Sylvester B. Gingrich^[1]

1898 - 1952  (53 years)

• Name	Sylvester B. Gingrich
  Born	5 Jul 1898	Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	crime, accident, story
  Residence	1911	West Montrose, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Congregatonalist
  Occupation	1921	Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [5]
  	Farmer's Son, Father's Farm
  Residence	1921	Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [5]
  	Congregatonal
  Occupation	1926	Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Farmer
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-57047
  Died	22 Jan 1952	Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4, 6, 7, 8, 9]
  Buried	West Montrose United Cemetery, West Montrose, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4, 6]
  Person ID	I57047	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Noah H. Gingrich,   b. 15 Jun 1872, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 16 Mar 1961, Elmira, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 88 years)
  Mother	Judith S. Bauman,   b. 5 Jul 1868, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 22 Jun 1905, West Montrose, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 36 years)
  Married	17 Aug 1893  [10]
  Family ID	F1843	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Dorothy Letson,   b. 18 Feb 1907, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1995  (Age 87 years)
  Married	18 Feb 1926	West Montrose, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Children	1. Clifford Douglas Gingrich,   b. 2 Jul 1927,   d. 1993  (Age 65 years)   2. Ralph Winston Gingrich,   b. 30 Apr 1932,   d. 7 Sep 2012, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 80 years)   3. Grace Phyllis Gingrich,   b. 1939,   d. 1951  (Age 12 years)
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F40444	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Elmiran Killed As Buses Crash Sylvester B. Gingrich Believed Struck by Careening Vehicle By Record Staff Writer Conestogo - Sylvester B. Gingrich, 52 of Elmira, was almost instantly killed early last night in a spectacular, two-bus crash at a slippery hilltop intersection near here. Gingrich died shortly after his stalled school bus was struck by another bus at Crowsfoot corner in a driving snowstorm. Exact manner in which he was killed has not been established but it is believed he was standing beside his empty bus and was struck by one of the careening vehicles. Slid Into Ditch The other bus involved, owned by Lishman Coach Lines and driven by Jack Lishman, Conestogo, was swung completely about and slithered into a 12-foot ditch. Neither Lishman nor any of his 12 passengers were injured. The Elmira District High School bus, owned by Gingrich, swung partially about and snagged on a fence which kept it from plunging down a depression. The tragedy was the second for the Gingrich family within a few months. Shortly before Christmas, a daughter, Grace, 11 died following an operation. Road Was Icy The crash occurred about 6: 13 p.m. on a road sheathed with icy snow. Scene of the crash was the point where the Bloomingdale-Conestogo road is joined by two roads from the north, one of them the road from Winterbourne on which Gingrich had been travelling. As Waterloo Township Police reconstruct the crash, the school bus entered the intersection with Gingrich intending to turn towards Conestogo. His bus apparently was stalled across the Bloomingdale-Conestogo road as the westbound Lishman bus came over the brow of a hill. Says Bus Unlit Lishman told police the school bus was unlighted and that he saw it only a scant second before the crash. The Conestogo driver said that in attempting to avoid it he wheeled his big vehicle to the north, hoping either to skirt the halted bus or swing his own bus into a sideroad. He was unable to avoid collision and his skidding bus apparently clipped the rear of the school bus, swinging it into the guard fence. The Lishman bus turned around and settled slowly into the deep ditch. So gradual was its swing and slide that change and a punch on the cash box were not knocked to the floor. Passengers were not even jolted from their seats. Lishman said the first he saw of the injured man was when he opened the bus doors and saw him lying on the snow nearby. Gingrich was apparently returning to Elmira after dropping the last of his student passengers shortly before. He had driven the school bus for many years. Strangely enough, it is believed had he been in his bus he would not have been seriously injured at all. Damage to the Lishman bus was estimated at $2,500. One side was crumpled in the slide into the ditch. Loss to the school bus was about $300. Second Close Call The 12-passengers in the Lishman bus, nine men and three women, were commuters returning to Conestogo from work in the Twin Cities. The bus was due in Conestogo at 6 p.m. but was running a few minutes late. For Lishman, the brush with death was his second in two years. In May, 1950, near Oakville, he escaped injury when a boat blew up and two men were killed. Waterloo Township Constable Thomas Livingstone was in charge of the crash investigation. The body is resting at the Dreisinger Funeral Parlor, Elmira, pending funeral arrangements. Kitchener-Waterloo Record, January 23, 1952 ______________________________ Stalled Bus Hit By Another; High School Bus Driver Dead Sylvester B. Gingrich, 24 Factory [Riverside Drive] street west, Elmira District High School bus driver, was killed in a largely unexplained two-bus highway collision about 6: 30 p.m. Tuesday. The accident occurred at the junction of the paved county Conestogo-Bloomingdale road which runs east and west, and the paved county road which runs north to Winterbourne. A gravelled sideroad also runs northeast from the junction which is known as the "crow's foot." When the accident occurred, Mr. Gingrich's empty high school bus was stopped crosswise on the Conestogo-Bloomingdale road, facing south. Mr. Gingrich had discharged his load of high school students and was on his way home to Elmira from Winterbourne via Conestogo as usual. He apparently failed to make the right-hand turn toward Conestogo at the junction and then, for some unexplained reason, stopped his bus on the Conestogo-Bloomingdale road and got out of it. Probably seconds later, a Lishman bus, driven by Jack Lishman and proceeding towards Conestogo on the Conestogo-Bloomingdale road, came down the grade toward the stalled bus. Mr. Lishman swerved to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision but his bus struck the high school bus on its lefthand side toward the rear. The impact spun the high school bus around and it came to rest on the side of the road facing toward Bloomingdale. The Lishman bus also spun around in the same manner, and came to rest tilted precariously toward the sharp fall-away to the river flats. Following the collision Mr. Gingrich was found dead on the road. Twelve passengers in the Lishman bus were uninjured, as was the driver. Woolwich Township Police Constable Thomas Livingstone investigated the accident. Dr. Le Roy Wagner, Elmira, coroner, was called. Dr. Wagner said Mr. Gingrich had received a severe blow on the face, which had bruised rather than lacerated and had probably suffered a broken neck. He said there would be no inquest. Police investigation has failed to disclose exactly where Mr. Gingrich was standing at the time of the collision. It may never be known whether he was struck by the Lishman bus or by his own bus after it was struck by another vehicle. Mr. Lishman said it was snowing heavily at the time and that he saw no lights on the high school bus although it was pitch dark at the time. It is believed that the high school bus rear clearance light may have been on at the time and they couldn't be seen by Mr. Lishman because of the angle. The road was icy - the result of soft snow and rain during the day. Passengers in the Lishman bus, sitting behind frosted and steamed windows were apparently unable to see out and had no warning of the collision. The Lishman bus was damaged to a greater extent than the high school bus but neither was damaged seriously. Mr. Gingrich's bus served Elmira District High School students at Floradale, North Woolwich, West Montrose, Ariss, Winterbourne and intermediate points. Many of these students got to classes on their own Wednesday morning. An emergency meeting of the board's transportation committee was held Wednesday morning and arrangements were made for a Lishman bus and driver to take over the route until permanent arrangements can be made. Elmira Signet, Thursday, January 24, 1952 _________________________ Investigation Into Gingrich Death Upset By Toronto Newspaper Story Fifty-three year old Sylvester B. Gingrich local grocer and Elmira District High School bus driver, died on the icy Conestogo-Bloomingdale road following a two-bus collision during a blinding snowstorm January 22, but his death is an unsolved mystery still under police investigation. That, and not much more, was made clear Monday when a Toronto newspaper, in a bylined article claiming Gingrich was a murder victim and not a traffic victim, broke the story while district newspapers, including the Elmira Signet, were assisting Waterloo Township Police Chief Hilbert Schedewitz and Waterloo County Crown Attorney Harold Dauffman by withholding comment on the case. Questioned by a Signet reporter Wednesday, January 30, eight days after Gingrich's death, Crown Attorney Dauffman confirmed he had ordered an autopsy and investigation was continuing. This information was published in The Signet of Thursday, January 3 [?]. At Mr. Dauffman's request, further information was withheld so that the investigation would not be hindered. During the next three weeks, the police quietly continued their investigation and were apparently making good progress when suddenly, following the Toronto newspaper's story, the case received widespread and undesirable publicity. When a Signet report on Wednesday of this week questioned Mr. Dauffman about the case and the Toronto newspaper's story, he said: "This has been a most unusual case and it has required painstaking and secret investigation. District newspapers including yours own (The Signet) were co-operating with us 100 per cent and their co-operation was proving to be of great assistance. When a Toronto newspaper publicized the case on Monday, the investigation received a severe set-back which is regrettable." Police Chief Schedewitz said: "I have absolutely no comment to make. Five weeks of careful investigation have gone down the drain as a result of the publicizing of this case by a Toronto newspaper. The Toronto newspaper's story described how a Lishman Bus Lines coach, driven by Jack Lishman, crashed into Gingrich's unlighted high school bus which was stopped diagonally across the road, and how following the collision, Lishman found Gingrich's body on the road. The story claimed the police are convinced Gingrich was the victim of a traffic accident but the victim of "an almost perfect murder." A Kitchener newspaper, following up the Toronto newspaper's story, on Monday reported Police Chief Schedewitz as flatly denying he is convinced Gingrich was murdered and as stating "the case is open... and we haven't reached any conclusions." Immediately following the two-bus collision and Gingrich's death, it was assumed he died of injuries received in a traffic accident and the body was released to a local undertaker. Continuing investigation apparently caused the