The son of German immigrants Otto Henry Mehmken and Johanna Loise "Marie" Heinze, "Gus" lived on the family farm in Bethalto, Madison County, Illinois. His widowed paternal grandfather, Martin Heinrich "Henry" Mehmken, also lived with the family at the turn of the century.
Gus served in the United States Army during World War I. He was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Brigade of the 33rd Division "The Prairie Division." [For additional information regarding the soldiers of Company L, click here or search for their website.] Gus was a private first class when he received his discharge from the service.
In 1935, tragedy struck the family 2 days before what would have been his parents' 43rd wedding anniversary. As his mother was preparing to light the kitchen range so that she could prepare breakfast, she suffered a heart attack. Gus' father caught her as she collapsed, but she died before a doctor could be summoned.
Gus lived in the Wood River-Bethalto area for most of his life. He worked for the Bethalto Water Company for a time and then was employed by the Shell Oil Company in Roxana, Illinois for 15 years. He never married.
Gus was an oil dump salvage operator and caretaker for the Goodwin Contract Company. For the final 2 1/2 years of his life, he lived in a tar-papered structure at Shell's oil dump. Refinery wastes and refuse from the town of Roxana were burned there. The dump was owned by the refinery, but leased to the Goodwin Company who was in charge of maintaining it.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of 12 Nov 1956, Gus was asleep in his locked, tar-papered residence. A Goodwin Company employee and another man were drinking coffee some distance away when they noticed that Gus' shack was on fire.
The onlooker wrapped a blanket around himself in order to protect his body from the flames and attempted to break down the door of Gus' shack in order to rescue him. The blanket caught fire and the man was forced to retreat.
Gus' home and another similar structure were destroyed by the fire after the nearby dump began burning more extensively than usual. While the site was routinely on fire around the clock, police said that the flames had spread over a wider area than normal that morning.
Roxana and Shell firefighters were called. After battling the blaze for 90 minutes, they were able to recover Gus' body from between his bed and a coal stove. He was the only person who was injured in the fire.
Gus was survived by 1 sister, Minnie Keller of East Alton, Illinois; and 3 brothers, Fred Mehmken of Edwardsville, Illinois, Edward Mehmken of Cottage Hills, Illinois, and Herman Mehmken of Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to his mother and father, Gus was preceded in death by 1 brother; and 1 sister.
Visitation was held at the Smith Funeral Home in Wood River on the evening of 13 Nov 1956. Funeral services were conducted there at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
Children: None.
Gus' siblings:
Dora Mehmken Klein
Minna "Minnie" Mehmken Keller
Frederick G. "Fred" Mehmken
Edward J. Mehmken
Herman Otto Mehmken
(Unknown male) Mehmken
Gus served in the United States Army during World War I. He was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Brigade of the 33rd Division "The Prairie Division." [For additional information regarding the soldiers of Company L, click here or search for their website.] Gus was a private first class when he received his discharge from the service.
In 1935, tragedy struck the family 2 days before what would have been his parents' 43rd wedding anniversary. As his mother was preparing to light the kitchen range so that she could prepare breakfast, she suffered a heart attack. Gus' father caught her as she collapsed, but she died before a doctor could be summoned.
Gus lived in the Wood River-Bethalto area for most of his life. He worked for the Bethalto Water Company for a time and then was employed by the Shell Oil Company in Roxana, Illinois for 15 years. He never married.
Gus was an oil dump salvage operator and caretaker for the Goodwin Contract Company. For the final 2 1/2 years of his life, he lived in a tar-papered structure at Shell's oil dump. Refinery wastes and refuse from the town of Roxana were burned there. The dump was owned by the refinery, but leased to the Goodwin Company who was in charge of maintaining it.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of 12 Nov 1956, Gus was asleep in his locked, tar-papered residence. A Goodwin Company employee and another man were drinking coffee some distance away when they noticed that Gus' shack was on fire.
The onlooker wrapped a blanket around himself in order to protect his body from the flames and attempted to break down the door of Gus' shack in order to rescue him. The blanket caught fire and the man was forced to retreat.
Gus' home and another similar structure were destroyed by the fire after the nearby dump began burning more extensively than usual. While the site was routinely on fire around the clock, police said that the flames had spread over a wider area than normal that morning.
Roxana and Shell firefighters were called. After battling the blaze for 90 minutes, they were able to recover Gus' body from between his bed and a coal stove. He was the only person who was injured in the fire.
Gus was survived by 1 sister, Minnie Keller of East Alton, Illinois; and 3 brothers, Fred Mehmken of Edwardsville, Illinois, Edward Mehmken of Cottage Hills, Illinois, and Herman Mehmken of Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to his mother and father, Gus was preceded in death by 1 brother; and 1 sister.
Visitation was held at the Smith Funeral Home in Wood River on the evening of 13 Nov 1956. Funeral services were conducted there at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
Children: None.
