REMEMBER WHEN?
50 Years Ago from the files of The Fayette County Record
April 4-7, 1972
A former Fayette County woman was wounded in what one Austin policeman described as a tragic shooting. Police investigators said a retired military man fired at a longhaired figure trying to enter his house in the middle of the night. Preliminary investigation showed that Mrs. Peggy Cherry, who lived only a few houses away, apparently had been sleepwalking when she tried to enter his residence. The shooter and his wife had only recently moved into their home and had not yet met their neighbors. Mrs. Cherry was in intensive care with gunshot wounds to her abdomen and wrist. No charges were filed in connection with the incident.
Reflecting on a busy month, Sheriff T.J. Flournoy said, “We got a break on the tractor thieves and captured two of them and recovered four tractors, two stolen trucks and a trailer. We know who two more of the thieves are and will get them caught before long. They are all four ex-convicts with long records. If we can just get them in the pen now, we will be lucky.”
D.A. Juren, who became postmaster of Ellinger on Oct. 27, 1941, retired with more than 30 years of service. The Ellinger Post Office was advanced to third-class status from 1945 to 1949, and again in 1956-57, and Mrs. Juren, who was his assistant, was appointed clerk. William F. Jurajda was appointed a clerk in 1968 when the office was again delegated to third-class. In 1945, the post office moved to its present location, a building owned by Mr. and Mrs. Juren. In 1966, the Jurens received President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Natural Beauty Program Citation of Merit” with a rating of superior for their maintenance of the grounds and exterior of the postal unit.
Building permits issued in the City of La Grange totaled $73,883 for the first quarter of 1972. The figures compared with $52,855 in construction permits doled out in the corresponding period a year earlier. A list of permits over $300 included: Otto F. Tiedt, remodeling; Mobil Oil Corp., N. Jefferson, sign; Melvin Menking, W. Travis, commercial remodeling; E.H. Baumbach, Hwy. 77 N, reroofing; The Bull, Inc., E. Travis, sign; Dr. C.E. Ebel, W. Travis, office remodeling; La Grange Motor Co., E. Travis, remodeling; H.W. Zapp, E. Liveoak, remodeling; Leslie Kovar, N. Jackson, remodeling; John J. Naiser, E. Pearl, commercial building; and Humble Oil & Refining, W. Travis, underground tanks.
Voters in the Fayetteville Rural High School election selected: Joe D. Sladek, Gerald Wait and Raymond Domel.
A contribution box was set up by Fayetteville Bank for those wishing to give to the Debbie Kolek Fund. Debbie, the 13-yearold daughter of Highway Patrolman and Mrs. A.F. Hall of La Grange, was receiving twiceweekly treatments with a kidney machine in Austin. Those treatments, costing $500 a week, would have to continue until Debbie could undergo a kidney transplant operation.
City of La Grange voters returned all four aldermen to office for two-year terms: Frank McElroy Jr., Leroy Riehs, K.A. (Moe) Moellenberndt and A.F. Spacek. Arthur J. Friemel was elected to a second term on the La Grange school board. Dr. Jack C. Schweke ran unopposed.
Funeral services were held for: Julius E. Schulz, 59, of La Grange; Paul Herman Buchhorn, 87, of Cedar; Albert Albers, 76, of Waldeck; Quintus Zwernemann, 68, of Carmine; Emil Louis Saha, 52, a former Ellinger businessman; Mrs. Elvina Beiersdoerfer, 83, of Freyburg; Ben A. Wied, 60, of Fayetteville; David Paul Gaunder, 36, of La Grange; Mrs. Margaret Scott, formerly of West Point; and Mrs. Marion Kovar Moore, 46, who was buried in La Grange.
Former Houston banker William T. Jones, who had moved to Fayetteville, was appointed to the board of The Fayetteville Bank.
Sandra Fay Kovar of Houston, great-granddaughter of Mrs. Anna Kovar of Plum, won the Ben Milam Elementary School spelling bee in Houston.
World premieres of four new one-act plays were being presented at Schulenburg High School by the dramatics club under the supervision of I.E. Clark. Tickets for the plays, all comedies, could be purchased in advance for $1 for adults and 50¢ for students from Mrs. Leslie Lippmann at the Ike Lippmann and Son Store in Schulenburg.
Kathleen Moerbe of La Grange, and Susan Teinert of Warda, were the high scorers in the senior division of the 4-H food show district competition.
Mrs. Frank Kana Sr., who had been a patient in Fayette Memorial Hospital, was transferred to Methodist Hospital in Houston where she underwent further surgery.
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