website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Chapter on Watertown Police Department
Herbert Weis
1887 - 1946
Weis, Herb A., b. May 20, 1887, d. Jan 10, 1946,
Sec 21, Oak Hill Cemetery
Article includes picture
Funeral
services for Herbert Weis, 58, former Watertown police officer who
died at his home, 702 Western Avenue, late Thursday morning, will be held Saturday
afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Schmutzler funeral home
and at 2:30 o'clock at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Services at the funeral home will be
conducted by the local Masonic lodge, of which Mr. Weis was a member, and
services at the church will be officiated over by Rev. Wm. F. Chamberlain,
pastor of the congregation.
Burial
will be at Oak Hill cemetery.
The
death of Mr. Weis followed a long illness.
On Aug. 8, 1944, he underwent a major operation. For the last several months his condition had
grown continually worse.
Mr.
Weis was born in Watertown on May 20, 1887, the son of Albert Weis and
Henrietta Fuermann Weis. He married S. Marguerite Nebel
on Jan. 13, 1915. The ceremony was
solemnized at St. Paul's Episcopal Church here by the Rev. Father Ganster.
Member of Police Department
First policeman to ride a motorcycle
Mr.
Weis was a life-long resident of this community. He was a member of the Watertown Police
Department for 28 years. He joined the
department in 1914 and retired in 1942.
"Herb,"
as he was familiarly known to hundreds upon hundreds of persons in this
community, was the first Watertown policeman to ride a motorcycle. The first
machine he rode was his own. Later arrangements
were made for its purchase by the city.
Two
years before Mr. Weis resigned he was elevated to the rank of sergeant.
Following
his operation in August of 1944, he worked for a year as guard at the
Mid-States Shoe Company plant, and for six months after that he was employed as
a cab driver for the Krueger Cab Service.
In
addition to membership in the local Masonic lodge, Mr. Weis was a member of the
Low Twelve of the organization.
He is
survived by his wife and several nieces and nephews. One niece, Kay Wright, makes her home at the
Weis home.
The
death of Herb Weis removes from the community one of its most familiar
figures. His likeable disposition and
the tactful manner in which he handled his duties with the police department,
won for him a great many friends. His
untimely death is learned with sincere sorrow by the many who knew him.
Cross Reference:
Herbert
Weis, 1922,
John Clifford Sr obit, mention of
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin