Fritz Kopke, who died in an Omaha hospital last Saturday of cancer of the stomach, was buried in the Fort Calhoun, Nebraska cemetery March 6, 1917 near the graves of his second and third wives. He was born in Keil, Germany, Feb. 27, 1845, and came to Fort Calhoun about 1892. He was married to Mrs. Jacobson about 1894 when they bought lots in the city covered with brush and vines, built them a neat little cottage and made one of the show places of the city with its beautiful flowers, orchard and garden where we often called on them.

About 1903, in seeking for employment, he got work in the Omaha water works in Florence, and where he built two more cottages, the last one, of course, better than the other. His wife died here about four years ago. We often visited them and they often came back to see us in Fort Calhoun

Although married three times, he had no children of his own but had two sets of step-grandchildren he was as proud of, as if they were his own and when a daughter of his second wife died, leaving several children, his wife and he took the youngest girl and sent her to Lincoln hospital to recover from partial blindness and raised and educated her as their own. She now has a family of her own in Florence.

They were a grand couple. Every year while she lived, they would come together and plant flowers on the grave of his wife buried here, and one year when Fritz could not come, she went to market and got the flowers and covered the grave with beautiful geraniums.

Last October his health failed and he was take to the home of Fritz Kruse of Douglas County, Mrs. Kruse being a daughter of Kopke’s second wife, where he was to be at home as long as he lived and where the funeral was held, Rev. G. A. Grahn of Ponca Creek Lutheran Church officiating. He leaves on half brother, Henry Kopke here in Calhoun. About other relative, we do not know. There were twenty automobiles that came from Douglas County. Warm hearted, industrious and cheerful, it would be hard to find another man in so humble position, who had so many warm friends. W. H. Woods

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~