World War II
Milton Wortman was born March 23, 1928, to Emil and Sarah Wortman.
His WWII registration card says he was born in Springview, NE, however, some of his older siblings’ information says they were born in Osmond, and the family is found in Osmond in the 1930 census. Milton was the seventh of 10 children in the family. When Milton was 6 years old, his sister Margaret died at age 13 of blood poisoning. According to her obituary, she had mentioned that a pimple on her chin was aggravating her, but they didn’t give it much thought. It apparently became infected and, although treated both in Osmond and in Norfolk, it was to no avail and the poison finally affected her heart. It was also said that the swelling resulting from the poisoning badly disfigured the facial features of the young girl.
What a horrible thing for the family to endure, but it would not be the only tragedy.
Milton was inducted into the Army Air Force on March 27, 1946, when he was just 18 years old. He served for just
under a year, being discharged Feb. 4, 1947, with the rank of Private First Class. Unfortunately, I could find no specific information about Milton's service.
After he was discharged, Milton went back to live with his parents, where I found him, along with two other brothers, Herman and Leo, and sister Mildred in the 1950 census.
In September of that year, Milton married JoAnn Dixon. According to the announcement, the couple would be making their home in Newman Grove, but a September 1955 birth announcement says "Mr. and Mrs. Milton Wortman of Osmond” were parents of a baby boy.
Another family tragedy occurred in 1963 when Milton's brother, John, who was 44 years old, died as the result of an explosion in an Omaha car painting plant. He was tending a bake oven in which new coats of enamel were being baked onto a propane gas truck when the explosion occurred. He lived for about a month before he died, although he never regained consciousness.
A newspaper article in 1969 lists the Milton Wortman's home now in Omaha.
That article states that Milton Wortman, 41, died in an explosion at a farm north of Irvington. According to information from that article and from his obituary, Milton was working with 50-gallon steel drums and an acetylene torch converting the drums to trash barrels. He died before reaching the hospital.
How tragic for two brothers to die in such similar and horrible ways! John was survived by his wife and three daughters. Milton was survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.
Services for Milton were held at Stanosheck Mortuary in Osmond with burial in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.
Thank you to Dave Kruse for tracking down the picture of his Uncle Milton for me!