Gus' siblings:
Dora Mehmken Klein
Minna "Minnie" Mehmken Keller
Frederick G. "Fred" Mehmken
Edward J. Mehmken
Herman Otto Mehmken
(Unknown male) Mehmken
The son of German immigrants Otto Henry Mehmken and Johanna Loise "Marie" Heinze, "Gus" lived on the family farm in Bethalto, Madison County, Illinois. His widowed paternal grandfather, Martin Heinrich "Henry" Mehmken, also lived with the family at the turn of the century.
Gus served in the United States Army during World War I. He was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Brigade of the 33rd Division "The Prairie Division." [For additional information regarding the soldiers of Company L, click here or search for their website.] Gus was a private first class when he received his discharge from the service.
In 1935, tragedy struck the family 2 days before what would have been his parents' 43rd wedding anniversary. As his mother was preparing to light the kitchen range so that she could prepare breakfast, she suffered a heart attack. Gus' father caught her as she collapsed, but she died before a doctor could be summoned.
Gus lived in the Wood River-Bethalto area for most of his life. He worked for the Bethalto Water Company for a time and then was employed by the Shell Oil Company in Roxana, Illinois for 15 years. He never married.
Gus was an oil dump salvage operator and caretaker for the Goodwin Contract Company. For the final 2 1/2 years of his life, he lived in a tar-papered structure at Shell's oil dump. Refinery wastes and refuse from the town of Roxana were burned there. The dump was owned by the refinery, but leased to the Goodwin Company who was in charge of maintaining it.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of 12 Nov 1956, Gus was asleep in his locked, tar-papered residence. A Goodwin Company employee and another man were drinking coffee some distance away when they noticed that Gus' shack was on fire.
The onlooker wrapped a blanket around himself in order to protect his body from the flames and attempted to break down the door of Gus' shack in order to rescue him. The blanket caught fire and the man was forced to retreat.
Gus' home and another similar structure were destroyed by the fire after the nearby dump began burning more extensively than usual. While the site was routinely on fire around the clock, police said that the flames had spread over a wider area than normal that morning.
Roxana and Shell firefighters were called. After battling the blaze for 90 minutes, they were able to recover Gus' body from between his bed and a coal stove. He was the only person who was injured in the fire.
Gus was survived by 1 sister, Minnie Keller of East Alton, Illinois; and 3 brothers, Fred Mehmken of Edwardsville, Illinois, Edward Mehmken of Cottage Hills, Illinois, and Herman Mehmken of Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to his mother and father, Gus was preceded in death by 1 brother; and 1 sister.
Visitation was held at the Smith Funeral Home in Wood River on the evening of 13 Nov 1956. Funeral services were conducted there at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
Children: None.
Gus' siblings:
Dora Mehmken Klein
Minna "Minnie" Mehmken Keller
Frederick G. "Fred" Mehmken
Edward J. Mehmken
Herman Otto Mehmken
(Unknown male) Mehmken
Gus served in the United States Army during World War I. He was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Brigade of the 33rd Division "The Prairie Division." [For additional information regarding the soldiers of Company L, click here or search for their website.] Gus was a private first class when he received his discharge from the service.
In 1935, tragedy struck the family 2 days before what would have been his parents' 43rd wedding anniversary. As his mother was preparing to light the kitchen range so that she could prepare breakfast, she suffered a heart attack. Gus' father caught her as she collapsed, but she died before a doctor could be summoned.
Gus lived in the Wood River-Bethalto area for most of his life. He worked for the Bethalto Water Company for a time and then was employed by the Shell Oil Company in Roxana, Illinois for 15 years. He never married.
Gus was an oil dump salvage operator and caretaker for the Goodwin Contract Company. For the final 2 1/2 years of his life, he lived in a tar-papered structure at Shell's oil dump. Refinery wastes and refuse from the town of Roxana were burned there. The dump was owned by the refinery, but leased to the Goodwin Company who was in charge of maintaining it.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of 12 Nov 1956, Gus was asleep in his locked, tar-papered residence. A Goodwin Company employee and another man were drinking coffee some distance away when they noticed that Gus' shack was on fire.
The onlooker wrapped a blanket around himself in order to protect his body from the flames and attempted to break down the door of Gus' shack in order to rescue him. The blanket caught fire and the man was forced to retreat.
Gus' home and another similar structure were destroyed by the fire after the nearby dump began burning more extensively than usual. While the site was routinely on fire around the clock, police said that the flames had spread over a wider area than normal that morning.
Roxana and Shell firefighters were called. After battling the blaze for 90 minutes, they were able to recover Gus' body from between his bed and a coal stove. He was the only person who was injured in the fire.
Gus was survived by 1 sister, Minnie Keller of East Alton, Illinois; and 3 brothers, Fred Mehmken of Edwardsville, Illinois, Edward Mehmken of Cottage Hills, Illinois, and Herman Mehmken of Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to his mother and father, Gus was preceded in death by 1 brother; and 1 sister.
Visitation was held at the Smith Funeral Home in Wood River on the evening of 13 Nov 1956. Funeral services were conducted there at 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
Children: None.
Gus' siblings:
Dora Mehmken Klein
Minna "Minnie" Mehmken Keller
Frederick G. "Fred" Mehmken
Edward J. Mehmken
Herman Otto Mehmken
(Unknown male) Mehmken
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