MARIE A. REGAN - The body of Marie Regan, the last of the four Sterling-Rock Falls young people who were drowned Sunday at East Moline to be recovered, was taken from the Mississippi river near the Rock Island arsenal power dam at 7:30 o'clock this morning. During the night the body had floated down stream a distance of about seven miles from the scene of the tragedy of Sunday. The body of Florence Viering was recovered Sunday afternoon and Monday morning the bodies of William and Robert Regan were removed from the water. Although the search extended until dark Monday night, the body of Miss Regan could not be located. A triple funeral service will be held Wednesday morning at 8:30 o'clock at the late home, eight miles southwest of this city and at 9:30 o'clock at St. Mary's Catholic Church. Monsignor A. J. Burns will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary cemetery. The Holy Name Society will meet at the Regan home at 8 o'clock tonight for the rosary. Robert and William were members of the society, as also is their father. Requiem Mass was held for Miss Regan Tuesday morning at St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford. The funeral of Miss Viering will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the Wheelock funeral home in Rock Falls. Rev. R.M. Furnish will officiate. Burial will be in River side cemetery. The body may be viewed after 7 o'clock tonight at the funeral home.
Vernon Koster, employed at the arsenal dam, saw an object floating downstream this morning and secured a boat to investigate. When he discovered it to be the body of Marie Regan, help was summoned and it was removed from the river and taken to Furgie funeral home in Moline where the bodies of her brothers, William and Robert were being prepared for removal to the Regan home this afternoon. The body of Miss Viering was removed to the Wheelock funeral home in Rock Falls Monday following the inquest. A verdict of accidental drowning was returned at the inquest held at Furgie funeral home Monday afternoon. It is presumed the same jury will recalled in the inquisition of the death of Miss Regan.
The information of the finding of the body of Miss Regan was imparted to the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Regan, by a representative of the Daily Gazette this morning. They were in town attending necessary details for the services of their sons and a great load was lifted from their minds when informed that Marie had been found. Mr. Regan called from the Daily Gazette to the Moline undertaker and learned that all three bodies would be brought home this afternoon. The body of Miss Viering was recovered by Theodore Fackler and Fred Murray, who live on Campbell's Island, about 6 o'clock Sunday night. John Still found the body of Robert Regan about 8:30 Monday morning and Axel Morris found the body of William Regan about 9 o'clock the same morning. The four men recovering the bodies all live on the island.
Search for the body of Marie continued throughout the day with out success. Her coat was brought up and a handkerchief which Miss Elizabeth Gaylord was wearing on her heads was also recovered. Paul Sonneman, who is well versed in river work and the action of currents, and Charles Matznick, a neighbor of the Regans, were among those who toiled all day Monday in search for the missing body. This morning a group of men headed by Chief Connel Nicol of the Sterling Fire department has just fitted up, and also the boat from the Rock Falls department. Various kinds of hooks, drag bars, sounding bars with hooks and other equipment useful in recovery work were taken along. It is surprising what little equipment the government or the Quad-Cities have available for recovery of bodies from the river. In the party with Chief Nicol were Chris Dingler, Officer Ray Cramer, Mike Lazio, Lawrence R. "Dick" Eaglin, John Roark and Jacob Ryan.
