Wahoo newspaper article.

Josef’s 1916 farm and homestead in Cedar Township.

This is the story of the Zimola tragedy. A lost grandfather, father and patriarch that brought the Zimola’s to America.

So much of the Zimola history was lost in the fire: family heirlooms and documents. I remember our grandmother telling me the story of the fire and it brought tears to her eyes. And Bessie was ONE TOUGH LADY. She used to shoot at coyotes early in the morning when they came for her chickens.

Josef Zimola had died in the fire in his farmhouse—most likely from smoke inhalation. Josef had lived alone on the Zimola farm for 25 years after his wife Antonia died in 1934. He was very independent. His daughter “Bessie” had moved about eight miles away to the new Cernik homestead with her husband, Frank. His other daughter, Mary, lived closer. After marrying Henry Hrdlicka, she moved to his farm about five miles away. Henry had passed three years earlier.

 
According to the county coroner:

Mr. Zimola “probably” was starting a fire in the stove when it exploded. Setting fire to the kitchen and severely burning him. That he “no doubt” stumbled backward into the living room, where he collapsed and died. Two small cans of kerosene were located near the stove. No other explanation could be made for the fire.

 
 
The fire had been seen from the road by Joe Vybíral, a neighbor and relative of Josef.

Almost all the contents, including most of the items they brought over in 1904 when he, his wife and two daughters emigrated from Moravia.

The family story, however, was a bit different. We had always been told that a “hobo”—think homeless who rode trains—had been around the area. The “Chicago and Northwestern” railroad line ran less than a quarter of a mile from Josef’s farm. Our family felt he had been hit over the head and robbed. And that this “hobo” started the fire to cover his tracks. My guess is that the coroner would have noticed a head injury. If there was one, the coroner might have assumed it was from the fall after the explosion.
 
 
We’ll never know, but it was a sad death to an ancestor who risked so much coming to America. Not to mention losing so many family heirlooms.