Person:Charles Van Kleeck (1)

Report of Death from Middletown Paper, December 13, 1947

VanKleeck Death Cause Uncertain

Milk Firm Employe Falls from Truck on E. Main St. An autopsy was ordered by Coroner Charles R. March today to determine the cause of the death of Charles VanKleeck, forty-four, of ninety-three Lake avenue, who fell from his milk truck on East Main street and was declared dead on arrival at Horton Hospital. Mr. VanKleeck, a Mapes Creamery employe and the father of eight children, the youngest eight months old, fell to the street as he left his truck in front of 252 East Main street at 7:45 a.m. A passerby notified police and the man was removed in an ambulance to Horton Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The autopsy, which was to be performed this afternoon, was ordered by Coroner March to ascertain whether Mr. VanKleeck's death had been caused by a heart attack or by injuries received when he fell from the truck. A son of Lewis and Nettie Garr VanKleeck, Mr. VanKleeck was born in Goshen on March fifteenth, 1903, and had resided in Middletown for twenty-three years. He was a member of the First Congregational Church. Survivors include: Mr. VanKleeck's wife, the former Charlotte Irwin; his mother, Mrs. Joseph Ellis of Bristol, Pa.; the children, Mrs. Elizabeth Vernooy of Middletown, Albert, in service, and Stanley R., Corinne, Sonja M., Linda J., Charles L., and Paul A. VanKleeck, all at home; three sisters, Mrs. Katherine Buckholt of Paterson, Mrs. Lillian Snyder of Paterson and Mrs. Anna Johnson of Bristol, Pa.; and one brother, Ralph VanKleeck of Paterson. Funeral services in the Hasbtouck Funeral Chapel on Tuesday, at two p.m., will be conducted by the Rev. Richard Billingsley of the First Congregational Church. Burial will be in the Wallkill Cemetery at Phillipsburg. Friends may call at the chapel on Monday evening.

(Followup article stated that the autopsy showed that the cause of death was heart failure. In July 1949, Mrs. VanKleeck sued for compensation and won the case. Evidence was presented that the fall could have caused his death.)

1. ↑ www.interment.net posting by Lyle Irwin. www.interment.net posting by Lyle Irwin.