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Wesley L. Johnson

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Wesley L. Johnson

Birth
Death
1936 (aged 6–7)
Burial
Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin, USA Add to Map
Plot
Section 9C
Memorial ID
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Wesley drowned in the Wisconsin River while playing with friends. He slipped off of a rock and his companion, Rolf Utegaard, threw him the end of a rope, but "the toss was short." His friend Russell Hultquist ran along the bank and tried to make another attempt to save him, but when Wesley was finally able to grab the rope he was unable to hold on. The current was rapid and searchers speculated that he was "carried" downstream. Members of Charles Hagerstrom post, American Legion, reported to duty and the newspaper reports that "more than 100 Legionnaries, about 100 Consolidated employes, fireman, police, and sheriff's officers, and National Guardsmen assembled at Lyons park" to search for the seven-year-old boy. The newspaper article I found indicates that "experienced river men" . . . "expressed the belief" that Wesley's body would not be recovered until the river returned to "normal" levels. At the time of his drowning, the river was deemed "close to flood stage."

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Monday, May 11, 1936
pgs. 1, 10
Wesley drowned in the Wisconsin River while playing with friends. He slipped off of a rock and his companion, Rolf Utegaard, threw him the end of a rope, but "the toss was short." His friend Russell Hultquist ran along the bank and tried to make another attempt to save him, but when Wesley was finally able to grab the rope he was unable to hold on. The current was rapid and searchers speculated that he was "carried" downstream. Members of Charles Hagerstrom post, American Legion, reported to duty and the newspaper reports that "more than 100 Legionnaries, about 100 Consolidated employes, fireman, police, and sheriff's officers, and National Guardsmen assembled at Lyons park" to search for the seven-year-old boy. The newspaper article I found indicates that "experienced river men" . . . "expressed the belief" that Wesley's body would not be recovered until the river returned to "normal" levels. At the time of his drowning, the river was deemed "close to flood stage."

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Monday, May 11, 1936
pgs. 1, 10

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  • Created by: Barb
  • Added: Mar 31, 2012
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87760369/wesley_l-johnson: accessed ), memorial page for Wesley L. Johnson (1929–1936), Find a Grave Memorial ID 87760369, citing Calvary Cemetery, Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin, USA; Maintained by Barb (contributor 46903283).