Shawano Family History Center Obituary Collection:
Saturday, January 29, 1949:
Mattoon Man is Killed by Two Discharges of Shotgun:
A 44-year-old Mattoon man committed suicide yesterday by shooting himself twice in the head, Coroner Harvey Stubenvoll said today. The dead man was Earl Tinsman, operator of Earl's Tavern at Mattoon.
Coroner Stubenvoll said the incident occurred at noon Friday in the Tinsman home on the north side of Mattoon. He was killed by two separate charges from a .12 gauge shotgun, which Tinsman apparently discharged by pulling the trigger with his forefinger.
Coroner Stubenvoll related the incident this way:
Mrs. Tinsman came screaming out of the door of their home after the first discharge of the gun and notified Frank Wickman, a next-door neighbor who was outside shoveling snow. Wickman went inside to the bedroom and heard Tinsman say, "I did it!" "I did it!"
Wickman raced to his home and placed a telephone call for Dr. Orville Damp, Birnamwood physician. While Wickman was telephoning, Tinsman discharged the shotgun for the second time, with the charge entering his brain cavity and killing him.
The investigating officer said that Tinsman removed the empty shell after the first shot and replaced it with a new one despite the wound from the first discharge.
The coroner said drinking was a factor in the suicide. There was no indication of family trouble, according to Stubenvoll.
Tinsman had operated a tavern at Mattoon for more than a year. A veteran of World War II, he served with the Seabees of the U.S Navy.
The Kopitzke Funeral Home of Birnamwood has charge of arrangements. Funeral services will be Monday at 2 p.m. from the Funeral home, with Rev. Samuel Gutensohn of Antigo officiating. Burial will be at Woodlawn cemetery, Mattoon. The Mattoon American Legion post will participate in the services.
Tinsman is survived by his wife and four step-children, Gail, Orland, Barbara, and Judy; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Tinsman. All are from Mattoon. Other survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Emmett Poth of Milwaukee and Mrs. Ed Egging of Mattoon; two brothers, Ervin of California and Harold of Sheldon, Wis.
Friends may call at the Kopitzke Funeral Home from Sunday morning until the time of services.