police to believe that it was far from an "open and shut" case. Following the crash, Gingrich's high school bus was started without difficulty and all the lights worked. Why, the police asked, would an experienced bus driver leave his vehicle, apparently in good running order, parked across the road in the way of oncoming traffic, and without lights? A motorist saw a man sitting in Gingrich's lighted bus beside the road 25 minutes before the collision occurred. What happened during those 25 minutes? Who moved the bus onto the road and turned off the lights, and why? These were additional questions asked by the police as their investigation continued. The autopsy showed Gingrich died from a severe blow to the right side of the body. The blow shattered every rib on that side and the lung was punctured by bone fragments. The injuries were consistent with the type of collision which had occurred but his clothing apparently showed non of the marks usual in such cases. Why? A provincial pathologist examined the buses involved in the crash. He said neither vehicle showed signs of having struck a body. Their surfaces were free of blood and clothing fragments. What, then, caused Gingrich's fatal injuries? The Kitchener newspaper's follow-up story reports Police Chief Schedewitz as still not certain as to the cause of the injuries but certain that they were not caused by a lead pipe as was suggested in the Toronto newspaper's article. With so many questions unanswered, the police were apparently faced with the possibility that Gingrich did not die as a result of an accidental collision. There seemed to be reason to suspect that his death was not caused by the collision at all, which in turn suggested that the collision might not have been accidental. At this point the police apparently began to check the district for information which might reveal a motive for Gingrich's death. They found that he was a Woolwich Township native, who had operated a grocery store at West Montrose for 22 years before moving to Elmira three years ago, and who was widely respected. The check led to a man who had been staying at a Conestogo hotel and who had moved out the day following Gingrich's death. He was located in the Simcoe district and when the police saw him, their investigation took a startling turn. The man closely resembled William Patrick Ryan, Canada's 61-year-old public enemy No. 2. Ryan is sought by the R.C.M.P., Scotland Yard, the F.B.I. and New Zealand police. The man was taken to Kitchener and then to Toronto where his fingerprints did not match those of Ryan. After questioning he was released. Discovery of the "Ryan suspect" in Toronto probably led the Toronto newspaper reporter to Kitchener and Waterloo County where police were patiently working on the Gingrich case. It is reported the police have not overlooked the possibility that Gingrich was the victim of a hit-and-run driver. It is also reported that they are working on an entirely different theory which, if proved correct, would make the case a "fantastic" one. No matter what theory the police are working on, their reaction to Monday's newspaper stories, shows that the article disclosed information which may seriously hamper further investigation. Elmira Signet, February 28, 1952 Dreisinger Funeral Home, Elmira records give Sylvester Gingrich's death date as January 22, 1952; burial in West Montrose cemetery.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3108] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, 045878-26. Sylvester Gingrich, 27, occ. Farmer, b. Woolwich Twp, res. Woolwich Twp, son of Noah Gingrich (B. Ontario) & Judith Bauman married Dorothy Letson, 18, occ. Domestic, b. Woolwich Twp, res. Woolwich Twp, daughter of Levi Letson (B. Ontario) & Lottie McKerrie?, Witn: Alexander Letson & Mary Gingerich Both of West Montrose, 18 February 1926 in West Montrose [S148] Census - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - 1901, Woolwich F-6 Page 5. [S348] Census - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - 1911, Woolwich Div. 19 Page 1. [S349] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - West Montrose United CC#4596 Internet Link. GINGRICH / SYLVESTER B. GINGRICH / 1898 - 1952 / His Wife / DOROTHY LETSON / 1907 - 1995 / GRACE PHYLLIS, Dau. / 1939 - 1951 / CLIFFORD DOUGLAS, Son / 1927 - 1993 / Rest in Peace [S2121] Census - ON, Waterloo, Woolwich - 1921, SubDist. 18 Page 6. [S3231] Find A Grave, Cemetery, West, North America, Waterloo Municipality, West Montrose, and West Cemetery. 1898. " Sylvester B. Gingrich (1898-1952) - Find A Grave...". Findagrave.Com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19852770/sylvester-b.-gingrich. [S74] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Kitchener-Waterloo Record (1948-1994), Elmiran Killed As Buses Crash - January 23, 1952. [S77] News - ON, Waterloo, Elmira - Elmira Signet (1893-1982), Stalled Bus Hit By Another; High School Bus Driver Dead - January 24, 1952. [S978] Funeral Home Records - ON, Waterloo, Elmira - Dreisinger. [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 89.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 5 Jul 1898 - Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Congregatonalist - 1911 - West Montrose, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Farmer's Son, Father's Farm - 1921 - Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Congregatonal - 1921 - Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Farmer - 1926 - Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Married - 18 Feb 1926 - West Montrose, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 22 Jan 1952 - Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - West Montrose United Cemetery, West Montrose, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth