Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Warnke, William L. October 18, 1950
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Nan Wheaton wheaton1624@yahoo.com January 11, 2021, 12:38 pm

Sentinel-Std. - Thursday, Oct. 19, 1950

14 Year Old Boy Killed In Accident

Union Street hill, long a dread of both motorist and cyclist claimed the 
county's 11th traffic fatality Wednesday afternoon shortly after 4 o'clock 
when William Laurence Warnke, 14, and Robert Burpee, 13, coming down the 
hill on a bicycle swerved to avoid hitting a car in front of them and ran 
head-on into an elm tree on the courthouse lawn.

The boys were taken by ambulance to the Ionia County Memorial hospital where 
Warnke died about 4:30, never regaining consciousness after the accident.

The Burpee boy was reported much improved by his attending physician 
Thursday noon who said x-rays taken thus far failed to reveal any fracture. 
He said further X-rays will be taken to examine the possibility of any 
possible concussion. 

                      Eye-Witness Reports
Eye-witness reports of the accident told the sheriff's office the chain on 
the bicycle-the boys were riding came loose just before the accident.

Warnke was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Warnke and resided with his 
aunts, Misses Elizabeth and Selma Warnke, at 623 North Jackson street. He 
was a student in the 9 grade and came to Ionia in 1948. His father is a 
patient at the Howell tuberculous sanitorium.

Burpee, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Orlo Burpee, 316 Bliss street. His father 
is speech instructor at the Ionia High school. 

Funeral services for Warnke will be held at the St. John's Lutheran church, 
where he was a member. Saturday afternoon at 2:30. The Rev. R.A. Rook will 
officiate.

The body will remain at the Stone-Kauffman funeral home, 151 East Washington 
street, until noon Saturday when it will be taken to the St. John's church.

He is survived by his parents, a brother, Gary 13, and a sister, Jannette, 
12.

Additional Comments:
Age: 14
Funeral: Saturday, 21, October 1950
Balcom cemetery

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