William F. Ahearn, 64, (photo) pioneer Two Rivers baseball player, died Tuesday
evening at his home in that city, where he had spent his entire life.
Mr. Ahearn was a noted turner in his youth and was a member of the centennial
baseball team on which the late Senator Thomas J. Walsh and J.E. Hamilton played.
He served for several years on the Two Rivers city council and on the Manitowoc
county board of supervisors.
Mr. Ahearn had been seriously ill since Christmas, after having been in failing
health for three years.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Luke's Catholic church in
Two Rivers. Mr. Ahearn's two sons, the Rev. Joseph Ahearn of Menasha and the Rev.
Roland Ahearn of Marinette, and the St. Luke's pastor, the Very Rev. Dean C.V.
Hugo, will officiate at the solemn requiem high mass. Short services at the Jansky
Funeral Home will precede the mass. The body will lie in state at the Jansky
Funeral Home from this evening until the hour of the funeral. The rosary will be
recited Thursday at 8 p.m.
In addition to his service on the Two Rivers city council and the county board, Mr.
Ahearn was assistant chief of the old volunteer fire department, and held the
stations of police justice, undersheriff and game warden.
He was born in Two Rivers on August 16, 1857, less than two blocks from the home
in which he died yesterday. He maintained his residence on the same street, 19th
street, all his life. He was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Ahearn who
settled in Two Rivers as Irish immigrants.
When Mr. Ahearn was a boy he started working for the Mann Bros. company woodworking
firm, and worked for the firm 42 years. He had several patents issued to him,
including one on a net-lifting apparatus. Principle of the apparatus is still in use.
For 26 years before his retirement in 1937 he worked at the Hamilton Mfg. Co.
On May 17, 1881, he married Mary Rehrauer, and last spring the couple celebrated
their diamond wedding anniversary.
Surviving Mr. Ahearn are his widow, who is seriously ill: one daughter, Miss Martha;
five sons, the Rev. Joseph Ahearn of Menasha, the Rev. Roland Ahearn of Marinette,
William, Raymond and Clement Ahearn of Two Rivers; one sister, Mrs. Marcus Cronin of
Chicago; seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Death of Mr. Ahearn leaves only one survivor of the old Centennial team, the pitcher,
Fred J. Schnorr, who is nearing his 86th birthday.
Manitowoc Herald Times, Wednesday, April 15, 1942 P.2.