Arizona Death Certificate
Mrs. Mela Bodiroga, 72, of Wickenburg, died when a car driven by her son plunged off US 89 on Yarnell Hill and rolled 700' feet. The accident occurred about 3 miles south of the town of Yarnell. The driver, Wesley Bodiroga, 42, was hospitalized in Wickenburg.
Tucson Daily Citizen 3-18-1963
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I am not mistaken the car was a Corvair and there was a recall that year, something to do with the steering. Uncle Wes has never driven since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
March 15, 1963
CAR PLUNGES OFF YARNELL HILL
Highway Accident Is Fatal
The tragic death of Mrs. Mela Bodiroga in an automobile accident Sunday evening brought a sadness to this community where she had lived since 1913, coming here as a bride almost directly from her native Trebejna, Yugo-Slavia.
Her funeral was held at 11 o'clock Thursday morning in the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. James Wilson conducting the services and she was buried beside her husband, the late Sam Bodiroga in the family plot in Wickenburg Cemetery.
Death came to Mrs Bodiroga when the automobile in which she was riding with her son Wesley left the highway on Yarnell Hill and plunged into a deep canyon. Mr Bodiroga was admitted to Community Hospital suffering from several fractured ribs, bruises and lacerations and shock.
The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. , according to Highway Patrol Sgt. W. O. Dollar who dispatched Patrolman Fred Lizzaraga to the scene and then went there himself. Dollar said it appeared that Mr Bodiroga, heading down Yarnell Hill in a sleet storm and on slick paving, went broadside off the road just north of what is known as Elephant Head curve.
Bodiroga was thrown from the car soon after it left the highway, said Dollar, while Mrs. Bodiroga was thrown out and killed instantly further down the hill. The car, a complete loss, came to a stop about 600 feet from the highway.
The body of Mrs. Bodiroga was brought to the Wickenburg Chapel. An unidentified motorist who had stopped at the scene took Mr. Bodiroga to the Arrowhead Station from where he was brought to Community Hospital.
Mrs. Bodiroga was born October 15, 1890, and came directly to Arizona upon arriving in the United States in 1913. She and Mr. Bodiroga were married in Phoenix there being no one in Wickenburg in those days to perform marriages. Mr. Bodiroga was mining at the Black Rock Mine near Constellation, some 10 miles out Constellation Road was the scene of much mining activity.
The family moved into Wickenburg just before 1920, into the home on Center Street where Mrs Bodiroga and her son Wesley were living at the time of her death. Her husband passed away in 1937.
In addition to Wesley, Mrs. Bodiroga is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Stella Dixon of Wickenburg and four other sons, Obren and George of Wickenburg; Louis of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Peter of Miami, Arizona. Twelve grandchildren survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from Ron Bodiroga's article in the Arizona Republic dated 10/22/83 after his visit to Yugoslavia.
In 1906 our Grandfather Simo left his village in Yugoslavia and came to Wickenburg. He worked in the mines in the area. He died in an automobile accident in 1937. Mila arrived in Wickenburg in 1913 and died in 1964, also in an automobile accident.
Mila maintained contact with her family in Yugoslavia. I, Cheryll,can remember writing letters for Grandma to her relatives..but I wrote in English, not in her native language Serbo-Croation. There must have been someone to interpret the letters in the old country...I don't know.
After her death the connection to the old country was broken.
In August 1981 Ron Bodiroga received a call from Milan Bodiroga who lived in Winnipeg Canada. He informed us that he was our cousin and from a town called "Bodiroge" in Yugoslavia.
This is when Ron decided to make a trip to Yugoslavia to search out our relatives. He discovered that most of our relatives were living in Trebinje, Yugoslavia, a city of about 30,000 residents, but that the nucleus of our family, about 20 individuals still lived 12 miles away in the primitive mountaintop village of Bodiroge.
Everybody in that village was named Bodiroga. They lived in stone houses with thatched roofs. There was no electricity, no generators, no running water and no plumbing.
