Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

Death Notices and Obituary Index

For Milwaukee and the Surrounding Communities

Sources: The Milwaukee Journal, The Milwaukee Sentinel, other various newspapers
Publish dates: Various

See also Waukesha Obituaries
Milwaukee County Obits (offsite link)
Milwaukee Sentinel,Journal Death Notice Index (offsite link)
Milwaukee Obit Archives June 2001 (offsite link)
Milwaukee Obit Archives before June 2001 (offsite link)
Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel Obituaries (Fee Charged for archived obits)

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SEBASTIAN CABRERA

Source: Milwaukee Journal March 26, 1912
Sent in by a researcher/see contributors page

CABRERA - Monday March 25, 1912 at 1:15 a.m. Sebastian Cabrera, died at the home of his children, Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, 223 7th St. Funeral Wednesday, March 27 at 2 p.m. from the undertaker, Chr. Ritter & Son, 276 5th St. Interment at Pilgrim’s Rest.

CAPT WM. CALLAWAY

Source: Unknown

CAPT. WM. CALLAWAY, VETERAN SAILOR, DIES

Fuel Man and Former Mariner Passes Away at Home in Children's Presence

EFFECTED NOTED RESCUE

Saved Members of Crew of the Bark Naomi Off Manistee Nearly Fifty Years Ago Capt. William Callaway, vice president and treasurer of the Callaway Fuel company, veteran lake mariner and the man who rescued the crew of the bark Naomi when she was wrecked Nov. 5, 1869, off Manistee, died this morning at 9:30 o'clock in his home at 843 Hackett avenue. The funeral will be held Monday afternoon, with a service at 2 o'clock but no other details have been arranged. Mr. Callaway's death was due to old age, he having been due to celebrate his eighty-sixth May 13. He had been sinking gradually for some time, and had been confined to his room for two months. His wife and all his children were at his bedside when he died. They are Mrs. Thomas Spence, Mrs. William Bernstine of Dlilon, Mont.; Mrs. Andrew Boyd of La Crosse, Mrs. Edgar Martin of Wauwatosa, the Misses Olive, Edith and Bessie Callaway and Edward Callaway, president of the Callaway Fuel company.

TELLS STORY OF RESCUE

The following is from Capt. Callaway's own account of the rescue of the crew of the Naomi, which was effected by rowing to the stranded bark and taking off those on board, three trips being necessary.

"The first sight that met our eyes as we approached the wreck was the captain, whose name was Carpenter, and his wife. He was fast to one end of a rope passed over the mizzen boom, and his wife, who was fast to the other end lay dead in his lap. The vessel had her top sail close-reefed and set. Her mainsail also was close-reefed and set, and the main boom was lying on the rail with the end about eight feet from the side. "I got our boat under the end of the boom, as it was not safe to go closer to the vessel in that terrible sea. The men on the wreck came along the rail and to the end of the boom, then dropping into the boat. Three of the men dropped in all right, but when the fourth was in the act of descending we shipped a sea in our boat that threw us from under him and he fell overboard.

"The undertow brought our boat back to its former place, and the man came up alongside. One of our men grabbed hold of him and got him into the boat. As soon as he could speak he invoked heaven and the saints, calling down upon us blessings for saving him.

Capt. Callaway was born at Portishead, near Bristol, England. After having made several voyages from Bristol, some of which took him to the North American continent, he came to Milwaukee in 1856. He married March 1, 1860. With a partner he bought a vessel in 1862. After sailing for many years longer, in the course of which he carried supplies for the relief of the sufferers from the great forest fires in northern Wisconsin that occurred at about the same time as the great Chicago fire in 1871, he retired from the lakes and went the coal business.

TOOK SCHOONER ACROSS OCEAN

Capt. Callaway had the distinction of having commanded the first schooner ever built in Milwaukee, which crossed the Atlantic ocean. The craft was built near Reed street, at about the site of the present Elevator A, and she sailed in 1863. She was known as the Hanover, and Capt. Callaway was of the opinion that she was the second inland-built schooner to ever make such a trip, the first being the Dean Riemond, which sailed in the early fifties. The passage was adventuresome, and twice between Milwaukee and Quebec it was necessary to lighten the cargo to permit the boat to pass through the canals. Upon one occasion the surplus was hauled by rail, and in another instance by barges.

