August Fredrick Kunze Jr.

August was born on 14 July 1884 in Litchfield, Minnesota. He was the third son born to August and Mary Kunze. When his mother, Mary, passed away during child birth, they were living amongst the Kunze relatives in Waconia, Minnesota. He along with his two younger brothers, Frank and Albert, lived with the Nels Nelson family. This was his Mother's brothers family in Danielson, Minnesota. Grandma Etta (Annette) talks in her book about what a crazy time it was with their nine children, plus the Kunze boys and other family members that stayed with them. The house was full to the brim! August was a favorite and "loved by all." He went West to Three Forks, Montana and worked for many years on the Railroad as an Engineer.
In 1921, at the age of 36, he married Anna Mary Fairhurst who was 26. She was born and raised in Massachusetts but I don't find any other record of her after the marriage record so not sure if they were divorced or she had passed away.
In 1925, August marries Edna Louise Bellach and they have two children, Mary Louise and Charlotte Deane. I'm sure those were happy times. He must have been an outgoing likable fellow as he served Three Forks as the Mayor for a number of years.
From Grandma's book, Long Ago and Far Away, we read: " On a tragic day in June 1938, he and his wife, Louise, were shot and killed in their own front yard by his half brother, John Kunze. We in our family never learned the reason for this dreadful deed. We knew that August had been extremely kind to his father and his second family, helping them to come out to Montana and make a home there. John Kunze was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary in Montana and died there some years ago. The two little girls were left orphans."

 

I found many newspaper articles regarding this story and Grandma's version is about correct and very sad. It must have been heartbreaking for all those involved and for the town of Three Forks. The girls were raised by a sister of Louise's, Annie "Deane" and her husband Lawrence Hankinson. It must have been a very difficult few years for the girls but they were surely loved and cared for by a large extended family on both sides. And I can only imagine how the Kunze family felt in regards to John~  epic sadness all around.  

August and his wife were remembered throughout the community as wonderful, friendly people and outstanding citizens. Such a tragedy. They were buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Three Forks.
A know a little bit regarding the two girls. Mary Louise married Spencer Fowler and lived most of their lives in Spokane, Washington and is possibly still living in Brooks, Oregon she would be about 88. Her sister, Charlotte Deane, married Stanley Collum, they lived in St. Paul, Minnesota for a few years then in Billings Montana. She died in 2013, at the age of 81. I don't know about children or grandchildren, but I suppose they have many and who knows, they might read this and send me a message so we know :) I think Mary would be so pleased with the men her boys turned out to be but saddened at the heartbreak too. But I guess that is no different than the rest of us as life is full of the good and the bad~ lessons to be learned.