Frederick John Heller
Born 20 Aug 1875 in Galena, Jo Daviess, Illinois
Died 04 Feb 1955 in Rockford, Winnebago, Illinois

Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 4 Feb 1955, p 13

Fred J. Heller, 79, Loves Park, Ill., a former Dubuque resident, died early Friday at a Rockford, Illinois hospital, after a long illness.

Friends may call after 2pm Saturday at the Haudenshield Funeral Home, 2170 Central Ave., where services will be held at 2pm Sunday. Burial will be in Linwood Cemetery.

Mr. Heller was born Aug. 20, 1875, at Galena, Ill., the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Heller, pioneer Dubuque cigar manufacturer. He came to Dubuque in 1881 and served as city assessor for many years. On Dec. 15, 1897, he married Elizabeth Kirch. He attended Immanuel Congregational Church and was a member of the Dubuque Camp of Woodmen of America.

Surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Ida Stolte, Loves Park, and Mrs. Hilda Angster, Arlington, Va., and a brother, Christ Heller, Dubuque. A son, Karl, died while serving with the Army in World War I.

Shown in photo are Fred, his wife Elizabeth A Kirch-Heller, and son Carl B Heller who was later killed in France in WWI.

ANOTHER MESSAGE ON CARL HELLER
Adjutant General Wires Parents That Private Heller Died From Wounds
WAS REPORTED WOUNDED OCTOBER 23

Considerable Mystery Still Surrounds Case--Expect Word From Company Chaplain Soon

According to word received Thursday afternoon from the adjutant general of the army, Private Carl H. {sic B} Heller, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred J. Heller, of Lincoln avenue, died from wounds. City Assessor Heller received a wire to this effect yesterday.

Mystery had surrounded this case since Mr. Heller received a letter from Chaplain Rock in December that he had assisted in placing the body of Private Heller in its final resting place. Mr. Heller waited patiently for some message from the war department, but none came. Finally he decided to write and see if they had any word about his son.

About two weeks ago he received a letter from Adjutant General Harris that Carl had been wounded in action October 23, degree undetermined. Since that time several letters addressed to Private Heller by friends in Dubuque have been returned. The Red Cross took up the case, and Mr. Heller was notified last week that a tracer had been sent out to investigate. Word is expected from them any day. Mr. Heller has also written to Chaplain Rock for details, but has received no answer as yet.

The case is still far from being straightened out, but the parents are expecting to learn some details from officials in France within the next week.

CARL HELLER IS DEAD
City Assessor Receives Definite Information Regarding Fate of Son
CLEARS UP ALL DOUBT

Had Been Reported As Seriously Wounded--Message From War Department

Definite information regarding the fate of Private Carl B. Heller was received by the city assessor in a telegram from the war department Thursday afternoon stating that the young man lost his life as a result of wounds received in action on October 23. The date of his death is placed on or about November 10th.

The message clears up one of the most puzzling casualty cases that has appeared in Dubuque. Heller was once reported dead by the army chaplain by his regiment, and three times later was placed on the list of those seriously wounded, degree undetermined. Communication with the Red Cross and the war department brought the same results and his parents were in a quandary as to the fate of their boy. Letters that had been sent him were returned "sick" and casualty lists printed in the newspapers carried his name in the wounded column.

All doubt, however, as to the fate of the young fighter vanished with the receipt of the official communication signed by Adjutant General Harris. For a long time hope had been held out that a mistake had been made by the armry chaplain who sent the first information on the boy's death and that instead he had been seriously wounded and was confined in a base hospital. Although no word had been received from him, several explanations were given as the cause, but Thursday's message dispelled all expectations.

Dubuque Telegraph Herald
2 February 1922

Body of Carl Heller Here

There exists in the annals of patriotism no record more glorious than that of Carl Heller, the Dubuque boy who in the first flush of early manhood made the supreme sacrifice for the country he loved. The revolving fates of mankind hold no greater sorrow to be laid upon the threshold of the homes of men than that which the untimely end, valiant as it was, of the young soldier brought to the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred J. Heller, 1210 Lincoln Avenue. No heavier cross than theirs has been borne up Calvary by mortals.

Carl was their only son. In March, 1917, he enlisted in Captain Ellsworth’s company. They called him the “baby private,” for he was only 18 years old. From Dubuque the young patriot was sent to Camp Cody, where he won the stripes of a corporal. Then these stripes were to interfere by threatening to block his path to the goal he cherished – the battlefields of France. At his own request Corporal Heller again became Private Heller and thereby was recommended for overseas duty. He went across early in 1918.

So he went to France.
He fought in the celebrated battle of St. Mihiel and -
The single blue star in the parental home in Dubuque was changed to gold. The brave lad fell in battle October 23, 1918. Now the government of the country he defended has sent back his body to the home from whence it went forth full of the vigor of young manhood. The parents golden grain of compensation is:

“He died for his country.”

The body of young Heller arrived in Dubuque last night, and was met at the station by a military escort. His comrades will escort the remains to the final resting place in Linwood cemetery Sunday afternoon. Services will be from the Heller residence.

Thus Dubuque contributes another line to the country’s imperishable war history.

Carl B. Heller - 1916

Elizabeth A Kirch-Heller

Fred J Heller

Frederick John Heller Family

Submitted by Christa Hughes.