They shared with Ron that the departure of Simo Bodiroga in 1906 was "the event of the century for that village". Ron said relatives spoke of Simo's leaving as though it were fresh in their minds, and even thought they knew when Simo and Mila died they still had questions: Had they led a happy life? Had they been healthy? Did they have enough to eat? They had always hoped that Simo and Mila would come back to visit or that they would get to visit them in America. They could not know of the hardships in territorial Arizona or the travail of trying to raise a family of six children in Wickenburg during the Great Depression. The Bodiroga's dream of striking it rich in America and bringing over other relatives never materialized.
Ron also visited Mila's house which was in a village a half-mile around the other side of the mountain from where Simo lived. She left there at the age of 24 to go to the village of Bodiroge. Then she stayed at our great-grand-father's house for 15 days where they made her wedding dress. Then they packed her things and she and our great-grandfather walked 12 miles down the mountain to Trebinje, where he put her on the train to Dubrovnik. She went 15 miles on the train and took a 17-day boat trip to New York with $10 in her pocket. She didn't know a word of English. She stayed in New York by herself and then took a train to Phoenix, went by horseback from Phoenix to Wickenburg and married Simo at a place called Constellation.
And "there"......it began!
Mrs. Mela Bodiroga, 72, of Wickenburg, died when a car driven by her son plunged off US 89 on Yarnell Hill and rolled 700' feet. The accident occurred about 3 miles south of the town of Yarnell. The driver, Wesley Bodiroga, 42, was hospitalized in Wickenburg.
Tucson Daily Citizen 3-18-1963
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I am not mistaken the car was a Corvair and there was a recall that year, something to do with the steering. Uncle Wes has never driven since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
March 15, 1963
CAR PLUNGES OFF YARNELL HILL
Highway Accident Is Fatal
The tragic death of Mrs. Mela Bodiroga in an automobile accident Sunday evening brought a sadness to this community where she had lived since 1913, coming here as a bride almost directly from her native Trebejna, Yugo-Slavia.
Her funeral was held at 11 o'clock Thursday morning in the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. James Wilson conducting the services and she was buried beside her husband, the late Sam Bodiroga in the family plot in Wickenburg Cemetery.
Death came to Mrs Bodiroga when the automobile in which she was riding with her son Wesley left the highway on Yarnell Hill and plunged into a deep canyon. Mr Bodiroga was admitted to Community Hospital suffering from several fractured ribs, bruises and lacerations and shock.
The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. , according to Highway Patrol Sgt. W. O. Dollar who dispatched Patrolman Fred Lizzaraga to the scene and then went there himself. Dollar said it appeared that Mr Bodiroga, heading down Yarnell Hill in a sleet storm and on slick paving, went broadside off the road just north of what is known as Elephant Head curve.
Bodiroga was thrown from the car soon after it left the highway, said Dollar, while Mrs. Bodiroga was thrown out and killed instantly further down the hill. The car, a complete loss, came to a stop about 600 feet from the highway.
The body of Mrs. Bodiroga was brought to the Wickenburg Chapel. An unidentified motorist who had stopped at the scene took Mr. Bodiroga to the Arrowhead Station from where he was brought to Community Hospital.
Mrs. Bodiroga was born October 15, 1890, and came directly to Arizona upon arriving in the United States in 1913. She and Mr. Bodiroga were married in Phoenix there being no one in Wickenburg in those days to perform marriages. Mr. Bodiroga was mining at the Black Rock Mine near Constellation, some 10 miles out Constellation Road was the scene of much mining activity.
The family moved into Wickenburg just before 1920, into the home on Center Street where Mrs Bodiroga and her son Wesley were living at the time of her death. Her husband passed away in 1937.
In addition to Wesley, Mrs. Bodiroga is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Stella Dixon of Wickenburg and four other sons, Obren and George of Wickenburg; Louis of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Peter of Miami, Arizona. Twelve grandchildren survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from Ron Bodiroga's article in the Arizona Republic dated 10/22/83 after his visit to Yugoslavia.
In 1906 our Grandfather Simo left his village in Yugoslavia and came to Wickenburg. He worked in the mines in the area. He died in an automobile accident in 1937. Mila arrived in Wickenburg in 1913 and died in 1964, also in an automobile accident.
Mila maintained contact with her family in Yugoslavia. I, Cheryll,can remember writing letters for Grandma to her relatives..but I wrote in English, not in her native language Serbo-Croation. There must have been someone to interpret the letters in the old country...I don't know.
