JACOB J. STANGEL

JACOB STANGEL, HEAD OF STANGEL CO. IS KILLED IN FALL
WALKS INTO OPEN ELEVATOR SHAFT AT NOON AND FALLS FIFTEEN FEET TO HIS DEATH
Rushed To Hospital But Never Regaians Consciousness-City Shocked By The News
Jacob J. Stangel, one of the city's leading business men, died at
the Holy Family hospital shortly before 2 o'clock this afternoon
as a result of injuries received in a fall down the elevator shaft
at his store at noon, and the entire city is shocked by the news.
The accident which cost the life of Mr. Stangel was not witnessed
by anyone and his unconscious form, bruised and bleeding, was found
in the basement pit of the elevator by one of the men. He was rushed
to the hospital, where he was immediately placed upon the operating
table but died without regaining consciousness.
Gate Had Failed to Work
A few minutes before Mr. Stangel was found lying on the basement floor
he had been about on the first floor of the store. It is presumed he
walked into the open elevator shaft from the iron room which is at the
rear of the salesroom. The elevator had been stopped at the second
floor and it is thought that one of the gates, the one guarding the
entrance from the iron room, failed to operate. The light in the rear
room is poor and it is believed that Mr. Stangel walked into the open
shaft when he failed to note that the elevator was not in place.
The distance of the fall is about fifteen feet, but Mr. Stangel was a
big man, weighing close to 275 pounds, and his plunge to the cement
floor of the basement caused injungements and a more detailed account
of Mr. Stangel's life and activities will be given tomorrow.
Manitowoc Herald News, Tuesday, April 18, 1922 P.1
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Jacob Stangel-An Appreciation
Modest, unassuming, big hearted Jacob Stangel, has passed to his reward.
The places that have known his cheery smile, his kindly ministrations,
will be void and a community will miss him as it misses few men.
It is a difficult task to pay tribute to a man of Jacob Stangel's type.
He falls into a class of men of which history is replete, of those who,
in their lifetime, form an even balance of the virtures and who require
their absence to furnish the perspective that brings into relief their
moral and intellectual stature.
Phraseology fails us in paying tribute to this man. Ordinary adjectives
seem stilted. We knew him as a big business man, as a lover of home, of
family, of his neighbor.
In his daily business life his gift for detail was nothing short of
phenomenal. He made decisions instantly with almost unerring judgment.
He assumed responsibility from all directions. In a field of larger
opportunity his qualities might have carried him to any limit. He had
courage, initiative and a positive genius for sustained effort. The
big business which he built in a few years stands as a memorial to the
place which he occupied in the business world.
We have not yet been able to realize that he has gone. How many of us
there are who, in our daily life, come within just one step of eternity.
We pause before we take it. And this is what brings to us in Jacob
Stangel's untimely death a realization of the uncertainty of earthly
existence. The communtiy stands shocked at the horror of the tragedy.
It cannot yet sense the striking down of a grand fellow in his prime.
He was gentle and unaffected, frank, sincere, dependable. His life,
simply the natural flow of Christian integrity, led one to think of
Pasteur's Breton peasant, so peaceful it seemed.
Jacob Stangel left no duty, domestic, religious or civic, undone; no call
from charity was left unanswered; no trust repose in him violated; not
pretense of things he was not; no bigotry; not hatred; no deceit.
Here was surely a full, successful life, incomplete only in its duration-
sadly incomplete there. The city has lost on of its biggest men-how big
not all really know. His going "leaves a lonesome place against the sky."
Manitowoc Herald News, Wednesday, April 19, 1922 P.2
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ENTIRE CITY MOURNS DEATH OF J.J. STANGEL
Was city Booster Of Extraordinary Type-Funeral Friday
The city today had not yet recovered from the shock caused by the news of
the death of Jacob J. Stangel as a result of an accident yesterday noon.
Mr. Stangel lived less than an hour after the accident occurred at the
store and died at the hospital without regaining consciousness. His skull
had been fractured by the fall.
First reports were that Mr. Stangel had walked into the open elevator shaft
when one of the safety gates failed to operate but this version of the
accident has been corrected. Mr. Stangel had returned from his noonday meal
at home and had been talking to a traveling salesman to whom he had given
an order for goods. The order had been signed when Mr. Stangel appeared
suddenly to think of something else which he might want. He asked the
salesman to wait for a moment and started for the rear of the store.
WAS IT A PREMONITION?
That some calamity impended, that some tragedy seemed to permeate the
atmosphere, was felt by members of the store family all during the
forenoon. Several of the clerks and the office force were so depressed
by the mysterious something that they went about their work absent-
mindedly. When the accident occurred they felt it was premonition.
A private office is being built over the store office and the work was
almost completed, the work of laying the linoleum floor having been
planned for yesterday. Mr. Stangel stopped to talk to Sam Nimmer about
this work and while he was talking to the man, lifted the guard gate to
the elevator shaft. Without looking to see whether the elevator was in
place he stepped into the opening and plunged to his death on the concrete
floor in the basement
Paralyzes The Force
The suddennnes of the whole thing paralyzed the whole force of men for
a few moments and then assistance was rushed to the stricken man, the
ambulance summoned and he was hurried to the hospital but he was beyond
human aid and died at 1:45.
Jacob J. Stangel was born at Tisch
(continued onpage 8)
ENTIRE CITY MOURNS DEATH OF J.J. STANGEL
(Continued From Page 1.)
