I thought the burn accident was a weird story when she told it, but again, there just was not that level of awareness, things didnt get referred. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. You couldnt get action from the prosecutor and police. With the exception of the severe burns, his health remained quite good. VanderWyst, visiting him after the autopsy the night of Dennis death, told the family physician what Woodburn had found. Harold and Lois Jurgensa middle-class, churchgoing couple who had been unable to have children of their ownhad adopted Sherwoods son, Dennis, in 1962. My deputy reassured me from time to time.
. Lois Jurgens Obituary (1930 - 2012) - Elkhorn, Wi, IA - the Des Moines She was the adoptive mother of six children in the 1960s and 1970s, and brutally abused them all, killing one of them, three-year-old Dennis Jurgens, in 1965. . Those in the station familiar with the downtown strip joints in nearby St. Paul might have recognized Jerry Ann Sherwood from her earlier tenure at Alarys Club Bar. Thanks for your help! There was a television movie broadcast in 1992 on NBC entitled A Child Lost Forever that told the story from the perspective of Jerry Sherwood (played by Beverly D'Angelo).
He was an outgoing child, as happy and adjusted as could be expected under the circumstances. Lois also was not pleased to learn how active Dennis was. Lois is survived by her. On bare skin, the heat just flashes off. They said it was from a fall down the basement stairs. Three-year-old Dennis Craig (Puckett) Jurgens was tortured to death in the wee hours of April 11th, 1965. Lois walks past the TV cameras on her way to the courtroom on January 30, 1987, to plead not guilty to three counts of murder. DC artist Dan Jurgens shares an image of an unused Electric Blue Superman design from 1996, reminiscing about what might have been. . There was a time when White Bear Lake was an exclusive watering hole for people from Chicago as well as the Twin Cities. With Lois's mental health deteriorating, a hearing explores the question, should Lois and Harold Jurgens keep custody of their 5 year old adopted son, Robert after the death of this brother, Dennis. conviction
A Death in White Bear Lake is a true crime book by journalist Barry Siegel, published in 1990, which recounts the murder of Dennis Jurgens. A Death in White Bear Lake: The True Chronicle of an All-American Town By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies and other technologies.
Petersons house sat precisely on the site of the old Wildwood Amusement Park. Do you have a camera in the car, he asked VanderWyst. No, Lois said, sounding definite. None of us knew about child abuse. The neighbors talked among themselves that afternoon. The same day that she spoke to the priest--Aug. 30, 1962--Rekdahl informed the Jurgenses that they were going to be approved for a second adoption. Year should not be greater than current year. Its easy today to say, Why didnt they prosecute? but it was a different time, a different time. Jurgens was the only fatal victim of Lois Jurgens, his adoptive mother and a prolific child abuser, who abused a total of six adopted children from 1960 to 1975. This is a carousel with slides. The foster mother thinks him a little wild one, but she means this appreciatively and derives pleasure from his antics. He does not sound very well behaved, she said. Rekdahl, who graduated from St. Pauls Hamline University in 1957 with a bachelors degree in social work, had been in adoption services for less than one year. There is a lot to be known about the science of this whole darn subject, he said. According to Rekdahls written log, that was the sum of what Peterson said to her. The coroner noted in his report that Dennis had almost zero subcutaneous fat, at the level of a person who had died of starvation. Lois Jurgens, know for her short, volatile temper, murdered him. Failed to remove flower. Last week, Judge David Marsden sentenced. That this was much more a question for doctors than for the police did not sway Votel. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. BOOK WORLD - The Washington Post Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. Now the town is most frequently described as middle class. Read more about this topic: Murder Of Dennis Jurgens, But Ive heard mankind abuse thee;And perhaps its rather strange,But I thought that I would choose theeFor encomium, as a change.Charles Stuart Calverley (18311884), Mily: You must remember me! They had checked on him throughout the night. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Do I think this happened just here, just this one? Tragically, just a few years after the adoption, Dennis died from peritonitis. My God, he thought, looking at the body. Lois Germaine Josephine Zerwas Jurgens (August 12, 1925 May 7, 2013) was an American convicted murderer[1] responsible for one of the most unusual child murder cases in history in Minnesota. The first came now. In the 1960s, the term child abuse had not yet been coined[citation needed][2] and no one, not even medical professionals and teachers, was required to report suspicions. Throughout the years of frequent abuse, it has been reported that while Harold Jurgens made little effort to curb his wife's abuse of young Dennis, he personally never mistreated the boy. Sorry! Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Lois Jean (Jones) Jurgens to show support. Lois Jurgens agreed, but seemed scared that she would not be offered another child. Certain neighbors and family members knew there were problems with Lois' treatment of Dennis but did nothing to prevent it. Try again later. harold e bageant obituary visitation funeral information. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Their flight, coupled with the lingering suspicions surrounding Dennis' death, resulted in the termination of Lois and Harold Jurgens' parental rights. In the early 1980s, Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood, looked for Dennis, only to find out he had died in 1965. There was no possibility that Dennis had died from a blow to the head.