After her death the connection to the old country was broken.
In August 1981 Ron Bodiroga received a call from Milan Bodiroga who lived in Winnipeg Canada. He informed us that he was our cousin and from a town called "Bodiroge" in Yugoslavia.
This is when Ron decided to make a trip to Yugoslavia to search out our relatives. He discovered that most of our relatives were living in Trebinje, Yugoslavia, a city of about 30,000 residents, but that the nucleus of our family, about 20 individuals still lived 12 miles away in the primitive mountaintop village of Bodiroge.
Everybody in that village was named Bodiroga. They lived in stone houses with thatched roofs. There was no electricity, no generators, no running water and no plumbing.
They shared with Ron that the departure of Simo Bodiroga in 1906 was "the event of the century for that village". Ron said relatives spoke of Simo's leaving as though it were fresh in their minds, and even thought they knew when Simo and Mila died they still had questions: Had they led a happy life? Had they been healthy? Did they have enough to eat? They had always hoped that Simo and Mila would come back to visit or that they would get to visit them in America. They could not know of the hardships in territorial Arizona or the travail of trying to raise a family of six children in Wickenburg during the Great Depression. The Bodiroga's dream of striking it rich in America and bringing over other relatives never materialized.
Ron also visited Mila's house which was in a village a half-mile around the other side of the mountain from where Simo lived. She left there at the age of 24 to go to the village of Bodiroge. Then she stayed at our great-grand-father's house for 15 days where they made her wedding dress. Then they packed her things and she and our great-grandfather walked 12 miles down the mountain to Trebinje, where he put her on the train to Dubrovnik. She went 15 miles on the train and took a 17-day boat trip to New York with $10 in her pocket. She didn't know a word of English. She stayed in New York by herself and then took a train to Phoenix, went by horseback from Phoenix to Wickenburg and married Simo at a place called Constellation.
And "there"......it began!
Arizona Death Certificate
Mrs. Mela Bodiroga, 72, of Wickenburg, died when a car driven by her son plunged off US 89 on Yarnell Hill and rolled 700' feet. The accident occurred about 3 miles south of the town of Yarnell. The driver, Wesley Bodiroga, 42, was hospitalized in Wickenburg.
Tucson Daily Citizen 3-18-1963
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I am not mistaken the car was a Corvair and there was a recall that year, something to do with the steering. Uncle Wes has never driven since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
March 15, 1963
CAR PLUNGES OFF YARNELL HILL
Highway Accident Is Fatal
The tragic death of Mrs. Mela Bodiroga in an automobile accident Sunday evening brought a sadness to this community where she had lived since 1913, coming here as a bride almost directly from her native Trebejna, Yugo-Slavia.
Her funeral was held at 11 o'clock Thursday morning in the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. James Wilson conducting the services and she was buried beside her husband, the late Sam Bodiroga in the family plot in Wickenburg Cemetery.
Death came to Mrs Bodiroga when the automobile in which she was riding with her son Wesley left the highway on Yarnell Hill and plunged into a deep canyon. Mr Bodiroga was admitted to Community Hospital suffering from several fractured ribs, bruises and lacerations and shock.
The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. , according to Highway Patrol Sgt. W. O. Dollar who dispatched Patrolman Fred Lizzaraga to the scene and then went there himself. Dollar said it appeared that Mr Bodiroga, heading down Yarnell Hill in a sleet storm and on slick paving, went broadside off the road just north of what is known as Elephant Head curve.
Bodiroga was thrown from the car soon after it left the highway, said Dollar, while Mrs. Bodiroga was thrown out and killed instantly further down the hill. The car, a complete loss, came to a stop about 600 feet from the highway.
The body of Mrs. Bodiroga was brought to the Wickenburg Chapel. An unidentified motorist who had stopped at the scene took Mr. Bodiroga to the Arrowhead Station from where he was brought to Community Hospital.
Mrs. Bodiroga was born October 15, 1890, and came directly to Arizona upon arriving in the United States in 1913. She and Mr. Bodiroga were married in Phoenix there being no one in Wickenburg in those days to perform marriages. Mr. Bodiroga was mining at the Black Rock Mine near Constellation, some 10 miles out Constellation Road was the scene of much mining activity.
