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Margaret Mary Gerdes
Tombstone photo
 Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery
Perry, Noble County, OK 


© Cathy & Thomas

Noble County, Oklahoma Bio


Born February 14, 1909, in Perry, Noble Co., Oklahoma
Died April 20, 1912, in Perry, Noble Co., Oklahoma
Buried: Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Perry, Noble Co., Oklahoma
Location of Grave: Margaret Mary Gerdes buried in Section Southwest 1/4 plot M9 Grave #2
Daughter of William John "Bill" Gerdes & Mary Elizabeth (Clark) Gerdes
© by: Margaret E. Haynes
Mary Elizabeth (Clark) Gerdes was the sister of my maternal grandmother

Margaret Mary Gerdes, was born 14 February 1909, in Perry, Noble Co., Oklahoma. She was killed, at the age of three years and six months, during a terrible tornado, on Saturday, 20 April 1912, on the family farm near Perry, Noble Co., Oklahoma, and she was buried in Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Perry, Oklahoma. Her brother Johnnie was also fatally injured during the storm, and her mother was badly injured.
Margaret was the little daughter of William John "Bill" Gerdes and Mary Elizabeth "Liz" (Clark) Gerdes. Her parents moved from Cabool, Missouri, to the Perry area in 1909 and lived there until about 1917.
Another news article at this time, said Bill and Mary Elizabeth Gerdes had been in Oklahoma for three years prior to the "cyclone" and had had failing crops for all three years. So these times would have been terrible for this family who were already suffering hardships. And the loss of their two children was a terrible blow. Margaret's mother, Mary Elizabeth, died a few years later (1918) in Cabool, Missouri, during the influenza epidemic.
The following is from the news article in the Perry, Oklahoma Enterprise Times, Monday,April 22, 1912, about the tornado in Perry, Oklahoma, that killed Margaret and fatally injured Johnnie and in which their mother, Mary Elizabeth, sustained serious injuries:
"Death Dealing Tornado Sweeps Southwest Taking Life and Destroying Much Property... Noble County's Loss $150,000: Two are Dead and Scores Injured, The Dead: John Gerdes, age 12; Mary Gerdes, age 3 yrs. and 6 months. The Injured: Mrs. William Gerdes, cuts on head and neck." (and fourteen more people were listed).
Also from the article: "About 5:30 Saturday evening while business, streets and stores were yet filled with city and country customers" (everyone thought the clouds would bring a welcome rain, then the tornado hit... and at a point six miles northeast, it struck the home of William Gerdes with fatal effect, killing a boy and girl. The house was in the direct track of the storm and when torn to pieces, a wall fell on their little daughter Margaret crushing out her life at the first crash. The twelve year old son Johnny was hit by a broken joist, a splinter of which ran through both his legs pinning them together. The boy lived through the night but after great suffering died Sunday morning."
" The funeral of John and Margaret Gerdes was solemnized Monday at the Catholic Church conducted by Father Willebrord and attended by many friends of the bereaved family after which the remains of brother and sister were laid side by side in one grave in the Catholic cemetery...."
From a copy of a news article, there is a photograph showing the wreckage of their home, there is an arrow pointing to where there was a cellar close to the door that they tried to get to but the tornado hit before they could get to it.
Survivors included: her parents; three brothers, John Henry Gerdes (he died just a few hours after she died), Fred Herman Gerdes, and Leonard William Gerdes; and two sisters, Mary Rosellen Gerdes, and Anna Elizabeth Gerdes; her maternal grandmother, Sarah E. (Mitchell) Clark of Cabool, Missouri; her paternal grandfather, John William Gerdes; and aunts, uncles and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her paternal grandmother, Rose (Fischer) Gerdes; and her maternal grandfather, William Clark.
A photo of the gravestone, taken by a family member at a later date, shows a handmade concrete slab with the children's names and dates handwritten in the slab. There is a slender concrete handmade cross that stands above the grave.

 

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