Newspaper Articles Barber County, Kansas

William Brinkmeier

Dies Tues.

William Brinkmeier, 82, died in his home in Kiowa, Tuesday, following a long illness. Brinkmeier came to Kiowa in 1887 and has made his home in and near Kiowa since that time.
Funeral services will be held at the Hill Funeral Home chapel Thursday morning at 10 o'clock. The Rev. H. A. Keller of Cherokee will officiate and burial will be in the Riverview cemetery under the direction of the Hill Funeral home.
He was born Mar. 28, 1875 at Freeburg, Ill., coming to Kiowa with his parents in 1887. He and his brother Theodore worked as messengers for the Missouri Pacific Railroad for two years. In the fall of 1893 he helped establish the Ewell and Justice Ranch in Oklahoma.
At the opening of the Cherokee strip, his family homesteaded a farm near Burlington.
He was married to Ida E. Ritter on Oct. 10, 1899. Mrs. Brinkmeier and two of their children preceded him in death. One son, Thomas died in 1926, a daughter, Clara, died in 1928, and his wife died in 1955.
Survivors are four daughters, Fae, of the home, Mrs. Pauline Biehler and Mrs. Florence Hutchison of Kiowa and Mrs. Mae Schletzbaum of Hutchinson, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The family moved back to Kiowa in 1944 and have made their home here since that time.
(The Kiowa News - Aug 29, 1957)