The family moved into Wickenburg just before 1920, into the home on Center Street where Mrs Bodiroga and her son Wesley were living at the time of her death. Her husband passed away in 1937.
In addition to Wesley, Mrs. Bodiroga is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Stella Dixon of Wickenburg and four other sons, Obren and George of Wickenburg; Louis of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Peter of Miami, Arizona. Twelve grandchildren survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from Ron Bodiroga's article in the Arizona Republic dated 10/22/83 after his visit to Yugoslavia.
In 1906 our Grandfather Simo left his village in Yugoslavia and came to Wickenburg. He worked in the mines in the area. He died in an automobile accident in 1937. Mila arrived in Wickenburg in 1913 and died in 1964, also in an automobile accident.
Mila maintained contact with her family in Yugoslavia. I, Cheryll,can remember writing letters for Grandma to her relatives..but I wrote in English, not in her native language Serbo-Croation. There must have been someone to interpret the letters in the old country...I don't know.
After her death the connection to the old country was broken.
In August 1981 Ron Bodiroga received a call from Milan Bodiroga who lived in Winnipeg Canada. He informed us that he was our cousin and from a town called "Bodiroge" in Yugoslavia.
This is when Ron decided to make a trip to Yugoslavia to search out our relatives. He discovered that most of our relatives were living in Trebinje, Yugoslavia, a city of about 30,000 residents, but that the nucleus of our family, about 20 individuals still lived 12 miles away in the primitive mountaintop village of Bodiroge.
Everybody in that village was named Bodiroga. They lived in stone houses with thatched roofs. There was no electricity, no generators, no running water and no plumbing.
They shared with Ron that the departure of Simo Bodiroga in 1906 was "the event of the century for that village". Ron said relatives spoke of Simo's leaving as though it were fresh in their minds, and even thought they knew when Simo and Mila died they still had questions: Had they led a happy life? Had they been healthy? Did they have enough to eat? They had always hoped that Simo and Mila would come back to visit or that they would get to visit them in America. They could not know of the hardships in territorial Arizona or the travail of trying to raise a family of six children in Wickenburg during the Great Depression. The Bodiroga's dream of striking it rich in America and bringing over other relatives never materialized.
Ron also visited Mila's house which was in a village a half-mile around the other side of the mountain from where Simo lived. She left there at the age of 24 to go to the village of Bodiroge. Then she stayed at our great-grand-father's house for 15 days where they made her wedding dress. Then they packed her things and she and our great-grandfather walked 12 miles down the mountain to Trebinje, where he put her on the train to Dubrovnik. She went 15 miles on the train and took a 17-day boat trip to New York with $10 in her pocket. She didn't know a word of English. She stayed in New York by herself and then took a train to Phoenix, went by horseback from Phoenix to Wickenburg and married Simo at a place called Constellation.
And "there"......it began!
Mrs. Mela Bodiroga, 72, of Wickenburg, died when a car driven by her son plunged off US 89 on Yarnell Hill and rolled 700' feet. The accident occurred about 3 miles south of the town of Yarnell. The driver, Wesley Bodiroga, 42, was hospitalized in Wickenburg.
Tucson Daily Citizen 3-18-1963
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I am not mistaken the car was a Corvair and there was a recall that year, something to do with the steering. Uncle Wes has never driven since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
March 15, 1963
CAR PLUNGES OFF YARNELL HILL
Highway Accident Is Fatal
The tragic death of Mrs. Mela Bodiroga in an automobile accident Sunday evening brought a sadness to this community where she had lived since 1913, coming here as a bride almost directly from her native Trebejna, Yugo-Slavia.
Her funeral was held at 11 o'clock Thursday morning in the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. James Wilson conducting the services and she was buried beside her husband, the late Sam Bodiroga in the family plot in Wickenburg Cemetery.
Death came to Mrs Bodiroga when the automobile in which she was riding with her son Wesley left the highway on Yarnell Hill and plunged into a deep canyon. Mr Bodiroga was admitted to Community Hospital suffering from several fractured ribs, bruises and lacerations and shock.