TRIPLE FUNERAL FOR VICTIMS OF DROWNING HELD
Former Classmates Serve as Pall Bearers-Six for each Casket
St. Mary's church was the scene of the triple funeral of the Regan children, William, Robert, and Marie, Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., when a solemn requiem high mass was officiated by Rev. John F. Regan, of St. Mary's Church, Freeport, who is a cousin of the young people. He was assisted by Fr. Edward O'Brien, chaplain of St. Anthony's Hospital, Rockford, as deacon of the mass and Fr. John T. Smith, assistant at St. Mary's as sub deacon, Fr. Leo Gizardo, of St. Patrick's clergy at Dixon was master of ceremonies. Present in the sanctuary were Fr. T.O. Maguire of Tampico, Fr. M.B. Krug of Sacred Heart church, Sterling, and Fr. Clement Cain of St. Ann's Dixon. Henry Schryer, theological student, was also in the chancel. Other visitors at the funeral we 34 nurses from St. Anthony's hospital, Rockford, at which Miss Regan was a student nurse. Several sisters of the nursing order accompanied the class. There were 18 casket attendants, six for each casket, all former classmates in Community High School of the deceased. For Miss Marie Regan there were: William Gagin, John Puckett, Alvin Clavin, Tom McDonnell, Harry McCormick and William Eberley. For William Regan: Joe Hutten, Virgil Conboy, Cleo Conboy, Harold McGinn, Ned Bickford and Edgar Sleeper. For Robert Regan: Jim Allen, Edward Enright, John Lendman, John Flynn, Norbert Hutton and James Tyne. The capacity of the church was taken an hour before the funeral and the when the cortege arrived the sidewalk in front of the church was filled with people who could not gain admission. Andante Canticle' by Tchaikovsky, was rendered on the organ by Miss Celeste Ward, organist for St. Mary's, and members of the Ward family furnished the funeral music through out the mass. During the mass, John Ward sang Rosewig's 'Ave Maria'. At the close of the mass he sang 'Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling', 'Now the Day is Over' and 'Abide with Me'. The interior of the church was inspiring with reverence as the sanctuary and altar were clouded with funeral vestments of black. Only the lights of the altar flickered. There was the customary absence of flowers in a Catholic church during a funeral. The vast congregation was sorrowed at the visitation of death upon the family of the deceased. Silence prevailed as the many worshipers knelt in their pews and recited their rosaries. The solemn ceremonial of the requiem mass was offered before the altar of Jesus, of which Fr. Regan and his assisting priests intoned the solemn liturgy of the Catholic Church. At the close of the mass Fr. John T. Smith, assistant at St. Mary's marched down from the sanctuary carrying the processional cross. He was followed by acolytes, censors and thurifers down to the front aisle where the three burial cases, in a single row faced the altar, as the young people did throughout their lives every Sunday in church at mass. The caskets were censed and the holy water was sprinkled over them by Fr. Regan. With the final words of the requiem mass, "Requiescat in Pace" said the last gospel was read, first chapter of St. John and the service was concluded. After officiating clergy had withdrawn from the sanctuary, Rt. Rev. Andrew J. Burns, clad in his black cassock and the episcopal girdle of red, appeared before the chancel rail and delivered the funeral address. He said in part: "What we have to say should be simple and brief. This tragedy is sufficient in itself to fill our minds and hearts. Man is composed of two parts, body and soul. He is made in the image and likeness of God. Man was made by God himself out of nothing. God is the creator; Man was made for a purpose, designed alone by God. The love of God should be the indwelling characteristic of our lives. God gave to us a soul in his image. "When we are young and everything is pleasant we are apt to forget the real purpose of life. God made us for Heaven. That's the noble end of life. Without it life is a failure. God loves us dearer than any mother ever did. We are here on earth only for a little while. We are moving on to the end of life. Our purpose is for eternity. We should listen always to the voice of God. What is the difference to us whether life is long or short? It is but a flickering stay, during which we must prepare for eternity. God alone has the key to life. "Our problems in life here are due to our contentment with life in this world. We are apt to forget the future life. The purpose of life is God, Heaven. It is not the question of length of life here but the quality of the life we live. It may be compared with a journey with one's parents into a foreign land. That country is not home. It is the same here; this is not our home; we are simply on the journey of life. "We are here today in the presence of death. Three young persons who always kept death in view. They never forgot the end. That end is God. They ever watched the signals set by Christ as guides by which they marched on. They offered their daily prayers; oh, they never forgot God. They attended their Sunday mass as it is here today offered to show forth the Living Christ. They never missed their Sunday mass to strengthen their souls. At the end of every Catholic Church is a confessional, in which are confessed the sins to whom Christ gave authority to hear. These young people were there they day before they died. They had religious convictions. Last Sunday morning they partook of the Body and Blood of Christ. He abides in them. They were members of the Holy Name Society, which has done so much for men and the Young Ladies Sodality which helps members on to their goal. They received Holy Communion the day of their deaths. What a comfort and consolation it is to Mr. and Mrs. Regan, to see the goal of human life shining as a light upon the tomb of darkness. We are thankful for the prayers of all the people whether members of the Catholic Church or not and the family and friends will always remember and appreciate the universal sympathy and kindness which has been extended."The cortege proceeded to Calvary Cemetery where the bodies were committed to their graves. The graveside service was taken by Fr. Regan and Fr. Smith. It is said to have been the second triple funeral held in St. Mary's for young people of one family who lost their lives by drowning.
Contributed by Colleen Butler - Sterling Gazette August 11, 1937