Beck - John
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review 1 Feb 1965 p 1
WAYNETOWN — Funeral services for John Beck, who died Sunday night of burns he sustained in a flash fire at his home in Waynetown earlier in the day, will be conducted at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Servies Funeral Home in Waynetown. Rev. Keith Ogier and Rev. Myron Hinton will officiate. Burial will be in Masonic Cemetery at Waynetown. Friends may pay their respects at the funeral home after 4 p.m. Tuesday. Mr. Beck, 87, suffered burns over 85 per cent of his body Sunday when a can of fuel oil from which he was trying to revive a fire in a coal-wood stove suddenly flared up. A brother, Charles, 89, with whom the victim made his home about three miles west of Waynetown, sustained burns about the knees when he attempted to extinguish the flames. However, he was not burned seriously. Damage to their home was set at $200. Firemen were called to the scene by Mrs. Paul Beck of Waynetown, daughter-in-law of the fatally burned man, when she and her husband arrived at the scene and discovered what happened. The elderly brothers lived alone but Mrs. Beck and Mrs. Charles Small, John’s daughter, of Waynetown, alternated weeks in going out daily to help them with the household chores. Born John F. Beck on Aug. 16, 1877, he was the son of Daniel and Jennie Haffner Beck. He was educated in Montgomery County and was a lifetime farmer in the county. He had lived 50 years at his present home. He married Rose Ingersoll at Covington on Aug. 8, 1901. She preceded him in death in 1959. He was a member of the Waynetown Christian Church. He was also preceded in death by a daughter, Mary May, in 1913 and two sisters, Mrs. Emma Laymon and Mrs. Ida McClure. Survivors include the son, Paul; the daughter, Mrs. Small; six grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. Other survivors are the brother, Charles; two sisters, Mrs. Dora Ingersoll of Crawfordsville and Mrs. Virgil Wilkinson, Rt. 2, Waynetown, and several nieces and nephews.--waw
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review 1 Feb 1965 p 1
Waynetown – An elderly farmer of Rt. 1, Hillsboro, near Waynetown, died at 8:45 p.m. Sunday in Culver Hospital at Crawfordsville of burns suffered in an early morning flash fire at his home. John Beck, 87, living with his brother, Charles 89 in Fountain County, three miles west of here along US 136, was burned over about 85 % of his body, it was reported at the hospital. The accident occurred shortly after 7 o’clock when a can of fuel oil from which the victim was trying to revive a fire in a coal-wood stove suddenly flared up.
Beck was reported to have been pouring fuel oil into a stove in a room next to their kitchen. When the flames flare dup about him, catching his clothing afire, he threw the can into the kitchen. The two men lived alone in the home and Charles Beck had not yet come downstairs.
In trying to help his brother, Charles was burned about the knees. John suffered burns over most of his body including face, hands and chest. Much of his clothing was burned off.
Through the help of a telephone operator Charles summoned help. Waynetown and Hillsboro firemen went to the scene along with Town Marshal Clyde Bowlus of Waynetown. Bill Mitton, Waynetown fire chief, said linoleums in the kitchen and the room in which the stove was located were burned and a hole burned through the kitchen floor. He estimated damage at about $200.
The badly burned man was conscious but suffering from shock and spoke more of being cold than burned, Mitton said. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Crawfordsville while Charles Beck was treated by a physician at home.
John Beck’s wife died several years ago. Charles was a bachelor. They were usually alone at night in the home, but John’s daughter, Mrs. Charles Small and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Paul Beck, both of Waynetown alternated weeks in going out daily to help them with the household chores. Neither had yet appeared when the Sunday morning fire broke out.
The brothers, using a team of horses, plowed, mowed grass and had performed many farm chores despite their years, taking care of pigs and cattle they owned. John hauled children to school for 25 years, beginning with horse-drawn vehicles and going on with a truck, then a bus before retiring.
The body was removed to the Servies Funeral Home here.
