Lenore (Hille) Prehn was a special representative for the Southwestern Division of the Red Cross. She had been on the road in Oklahoma visiting some of the 45 charters under her supervision, and on December 21st, 1919 was heading home to be with her family for Christmas. The train she was traveling on (the Frisco Passenger #10) broke an axel and derailed 3 miles east of St. James, Missouri. Lenore was one of two people killed in the accident (the other being J.O. Hopper of West Virginia). Besides her husband, Wiliam Phillip Prehn, she left two young children. She was buried in Kirkwood at Forever Oak Hill Cemetery (Missouri) on Christmas Eve. You can read about the accident here.
She was so close to making it home...yet so far away.
Posts
1 comment:
My grandmother, Carrie Lucille Hille Prehn, was Lenore's younger sister and married the brother of Lenore's husband. The children/grandchildren of Lucille grew up hearing this tragic story from our grandmother, the incident made more horrific because Lucille said Lenore was beheaded in the accident -- and that fact was not discussed by the family. True or not? Our grandmother was impacted for life by the horrible death of her beloved older sister.
Post a Comment