years Ago
(1996)
Washington County Board was told that nearly every home on a stretch of Honeysuckle Road in the southwestern corner of the county had been burglarized or vandalized in the last year. Residents were asking for more protection from the sheriff’s department.
Washington County Hospital and Addieville Area Jaycees were planning a bone marrow drive.
Turkey was 47 cents a pound and a 12-pack of Coke
was $2.99 at Kroger.
Deaths: Roland Barkau, 74, of Okawville; Norman Moeller, 69, of Nashville; Lawrence Mazander, 79, of Coulterville; Stanley Ceglinski, 71, of Sesser; Christopher Juenger, 70, of New Athens; Vada Tudor, 75, of McLeansboro; William Nottmeyer, 72, of Hoffman; Regina McLaughlin, 22, of Centralia; Herbert Bauer Jr., 53, of Affton, MO; and Robert Dennis Sr., 68, of Liberty, MO.
Weddings: Karla Gill and Kirk Rueter; Heather Aust and Skip Whitworth; Barbara Joellenbeck and Steven
Calahan.
Births: Kevin and Julia Riechmann of Okawville, a son; Kevin and Christine Goldman, a daughter.
Fifteen Years Ago
(2001)
Ron Recker was elected president of West Washington County District 10 Board of Education.
Brenda Sells was the new administer at Friendship Manor Health Center.
St. John Lutheran Church in New Minden was set to dedicate an addition to the historic church building.
An albino deer that was living in Washington County was pictured in The Nashville News, courtesy of a photo taken by Terry Weier.
Blake Patton poured in 56 points for Oakdale, breaking the school record for 51 set by his father, Paul, in 1974.
McDaniel’s Furniture offered a free turkey with the purchase of $199 in furniture.
Deaths: Mark Rusiewski, 47, of Nashville; and Randy Boldwyn, 53, of Mt. Vernon.
Weddings: Christine Docherty and David May; Kari Pruehsner and Kevin McCasland.
Births: Andrew II and Carol Easton of Nashville, a son; John and Debbie Jasper of O’Fallon, a daughter; and Patrick and Christine Mittendorf of Okawville, a son.
Ten Years Ago
(2006)
Father Andy Knopik, new priest at St. Ann Church, was the speaker at the Community Thanksgiving Eve Service sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance.
Lucas Lehde received the American Farmer Degree at the National FFA Convention.
Fire extensively damaged the Leonard Patterson home in Okawville while it was undergoing renovation.
Turkey breasts were $1.29 a pound.
Births: Tim and Julie Kirchner of Nashville, twin sons; Warren and Anne Swanson of Glenwood Springs,
CO, a son.
Deaths: Theresa Barnowski, 88, of Nashville; Thomas Gebke, 70, of Bartelso; Roy Johnson, 80, of Orlando, FL; Harry Kozuszek, 77, of Carlyle; Ethel Kehkopf, 92, of Frisco, TX; Tillie Kerley, 97, of Vienna; Charles Kozuszek, 65, of Biddeford, ME; Uba Lekosky, 92, of Columbia.
Five Years Ago
(2011)
Police Chief Brian Fletcher was one of the speakers at a forum on drug and alcohol abuse, speaking about the rise of synthetic drugs, and stating that there were gangs in Nashville.
State’s Attorney Julie Kozuszek told the Washington County Board that she was concerned that her department’s supply budget would be reduced.
Nashville’s St. Paul United
Church of Christ received a $50,000 grant enabling its pastor, Rev. Sue Artt to participate in the National Clergy Renewal Program.
Birth: Anthony Keller was born October 19 to Brian and Marcia Keller of Nashville.
Death: Peggy Backs, 56, of New Baden, formerly of New Memphis, November 5.
