Young Man Called By Death
St. Boni Star - Waconia, Minnesota January 7, 1916

"The Aug. Verch family are grieving over the sad death of their son Fred, who passed away at their farm home on the old Dircks farm in Zoar January 3, 1916, after suffering for some months with dropsy. the funeral took place from the local Lutheran church yesterday afternoon at two o'clock and the last rites were in charge of Rev. W. f. G. Schneider. Interment wwas in the Lutheran cemetery east of town.

Deceased was born in Jackobsdarf, Pommern on September 25, 1885 and came to this country with his parents when three months of age. He was educated in this county and made his home with his parents until his death. He was at the time of his death 30 years, 4 months and 8 days old. He leaves besides his heartbroken parents, seven brothers and six sisters. Freinds sympathize with the bereaved relatives."

NOTE:

- The newspaper article incorrectly has the date of the article listed as Jan. 7, 1915, but this should be 1916.

- Dropsy is an old term for Edema, which is a painful condition of an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavities or tissues of the body. Today "dropsy" can be treated with diuretics and other such treatments.

- It is not uncommon to refer to the location of where someone lives by refering to the previous owners of the place to help the reader identify with the location. Back in the 1800's and early to mid 1900's towns were smaller and most people knew each other. In this case the Verch family had bought the farm which was once owned by the Dircks family.