Harry Koehler Attends Washington University
In 1946, Harry Koehler gets out of the army and enrolls into Washington University in St. Louis on the GI Bill. His goal is to become a doctor. His parents, Charlie and Leona, are living in Chester with Harry’s younger siblings, Janice and Warren. Going to school in St. Louis, Harry lives with his grandmother, Laura Richards, in East St. Louis. He commutes to school each day by bus. (K75)
One Bad Decision Leads to Death (1947)
Twenty-year-old Harry travels to Chester to spend his spring break with his family. On April 10, 1947, the town’s bad boy, Leonard Faverty, asks Harry if he will come with him to get his boat and to run his fishing line in the Mississippi River. There has been a lot of rain …show more content…
Harry Koehler’s wake is held with a closed casket. The American flag is draped over the casket and a picture of Harry in his military uniform is displayed. The funeral services are conducted from the Welge Funeral Home at 2:00 p.m. The burial takes place on Janice’s birthday, May 10.
Janice wants to call her Grandmother Richards in East St. Louis to tell her about Harry. The phone company, on strike at the time, refuses to put the call through. Finally, the operator agrees to connect Janice, but says that she will listen in on the conversation and will cut her off the minute she talks about anything other than Harry’s death.
People drive by the house stopping and staring. Later, with the phone strike over, people call the Koehler house and say dreadful things to whoever answers the phone. For example, a person who blames Leona for Harry’s death, says “Why did you allow him to go out on the river on a day like that?” Before the body is found, another caller says that he saw a body floating in the river and gave the location. Charlie runs out to check the area only to find disappointment. It gets so bad the Charlie’s family quit answering the
In 1946, Harry Koehler gets out of the army and enrolls into Washington University in St. Louis on the GI Bill. His goal is to become a doctor. His parents, Charlie and Leona, are living in Chester with Harry’s younger siblings, Janice and Warren. Going to school in St. Louis, Harry lives with his grandmother, Laura Richards, in East St. Louis. He commutes to school each day by bus. (K75)
One Bad Decision Leads to Death (1947)
Twenty-year-old Harry travels to Chester to spend his spring break with his family. On April 10, 1947, the town’s bad boy, Leonard Faverty, asks Harry if he will come with him to get his boat and to run his fishing line in the Mississippi River. There has been a lot of rain …show more content…
Harry Koehler’s wake is held with a closed casket. The American flag is draped over the casket and a picture of Harry in his military uniform is displayed. The funeral services are conducted from the Welge Funeral Home at 2:00 p.m. The burial takes place on Janice’s birthday, May 10.
Janice wants to call her Grandmother Richards in East St. Louis to tell her about Harry. The phone company, on strike at the time, refuses to put the call through. Finally, the operator agrees to connect Janice, but says that she will listen in on the conversation and will cut her off the minute she talks about anything other than Harry’s death.
People drive by the house stopping and staring. Later, with the phone strike over, people call the Koehler house and say dreadful things to whoever answers the phone. For example, a person who blames Leona for Harry’s death, says “Why did you allow him to go out on the river on a day like that?” Before the body is found, another caller says that he saw a body floating in the river and gave the location. Charlie runs out to check the area only to find disappointment. It gets so bad the Charlie’s family quit answering the