When about to leave Liverpool Capt. Callaway was informed that the Florida, a Confederate gunboat, was lying at Queenstown, and while off Hollyhead, making for the Irish coast, a steamer was sighted by the Hanover. The steamer turned out of her course and came toward the Hanover until within a short distance, and then suddenly turned about and made back. Being in English waters she could not attack the schooner flying the Stars and Stripes, if she were the Florida. The wind changed that night, and if she was laying a trap for the Hanover on the high seas, she was disappointed for the course of the schooner was changed and she went through the Irish Channel. The Florida was not seen again.

MICHAEL CARNEY

Sent in by a researcher/see contributors page

Source: Milwaukee Journal, May 20, 1915

CARNEY: May 18, 1915, Michael Carney, aged 67 years. Funeral From residence, 70 Lincoln Ave., Friday, May 21 at 8 a.m. to Immaculate Conception Church. Interment at Calvary Cemetery.

THOMAS CARROLL

Sent in by a researcher/see contributors page

Source: Milwaukee Journal, May 20, 1915

CARROLL: May 19, 1915, Thomas Carroll, aged 71 years. Funeral from the residence 793 Jackson St., Friday morning at 8:30, to St. John’s Cathedral. Interment at Calvary. Members of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, Branch No. 7, will meet at the residence of Brother Carroll Thursday evening at 8 o’clock.

MARIE (BRINGE) CARUS

Sent in by a researcher/see contributors page

Source: Unknown, likely Milw. Newspaper

CARUS: Marie [15 Sep 1888-11 Feb (1944)] (nee Bringe) residence 3003 N. 29th st., beloved wife of Otto Carus, mother of Paul Carus, U.S. coast guard, Labrador, Canada; sister of August Bringe; also survived by brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law; Friday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 a.m., aged 55 years. Funeral Monday, Feb.14 at 2 p.m., from O. E. Lindow Funeral Home, 4018 W. Lisbon av. Interment Union cemetery. In state after 2 p.m. Sunday.

GEORGETTE LOUISE (Dickey) CHAPELLE

The Milwaukee Journal on Saturday, November 13, 1965
written by David G. Meissner of The Journal Staff

reprinted here without permission. The article is so well written, I did not want to try to duplicate it.

Amid blowing leaves and the fresh cold wind of a November storm - the elements symbolic of her restless energy - Georgette Louise (Dickey) Chapelle was buried here Friday. Flanked in full dress, the ashes of the former Shorewood correspondent-photographer were buried in a family plot at Forest Home Cemetery.

DELIVERS EULOGY

The Rev. John W. Cyrus, pastor of the First Unitarian Church, 1009 E. Ogden av., gave the funeral oration at the church and conducted the graveside service. The body of Mrs. Chapelle, who was killed Nov. 4 by a land mine in Vietnam, was cremated in San Francisco earlier this week. For his eulogy, Mr. Cyrus first gave a series of readings: "Where the mind is without fear ... where knowledge is free ... where words come out from the depths of truth, where the mind is led forward into that heaven of freedom, let my country awake," he said in one representative of her character and strivings. Her life swung between two poles, he said. One pole was her family where there were strong pacifistic tendencies and on whom she deeply depended. "The other pole was some far distant place, where danger was," he said. Her life "was action, doing, working, talking, traveling," Mr. Cyrus said. Of her reporting in Vietnam, he declared: "She was interested in the victims of war, the men who fought it ... She believed in her side ... This was her war."

NEWSMEN AT RITES

Even in death, Mrs. Chapelle could not escape her profession. During the service, both at the church and at the graveside, cameras whirred and clicked and reporters scribbled in notebooks. Delmar Lipp, a senior editor of the National Observer, the paper for which she was on assignment at the time of her death, was there. So was a representative of the National Geographic magazine for which she had worked. SSgt. Albert P. Miville, leader of the marine platoon whose activities Mrs. Chapelle was covering, attended the ceremonies. Maj. Robert Morrisey, special assistant to the marine corps commandant, came from Washington. Sgt. J. M. Folk, of the marine barracks at the Great Lakes (Ill.) naval training station, blew taps at the wind swept gravesite. Members of the marine corps recruiting office in Milwaukee acted as ushers and honor guard during the service. About 75 people attended the service at the church.

