Charles Francis McGinnis

Charles McGinnis, Niobrara Pioneer, Dies in Lusk Sat.

Charles F. McGinnis, 83, a pioneer of Niobrara County, died at his home in Lusk at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, of a heart condition.

Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 13, at 2:00 p.m. in the Peet chapel with Rev. Father M.J. McBrien, pastor of St. Leo's Catholic Church, officiating. George Gibson sang "My Rosary" accompanied by Mrs. Henry Wasserburger, Sr., organist.

Honorary pallbearers were: Sam Thomas, Sr., Henry Wasserburger, Sr., Henry Petz, Jack McFarlane, Dudley Fields, and W.D. Miller. Active pallbearers were: Ray Baughn, John Goddard, Gaylord Anderson, Gordon Sherman, Ed Pfister, and Ray Larson. Interment was in the Lusk cemetery with the Peet Mortuary in charge.

Charles Francis McGinnis was born June 13, 1872, the son of John and Catherine Mullen McGinnis. In 1975 his family left Omaha and came to Cheyenne, moving one year later to a locality 10 miles north of old Ft. Laramie on Cottonwood Creek. John McGinnis died in 1879 and Mrs. McGinnis with the children kept the ranch running. Ten years later she bought a 160-acre tract four miles south of Lusk.

Charles McGinnis stayed with his mother for a few years on the home ranch but about 1900 homesteaded in the Hat Creek area. He married Miss Teresa Petz in 1898 and the couple had three children. After their divorce, Mr. McGinnis married Mrs. Leona Nickerson Nov. 20, 1918. In 1934 the McGinnises moved to their Lusk house and have continued to make their home here.

Mr. McGinnis is survived by his wife, Mrs. Leona McGinnis, two sons, Henry on the Hat Creek ranch and Tom of Gaylord, Mich.; one stepdaughter, Mrs. Virgia Wetherby of Victorville, Cal.; six step-grandchildren: Mrs. E.E. Stewart, Manhattan, Kans.; William M. Hynes, Omaha, Neb.; Mrs. James V. Barbieri, Lakewood, Colo.; Mrs. L. Sperling, Langdon, N.D.; Ruth and George Wetherby of Victorville. He is also survived by one sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Snow of Long Beach, Cal. Two brothers and a daughter died previously.

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