Surnames: VERKUILEN

----Source: OWEN ENTERPRISE (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 09/21/1922

Verkuilen, Mayme (1894? - 16 Sep 1922)

Miss Mayme Verkuilen, aged 28 years, oldest daughter of Assemblyman John Verkuilen, living two miles south of Thorp, Clark County, Wis., was instantly killed at 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon, about a half mile from her home in a collision between her auto and another. Her two sisters riding with her were slightly injured.

As Miss Verkuilen was returning from Thorp and driving west toward home, another car driving south, and driven by Mrs. Koplin, a neighbor, collided with the Verkuilen car, hitting it directly in front of the right rear wheel and causing the Verkuilen car to turn completely over.

Miss Verkuilen was crushed to death. She was found with one leg hanging out of the car and the other foot on the brake. The emergency brake was on and the transmission in neutral. It is said that if she had kept on going and had not set the brake, the accident would have been prevented. The victim suffered a broken neck, jaw bone, leg and wrist and a fractured skull. Two of her sisters, Elsie, 16, and Leona, 12, were in the back seat and when the car turned over were thrown out. Elsie received a large cut on her head, back of her ear, requiring seven stitches and was badly shaken up. Leona received a big gash in her leg requiring eleven stitches, and also many bruises. Mrs. Koplin came out of the accident unhurt.

The Verkuilen car has a smashed top, windshield, broken steering wheel and crushed right back fender, and the Koplin car a badly smashed radiator, lamps and bent frame.

The cars came together with such a crash that it could be heard for a great distance. Mr. Verkuilen heard it while he was helping fill silo at a neighbors.

Miss Verkuilen is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Verkuilen, and seven brothers and sisters. One brother…(some of the article was unreadable)… driving, crashed through a bride at Neillsville, crushing him to death.

Miss Mayme Verkuilen was one of the most prominent women in Clark County, where she had taught ten years in different schools. She was at the present time the fifth and sixth grade teacher in the Thorp public school.

The funeral was held from St. Hedwig's Church at Thorp, at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning. Father Neises officiated and interment was in the Catholic Cemetery a half mile north of Thorp.

Members of the forester Ladies Auxiliary, of which Miss Verkuilen was a member, and the children of the Thorp schools, attended as a body.

Miss Verkuilen was well and favorably known in this city, where she visited often, and it was with great sorrow that her many friends learned of her sudden and untimely death.