A West Bend woman, Elizabeth Schafer, 83, died Tuesday afternoon at Bethesda General Hospital in Ft. Dodge of injuries she received that morning at 11:15 in a two-car accident five miles north of Humboldt.

Mrs. Schafer was a passenger in a 1971 Dodge driven by Leona M. Alderson, 44, of West Bend. A second passenger in the Alderson 1971 Dodge was Beatrice Arbuckle, 49, of Jefferson, Ia.

The Alderson car was headed east on the Bradgate blacktop, failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection with highway 169 and struck broadside a southbound 1971 Ford driven by Harold Wolf, 59, of rural LuVerne.

All of the victims were taken by ambulance to the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital where they received temporary treatment and each was transferred to Bethesda General at Ft. Dodge.

Mrs. Schafer died at 2:45 p.m. and the other two women were listed in serious condition Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Alderson had back injuries and the Jefferson, Ia. woman had neck injuries and a slight concussion.

Mr. Wolf who suffered from multiple fractures of the pelvis and internal injuries, was listed in critical condition.

The accident was investigated by Iowa Highway Trooper Vern Foughty of Humboldt, the Humboldt county sheriff's department and chief of police.

The Alderson car caught fire briefly in the engine area and the Humboldt fire department was also called. A passenger put out the minor blaze.

Both of the cars involved in the accident were demolished.

FUNERAL services for Mrs. Schafer will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Peace Lutheran Church at West Bend with Rev. Cleo Kautsch officiating. Burial will be in the West Bend cemetery, the Schellhammer Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Elizabeth Schafer was born Sept. 1, 1889 at Dysart, Ia., and came to West Bend at the age of eight with her parents, Charles and Margaret Lindemann Schmidt. She received her education in the West Bend schools and was married in March of 1908 to Gottlieb Schafer who died in 1945.

Mrs. Schafer is survived by 11 children: Carl, Louie, Leona (Mrs. Glen Alderson), and Donald, all of West Bend; William, Sacramento, Calif.; Robert, Long Island, N.Y.; Otto, Humboldt; Ernest, Branson, Mo.; Eleanor (Mrs. George Maberry), Crystal Lake, Ia.; Mrs. Wilma Morey, Los Levis [typo: should read Los Olivos], Calif.; and Mrs. Betty Murphy, Buellton, Calif. There are 34 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

Three brothers and a sister also survive: Mrs. John Krug and Charles Schmidt, West Bend; Mike Schmidt, Pocahontas; and Henry Schmidt, Rodman.

Mrs. Schafer was a member of the Peace Lutheran Church, a Gold Star Mother, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and V.F.W. in West Bend.

From: The Algona Upper Des Moines newspaper - 22 Mar 1973