OBIT: John ZAKSEK, 1931, Acosta, Somerset County, PA

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Meyersdale Library.
Transcribed and proofread by: Richard Boyer.

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JOHN ZAKSEK

Killed Himself With Dynamite
John Zaksek Attached Explosive to His Belt and Set it Off with Electricity

  John Zaksek, of Acosta, aged 45, killed himself Monday afternoon by exploding 
two sticks of dynamite attached to his body.  Zaksek invited his two sons to 
witness his act.  The older boy, John, is said to have gone to summon help to 
prevent his father's rash act, but the younger son was present when his father 
killed himself.
  Zaksek had made careful preparations for his act of self-destruction.  He had 
purchased a battery and fuse and after carefully adjusting the apparatus, set 
off the dynamite attached to his body with a belt.  The explosion disemboweled 
him.
  Ill health and lack of employment were attributed as the reasons for the awful 
deed.  He had been employed only one day a week for some time and is said to 
have told members of his family on a number of occasions of his plan to commit 
suicide.
  Several weeks ago Zaksek is said to have threatened the life of his son, John, 
with whom he had been working in the mines at Bell.  When the father and son 
failed to adjust their differences the son gave up his position in the mine and 
left the parental home, becoming a boarder at a nearby home.
  Shortly after noon, Monday, Mrs. Zaksek left home to attend a funeral in 
Jerome.
  Zaksek is said to have summoned his two sons to the house and to have told 
them of his contemplated suicide.  He gave the younger boy, Max, his watch and 
accordion and then procured the dynamite and battery and went into the rear yard 
of the home, where he deliberately dynamited himself.
  The explosion that resulted attracted the attention of neighbors for more than 
three blocks away.
  Zaksek is survived by his wife and the following children: Max and Julia, at 
home; John, residing in Acosta; Mrs. Louise Gentile, of Bell; Mrs. Jennie Ross, 
of Royal, Pa., and Miss Justine Zaksek, of Jennerstown.
  The body was prepared for burial by Undertaker Jay O. Hay, of Boswell.
  Funeral services were conducted Thursday morning at 9 o'clock in St. John's 
Catholic Church, at Ralphton.  Interment in the church cemetery.
  An inquest was held at the Hay mortuary Monday night, a jury returning a 
verdict of suicide.

Meyersdale Republican, April 23, 1931