MRS. WILLIAM MERRILL CHESTER

Source: Milwaukee Newspaper with the date hand written on it 7-12-1972)

MRS. CHESTER DIES; WAS CIVIC LEADER

Mrs. William Merrill Chester, 79, the organizer of Girl Scouting in Milwaukee and granddaughter of the founder of the T. A. Chapman Co., died Wednesday of leukemia. Mrs. Chester, who had been ill for about two years, died at her home at 3590 N. Lake Dr., Shorewood. She also had a summer home at Oconomowoc Lake. She was internationally known for her work with the Girl Scout organization, activities which spanned half a century.

Her civic involvement included membership on the Lawrence University Board of Trustees, organizer and first president of the Milwaukee Junior League and trustee of the Milwaukee Art Institute. She was a member of the motor corps in France during World War I, driving trucks from base hospitals to field hospitals near the front lines. She also was a former Wisconsin women tennis champion.

Mrs. Chester's husband, William M. Chester, was board chairman of T. A. Chapman. at the time of his death in 1964. He was associated with several industrial and financial firms and was active in civic affairs.

The former Alice Miller, Mrs. Chester was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. George P. Miller. Her father at one time was attorney for Lucius Nieman, longtime publisher of the Milwaukee Journal. Miller owned Journal Company stock which was later sold to Harry J. Grant, Nieman's successor. Mrs. Chester's grandfather, T. A. Chapman, founded the Chapman department store firm. Her aunt was Miss Alice Chapman, who will $1 million to the former Milwaukee-Downer College for construction of the Chapman Library. The building is now called Chapman Hall and is part of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus.

The children of Mr. & Mrs. Chester are Atty. George M. Chester, a partner in the law firm of Foley & Lardner; William M. Chester, jr., vice president of the Heil Co.; John C. Chester, a former diplomat and now a staff consultant for the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Mrs. Verne R. Read, whose husband is board chairman of the Chapman stores.

Mrs. Chester, an avid traveler both for her own enjoyment and in behalf of the Girl Scouts, took her last trip in June, 1970, when she and more than 20 family members went to Mallawi, Egypt, to visit John C. Chester, who had a diplomatic post there.

Soon afterward, Mrs. Chester was stricken with Leukemia and was unable to travel again. In 1915, following her graduation from Bryn Mawr College, Mrs. Chester organized the Junior League here.

Immediately after their marriage, she and her husband left for Franch (sic) where they both served in 1917 and 1918. She was in Paris during the shelling and later became cable secretary for the YMCA.

During the 1920's, Mrs. Chester's activities included offices in the League of Women Voters and the Woman's Club of Wisconsin.

Mrs. Chester was the first commissioner of the Milwaukee Council of Girl Scouts, organized in 1921. Her portrait hands at Camp Alice Chester at Booth Lake near East Troy, which was dedicated to her in 1925.

Her interest in youth work, particularly with Girl Scouts, continued through nearly five decades. She served on the Girl Scouts Great Lakes Regional Committee and held various offices at the national and international level with the Scouts. She headed the Girl Scout mariner program here. She was assistant world treasurer, vice chairman of the Juliette Low World Friendship committee and chairman of the committee which maintains the Girl Scout World Center in Adelboden, Switzerland. Mrs. Chester wore her Girl Scout uniform in 1943 when she christened the wartime cargo ship Cape Bon at Wilmington, Del.

In 1967, though a grandmother and 74 years old, she was chosen by Gov. Warren Knowles to be general chairman of the governor's 10th conference on children and youth. She reacted with her customary enthusiasm for stimulating interest in young people.

As a young matron, Mrs. Chester was noted for ability to lay tennis and for her sailing ability. The Chesters spent summers at Oconomowoc Lake and were active in sailing and fox hunting there. Mrs. Chester served on the Milwaukee-Downer Board of Trustees from 1931 to 1964. She became a member of the Lawrence University board when the two schools consolidated in 1964.

Bryn Mawr gave Mrs. Chester a distinguished service citation in 1960, citing her civic activities. Mount Mary College presented her with its 1967 Pro Urbe medal for outstanding civic service. In September, 1970, Lawrence University granted her an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 914 E. Knapp St. Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery.

The family suggests contributions to the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee County, Lawrence University and the University School of Milwaukee.