Mills July 22, 1869 and would have been fifty-three years old on his next
birthday anniversary. He received his early education in the rural schools
of the county and later went to the University of Wisconsin where he
completed a short course in agriculture, specializing in dairying and
cheesemaking. He returned to Tisch Mills and for a time was employed by
his brother as cheesemaker. For a year he acted as instructor in work in
various factories in this and Kewaunee county and for another year he
served as a buyer. June 15, 1896 he was married to Mary Krcma and shortly
after the wedding the couple moved to Thorpe, Wis., where Mr. Stangel was
manager of the store and other interest of the Nye, Lusk & Hudson company
for more than four years. He resigned the position to come to this city
where he accepted a position with the Rand & Roemer Hardware company,
acting in several capacities, including that of traveling salesman. In
1891 he was made the manager.
Member of North Side Firm
Later with Messrs. Worel and Zeman the company was taken over under the
name of Worel, Zeman, Stangel company. Zeman retired and for a number of
years the company was known as the Worel, Stangel co. In 1917 Mr. Stangel
withdrew from the company to engage in the wholesale and retail hardware
business for himself and erected the large new store at the corner of
Eighth and Quay streets. Mr. Stangel has held the controlling interest in
the big company and it was through his untiring effort, his great capacity
for detail and his business intuitiveness that the company has grown to be
one of the largest business houses in this section of the state, employing
a traveling sales force and enjoying a enviable reputation for square
dealing and promptness.
Mr. Stangel was a member of the local council Knights of Columbus and was
also a fourth degree man, he was a member of the Catholic Knights of
Wisconsin, Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, Catholic Foresters, Elks, Rotary
and United Commercial Travelers. In addition he was a member of the board
of directors of the National bank, a member fo the Manitowoc Boy Scout
Council, President of the Manitowoc Association of Commerce and a member
of the executive committee of the national Wholesale and Retail Hardware
Men's Association.
Active In Civic Affairs
He was active in all the interests with which he was identified and was a
home town booster every hour of the twenty-four of the day. Aggressive,
his judgment was keen and unerring but he was nevertheless kindly and big
hearted, a fact which more than one family in this city can bear testimony
to. He was a great booster for the Holy Family hospital and in his quiet
way has probably done more for that institution than any other individual
in the city.
Mr. Stangel is survived by his widow, two sons, Arthur and Harvey and one
daughter, Viola. Miss Stangel, who attends the University of Wisconsin,
had been home for the Easter vacation and had expected to return to Madison
yesterday afternoon. She had left her father just a few minutes before the
accident happened and had gone to the North Western depot with her cousin,
Milton Stangel, who was also returning to his studies at Madison. The
latter got on the train without becoming aware of his uncle's injury but
was reached later by telegram aboard the train and returned to the city
last night.
Besides the widow and children six brothers, Prof. Charles G., of this city,
John of Forth Worth, Texas; Frank of Oklahoma City, Joseph, Wenzel and
George, of Tisch Mills and one sister, Mrs. Mary Riha, Town of Carlton,
also survive.
Funeral On Friday
The funeral will be held at 9 o'clock Friday morning with solemn high mass,
service at Sacred Heart church. The Knights of Columbus will be in charge
and burial will be at Evergreen.
Manitowoc Herald Times, Wednesday, April 19, 1922 P.1
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LAST SAD RITES FOR JACOB STANGEL ARE PERFORMED AT SACRED HEART CHURCH TODAY
Under a wealth of flowers that breathed a fragrance of last fond remembrance,
all that was earthly of the late Jacob J. Stangel was today lowered to its
last resting place at Evergreen.
Never in the history of Manitowoc has such an outpouring of citizens attended
a funeral. Never was there occasioned such widespread sorrow. That the
deceased was respected by all was attested by the hundreds and hundreds that
visited the grief stricken (photo) home in the last three days where the form
of this best beloved citizen reposed in state.
The church auditorium today was inadequate to seat the assmeblage. Automobile
parties from a radius of forty miles attended, and practically all the
residents of the village of Tisch Mills, where the family is well known,
came to pay a last tribute.
Solemn Requiem Mass
Solemn requiem mass was sung at Scared Heart Catholic church at 10 o'clock,
Rev. W.J. Luby, pastor of the church, officiating as celebrant; Rev. Vandrachek
of Francis Creek as deacon, Rev. Scheidhauer as subdeacon, Rev. Shimek of Tisch
Mills as master of ceremonies and Rev. Decker of Reedsville as thurifer, and
Rev. T.J. O'Leary, of Green Bay, Rev. Belle of Mishicot and Rev. Malkowski in
the sanctuary.
"In the Midst of Life We Are in Death" and We Know Not the Hour," was the text
of a beautiful short eulogy paid to the departed by Father Luby, who called to
mind the personal attributes of the deceased as a basis of his popularity and
who drew a lesson from his Christian fortitude to drive home the necessity for
being prepared at any time to meet one's Maker.
K.C. in Charge
The Rotary club, Knights of Columbus, Elks and other organizations both civic
and religious, with which the deceased was affiliated attended in bodies.
Honorary pall bearers were: Rotarians Frank Hoffman, Arch P. Rankin and S.D.
Eckel; Elks, F.C. Schultz, John Kellner and Charles Bouril. The active pall
bearers from the Knights of Columbus were: John Koutnik, John Healy, Aubrey
Egan, Joseph Kestly, George LaBreche, Edward L. Kelley.
Manitowoc Herald News, Friday, April 21, 1922 P.1
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[J.J. Stangel/bur 04-21-1922/cause: fractured skull]