REMEMBER WHEN?
Dec. 5-8, 1972
Two burglary suspects being held in jail at Bastrop in connection with break-ins at Smithville and White’s Auto Store in La Grange escaped Friday morning. As of the weekend, they were still free. Bastrop County Sheriff Jimmy Nutt said it appeared the 17 and 20-year-olds had picked the padlock on their cell door and somehow obtained a key to get out of the building between 2 and 3 a.m. They climbed to the roof of the two-story jail and descended via a drainpipe. The suspects were reported to have taken the boots and coat of another prisoner as they escaped. Jailor Harold Gutzler discovered the prisoners were missing when another prisoner informed him of the jailbreak. Most of the loot the pair had taken in the Nov. 4th heist in La Grange had been recovered from an Austin apartment. Fayette County Sheriff T.J. Flournoy did not contribute a comment to the news story about the jailbreak.
The pilot of a small plane was killed in the crash of his aircraft on a farm about three miles east of Flatonia. Branch Tanner Masterson, 63, of San Antonio, was the lone occupant of the Cessna 150 airplane that a Gonzales motorist reported seeing go down between old U.S. Hwy 90 and I-10. He called the long distance operator who, in turn, telephoned the sheriff’s office in La Grange to report the accident. Sheriff T.J. Flournoy and several deputies went to the scene immediately. They said the plane appeared to have been headed to San Antonio. When it crashed, the Cessna gouged out a deep hole and plowed a furrow about 25 yards long before it literally disintegrated. Two High Hill men, Lawrence and Clarence Friedrich, also eye witnessed the tragedy.
At their December meeting, county commissioners authorized advertising for bids for ambulance service in Fayette County for not less than one year or more than two. Fayette County Judge David M. Murray had discussed the ambulance matter with other counties, including Mathis, Texas and its Civil Defense Director. Bill Grigsby explained that Civil Defense paid half of the Mathis CD director’s salary and half of the wage for the secretary who administered the program. Volunteer workers in Mathis, who operated the ambulances, were paid on the basis of work they actually performed.
Funeral services were held for: Mrs. Elise Wessels, 83, of Prairie Valley; Louis H. Null, 84, of Muldoon; Mrs. Theresa Slovak, 88, formerly of Industry; Emanuel Barta, 81, of Swiss Alp; John C. Svrcek, 53, a native of Fayette County; Mrs. Norma Morrow, 74, of La Grange; and Mrs. Esther Tschatschula, 73, of Warda.
The White House Committee on Aging and the American Red Cross recognized three Fayette County Project Find volunteers with special certificates of appreciation. Receiving the recognition were Chairperson Mrs. Helen Oestreich and her assistants, Mrs. Ray Kusey and Mrs. Fritz Michalke. The ladies had worked diligently to contact 307 residents in Fayette County that were either interested in or eligible to receive federal food assistance. Also acknowledged for their contributions to the project were the Fayette County Commodity Distribution Center and the Texas State Department of Public Welfare.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Synatschk observed their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 27 with a reception at their home in Anton, Texas. Herman Synatschk and Louise Hobratschk were married at Warda on Nov. 12, 1922, where they lived for eight years before moving to Anton. In addition to their two daughters living in La Grange, Mrs. Mildred Pietsch and Mrs. Elmo Pietsch, the couple had five other children: Leon Synatschk, McAllen; Mrs. Don McBride, Phoenix, Arizona; Calvin Synatschk; and Harry Synatschk and Barbara Synatschk of Anton.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Pietsch celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on Sat., Dec. 2 in the VFW Hall in La Grange.They had three children: Herman, Edward and Gus. The couple was married at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda on Nov. 22, 1922, by the Rev. Paul C. Eifert.
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