HENRY C. CHRISTEL

Source: Fond Du Lac Reporter, May 18, 1972

Henry C. Christel, 88, of 2126 Calumet Drive, New Holstein, a retired Town of Schleswig farmer, died Wednesday at Calumet Memorial Hospital at Chilton. He was a patient there three weeks.

He was born Jan. 8, 1884, in the Town of Eaton, Manitowoc County, a son of the late Richard and Mary Stahl Christel.

On Nov. 29, 1923, he married Adela Rusch of Milwaukee at Waukegan, Ill.

The couple lived in the St. Nazianz area for several years and later located on a farm in the Town of Shleswig. Mrs. Christel died Dec. 5, 1937. He retired in 1956 and moved to New Holstein in 1963.

Survivors include one son and one brother, Edward, of Kiel. He was preceded in death by 11 brothers and sisters.

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Friday from Meiselwitz Funeral Home at Kiel, with the Rev. John F. Baumann, pastor of St. Peter United Church of Christ, Kiel, officiating. Burial will be in Union Cemetery at Milwaukee.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 9 p.m. today and until the hour of services Friday.

EDWARD CONWAY

Source: Manitowoc Daily Herald, Tues., Sept. 3, 1907

EDWARD CONWAY DEAD; AT AGE OF 73

Former Resident of City and Pioneer Grain Dealer of State is no More
Edward Conway, a former well known resident of Manitowoc and a pioneer grain dealer of the state and widely known, died at the family home in Milwaukee Sunday, aged 73, death being due to a complication for a long time. The death of his son, Edward, a year ago, hastened the demise of Mr. Conway who felt his sorrow deeply and has failed rapidly since that time.

Mr. Conway was a native of Ireland, born at Kilkenny and he came to America in 1850 and located at Chicago until 1869 when he removed to Milwaukee. A short time later the family came to Manitowoc and Mr. Conway engaged as a grain buyer and was known throughout the state. Fifteen years ago the family again removed to Milwaukee and had resided there since. Mr. Conway was prominent in Catholic circles of Wisconsin and was a member of Manitowoc branch of Catholic Knights of Wisconsin for twenty-five years and was one of the state organizers of the society. A widow, one daughter, Miss Anna and one son, Lawrence, survive Mr. Conway and many friends in this city will experience sorrow in his demise. He was a man of wide acquaintance in the city and county and was held in high esteem and his memory will be cherished. The funeral was held at Milwaukee today from St. Rose's Catholic church with interment at Calvary. Several from this city attended.

VIOLA IDA CORDS

Mrs. Cords Dies At Rocky Knoll

Death Comes On Sunday Following Lengthy Illness

Rites On Oct. 5 Mrs. Robert M. Cords, aged 25, passed away Sunday evening at 7:45 at Rocky Knoll sanatorium where she had been a patient for about fifteen months. The deceased, nee Viola Ida Wilhelmina Loos, was born October 12, 1906, at Louis Corners, the daughter of Mrs. Otto Stoelting and the late John Loos. In her youth she attended the district school at Louis Corners, and following the death of her father on May 28, 1914, she and her sister Cora moved to Kiel with their mother, where they made their home. The deceased was graduated from the Kiel high school in June, 1921, after which she took a course in millinery work at Milwaukee. She was married June 11, 1927, to Robert Cords, Milwaukee. One child was born to the couple. (Survivors omitted for privacy) The body was taken to the Froeming and Boettcher Funeral Home at Milwaukee at North Avenue and First streets, where brief funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon of this week at 2:30 o'clock. The Rev. Paul Roth of the Epiphany Lutheran church officiated. Mrs. Cords was a member of the Rev. Roth's congregation. - October 2, 1932

GEORGE A. COFFEY

Milwaukee Journal of September 11, 1947.

COFFEY: George A., Sept. 10, 1947, residence, 831 N. 16th St., father of George A., Jr. of Wilmette, Ill; Katherine, of Evansville, Ind.; Mrs. Joseph A. Dunn, Edmund of Dubuque, Iowa, and Mrs. A. J. Maciarello of Holvoke, Mass.: borther of Dr. Charles J., William L. Coffey and Mrs. Frances M. Walsh. Funeral from the Brett Funeral Home, 2001 W. Wisconsin av., Saturday morning at 7:45 o'clock, to Gesu church. Interment at Calvary cemetery. In state Fiday afternoon at 3 o'clock.

