Obit: Buehrens, John (1871 - 1953)

Contact: Linda Mertens
Email: mertens@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Source - Anna Johnson's Scrapbook

John Buehrens (3 May 1871 - 24 Mar 1953)

The Rev. Harold Welch, pastor, officiated at funeral services for John Buehrens, 81, in Salem Evangelical United Brethen church Friday, March 27, at 2 p.m. following brief rites at the Fuchsgruber funeral parlors where the deceased laid in state. Warren Leslie sang “When the Roll is Called up Yonder” and “Rock of Ages” at the rites, accompanied by Shirley Sprengler who played the organ for the services.

Pallbearers were M. H. Parsons, Fred Reynolds, John Staab, Joseph Konecny, Jr., John Riemer, and Louis Wigstadt, and burial was in Dorchester Memorial cemetery. Dorchester’s business places were closed during the time of funeral series as a final tribute to a respected businessman and friend.

Mr. Buehrens died in St. Joseph’s hospital, Marshfield, at 10:30 p.m. March 24, where he had been a patient less than a week with complications following a diabetic attack, which disease he had suffered for several years.

John Buehrens was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 3, 1871, and came to the United States at the age of 14 years, settling at Milwaukee. He remained there until 1908, working in an enameling plant. He and Mary Jane Sasman were married at Black Creek May 26, 1896, and were the parents of five children, all of whom survive. Mrs. Buehrens died at their home here Jan. 23, 1950.

Upon moving to Dorchester in 1908, Mr. Buehrens established a tinning and sheet metal business, with which he was intimately connected until its dissolution a few years ago. In 1936 he took his son Herbert into partnership in the business, and in 1944, he retired from active participation in its affairs. During the years, the business was built from a one-man work-room into a factory which supplied dairy plant equipment and did custom metal work for a wide area in this and other sections of the state.

Four sons and a daughter survive their father. They are Alvin C. Buehrens, Milwaukee; Mrs. C. J. (Esther) Hanna, Menlo Park, Calif; John Buehrens Jr., Clintonville; and Herbert F. Buehrens, Winfield, Kan. They were all here for the funeral. Also surviving are 14 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, as well as a nephew and three nieces.