The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. , according to Highway Patrol Sgt. W. O. Dollar who dispatched Patrolman Fred Lizzaraga to the scene and then went there himself. Dollar said it appeared that Mr Bodiroga, heading down Yarnell Hill in a sleet storm and on slick paving, went broadside off the road just north of what is known as Elephant Head curve.
Bodiroga was thrown from the car soon after it left the highway, said Dollar, while Mrs. Bodiroga was thrown out and killed instantly further down the hill. The car, a complete loss, came to a stop about 600 feet from the highway.
The body of Mrs. Bodiroga was brought to the Wickenburg Chapel. An unidentified motorist who had stopped at the scene took Mr. Bodiroga to the Arrowhead Station from where he was brought to Community Hospital.
Mrs. Bodiroga was born October 15, 1890, and came directly to Arizona upon arriving in the United States in 1913. She and Mr. Bodiroga were married in Phoenix there being no one in Wickenburg in those days to perform marriages. Mr. Bodiroga was mining at the Black Rock Mine near Constellation, some 10 miles out Constellation Road was the scene of much mining activity.
The family moved into Wickenburg just before 1920, into the home on Center Street where Mrs Bodiroga and her son Wesley were living at the time of her death. Her husband passed away in 1937.
In addition to Wesley, Mrs. Bodiroga is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Stella Dixon of Wickenburg and four other sons, Obren and George of Wickenburg; Louis of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Peter of Miami, Arizona. Twelve grandchildren survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from Ron Bodiroga's article in the Arizona Republic dated 10/22/83 after his visit to Yugoslavia.
In 1906 our Grandfather Simo left his village in Yugoslavia and came to Wickenburg. He worked in the mines in the area. He died in an automobile accident in 1937. Mila arrived in Wickenburg in 1913 and died in 1964, also in an automobile accident.
Mila maintained contact with her family in Yugoslavia. I, Cheryll,can remember writing letters for Grandma to her relatives..but I wrote in English, not in her native language Serbo-Croation. There must have been someone to interpret the letters in the old country...I don't know.
After her death the connection to the old country was broken.
In August 1981 Ron Bodiroga received a call from Milan Bodiroga who lived in Winnipeg Canada. He informed us that he was our cousin and from a town called "Bodiroge" in Yugoslavia.
This is when Ron decided to make a trip to Yugoslavia to search out our relatives. He discovered that most of our relatives were living in Trebinje, Yugoslavia, a city of about 30,000 residents, but that the nucleus of our family, about 20 individuals still lived 12 miles away in the primitive mountaintop village of Bodiroge.
Everybody in that village was named Bodiroga. They lived in stone houses with thatched roofs. There was no electricity, no generators, no running water and no plumbing.
They shared with Ron that the departure of Simo Bodiroga in 1906 was "the event of the century for that village". Ron said relatives spoke of Simo's leaving as though it were fresh in their minds, and even thought they knew when Simo and Mila died they still had questions: Had they led a happy life? Had they been healthy? Did they have enough to eat? They had always hoped that Simo and Mila would come back to visit or that they would get to visit them in America. They could not know of the hardships in territorial Arizona or the travail of trying to raise a family of six children in Wickenburg during the Great Depression. The Bodiroga's dream of striking it rich in America and bringing over other relatives never materialized.
Ron also visited Mila's house which was in a village a half-mile around the other side of the mountain from where Simo lived. She left there at the age of 24 to go to the village of Bodiroge. Then she stayed at our great-grand-father's house for 15 days where they made her wedding dress. Then they packed her things and she and our great-grandfather walked 12 miles down the mountain to Trebinje, where he put her on the train to Dubrovnik. She went 15 miles on the train and took a 17-day boat trip to New York with $10 in her pocket. She didn't know a word of English. She stayed in New York by herself and then took a train to Phoenix, went by horseback from Phoenix to Wickenburg and married Simo at a place called Constellation.
And "there"......it began!
Gravesite Details
Married Simo in Phoenix on November 8, 1913
Family Members
See more Bodiroga or Mijanovich memorials in:
- Wickenburg Cemetery Bodiroga or Mijanovich
- Wickenburg Bodiroga or Mijanovich
- Maricopa County Bodiroga or Mijanovich
- Arizona Bodiroga or Mijanovich
- USA Bodiroga or Mijanovich
- Find a Grave Bodiroga or Mijanovich