 

EDWARD CONWAY

Source: Der Nord Westen (Manitowoc, Wis), 05 Sep. 1907

Edward Conway, a former citizen of our town but a resident of Milwaukee for many years, died there Sunday at age 73. He is survived by a widow, a son and a daughter.

CATHERINE CROSBY

Source: Milwaukee Journal July 30, 1920

TITANIC SURVIVOR TO BE BURIED SATURDAY

Funeral services for Mrs. Catherine E. Crosby, 72, widow of Captain E.G. Crosby, founder of the Crosby Steamship line, who died Thursday at her home, 474 Marshall St., will be held Saturday, 2 PM, at the residence, with entombment at Fairview mausoleum.

The death of Mrs. Crosby recalls the Titanic disaster, Apr. 14, 1912. She was a passenger with Capt. Crosby and their daughter Harriett, when Titanic struck an iceberg and went down off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The mother and daughter were saved, but Capt. Crosby went down with the ship. His body was recovered a few weeks later and brought to Milw. for burial.

Mrs. Crosby was born in Waterloo, N.Y., Oct. 25, 1847, and came to Milwaukee about twenty-five years ago.

She is survived by her daughter, Harriette Crosby, and a son Fred G. Crosby.

EDWARD K. (Bing) CROSBY

Source: Milwaukee Sentinel of October 6, 1973

CROSBY RITES SLATED; WAS PABST FIRE CHIEF

Services for Edward K. (Bing) Crosby, 75, retired fire chief at the Pabst Brewing Co., are set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 10025 W. North Ave.
In the 1920s, Crosby was foreman of the 17 man crew at the old Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Co. that constructed the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane in which Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic in 1927. When the movie, "Spirit of St. Louis" premiered in 1957, Crosby met James Stewart, its star.
Crosby, of 8611 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, died Sunday at the Veterans Administration Hospital.
He is survived by his wife, Gladys, and two daughters, Mrs. Henry Christiansen and Mrs. Patricia Hyland, all of Milwaukee.

The body will be at the Schmidt-Bartelt-Gerber Funeral Home, 10121 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery.

HARRIET CROSBY

Source: Milwaukee Journal 13 Feb. 1841 pg. 13

Mrs. Harriet Crosby

A survivor of the Titanic disaster, Mrs. Harriet Crosby, will be buried in Los Angeles, Calif., Thursday, Where she died Tuesday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Andree Hathaway. She had lived in California since she left Milwaukee a few years ago.

Mrs. Crosby and her mother, the late Mrs. Edward G. Crosby, were rescued after the liner struct an iceberg in the north Atlantic, April. 15, 1912. Her father, Capt. Crosby, founder of the Crosby Steamship line, lost his life in the disaster.

Mrs. Crosby, who spent most of her life in Milwaueke, is also survived by a brother, Fred G. of Milwaukee. She is widely known in musical circles here.

Harriet was married once but divorced. She never married the father of her daughter.

HERBERT CURRIE

Source: a Milwaukee Newspaper - January 22, 1973

HERBERT CURRIE Services will be Wednesday for Herbert Currie, 86, whose wife, the late Mrs. Elfriede Currie, was the daughter of the founder of the Gettleman Brewery.
Currie died Thursday of arteriosclerosis while en route to Columbia Hospital.
Curried, who lived at the Astor Hotel, 924 E. Juneau Ave., was born in 1886 and was graduated from Wauwatosa High School in 1905. He spent two years at Ripon College, where he was on the football team. He was graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1910 with a degree in horticulture.

After his graduation, Currie joined the Currie Brothers Seed Co., a family firm. After two years in World War I, he formed his own seed company in Milwaukee and was its president until it went out of business in the 1930's.

Currie was a member of the Tripoli Temple, Scottish Rite Bodies, Wauwatosa Lodge No. 267 and the Shriners. He belonged to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and was a member of the Cudworth Post of the American Legion for 37 years.

Currie traveled extensively in Europe. He made an annual trip there in order to collect seeds for his company. He also was a curling enthusiast.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Feerick Funeral Home, 2025 E. Capitol Dr., Shorewood, where the body will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery