Joe Yerger
Joe Yerger Was Victim of Storm in South Sioux
Joe Yerger, 57, of Henry, was found dead late last Wednesday north of Henry, his death attributed to the severe storm which hit Western Nebraska.
Yerger, who was employed by the Sioux County Highway Department, was found outside of his snowplow near the Joe Kerns farm about 2 1/2 miles northeast of Henry.
He was discovered by Kenneth Shaw and Bill McKinney who had gone to look for him after Yerger's wife, Velma, became concerned when he did not return home. State Patrol Sgt. Vic Hansen of Scottsbluff was dispatched to the scene, but was unable to get any further than Henry.
It appeared Yerger had left the cab of the grader to shovel the snow away from the grader wheels after it became stuck in the snow. He had been pulling his pickup behind the grader, but it was unhooked and standing about 20 feet behind the grader. The pickup was out of gas and the battery was dead. Yerger apparently suffered a heart attack while trying to free the grader.
Rescuers believed that Yerger might have unhooked the pickup so that he could "jerk" the grader through the deep snow drift but the grader became bogged down in the deep wet snow.
He was born September 30, 1910, in Bladen, Neb., and moved with his parents to a farm north of Morrill in 1920.
He married Velma Wathen on June 27. 1937, in Fort Morgan, Colo. They have lived north of Henry since that time.
He has been employed by the Sioux County Road Department for over 30 years.
Survivors include his widow; a son, George of Crawford; two daughters, Mrs. Joyce Grant of Scottsbluff and Mrs. Lois Petersen of Santa Rosa, Calif.; his mother, Mrs. Bertie Yerger of Mitchell; a sister, Mrs. Edith Sheed of Denver; and eight grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father.
Funeral services were held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Henry Methodist Church. The Rev. Harvey C. Johnson officiated and
burial was in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Morrill.