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"Three Slain in Tragic Shooting Monday," Hobart Gazette, 4 Sept. 1958.
The tragedy happened somewhere across the street from where the George Earle Elementary School now stands, but I'm not sure that the address given in the article — 419 N. Wilson — is correct. It might have been 413 N. Wilson, as written on William Fick's death certificate. The address on Fred McIntyre's death certificate looks as it had been first written "419," and then someone wrote a "3" over the "9"; Geraldine Grey's certificate likewise has a corrected address that appears to be "413." There is no house now standing at 419. The house at 413 was built in 1925 per the county records.
A couple of Indiana newspapers that picked up a UPI article about the tragedy referred to William Fick as a "jilted suitor."[1] "Obsessed stalker" might be more apt, but that terminology wasn't current in 1958.
Geraldine Grey was born in Hobart on November 15, 1924, to Harry and Elizabeth Grey, delivered by Dr. Clara Faulkner (Indiana Birth Certificates). Her parents had come to Hobart by 1920 (possibly earlier, if only I could find their previous history). Geraldine grew up in Hobart. In the 1940 Census we see her as a 15-year-old schoolgirl, with a younger sister, Valeria. In the 1950 Census we get a surprise: Geraldine has moved to Los Angeles, California, and is a lodger in the home of Fred and Esther McIntyre.
Fred's family had been in Hobart at least since 1900. Fred himself was born there in 1911, the youngest of five children. By 1930 he was working as a repairman in a garage. In 1934 he married Esther Young (her family on her father's side went even further back in Porter County and eastern Lake County[2]).
Fred and Esther had two daughters within a few years, Arlene Lou and Donna Mae. By 1940 Fred had gone to work in the steel mills as a carpenter. Sometime in the 1940s the family moved to California, where their son, Terry, was born circa 1946 (1950 Census). In Los Angeles, Fred worked as a "painter/house decorator" for a "private party." Geraldine Grey, one of two lodgers in their house, earned her wages handling linen for an auto court (that is, a motel, typically with individual cabins).
The McIntyres and Geraldine, separately or together, came back to Hobart at some point in the 1950s.
In May of 1958, Esther McIntyre died of natural causes (heart failure brought on by the scleroderma that had plagued her for eight years). Both daughters by then were adults, and Arlene had married Gerald Brown in 1955, but the son was only twelve years old. It's not surprising that Fred McIntyre turned to someone as familiar as Geraldine Grey for help with the household. It is a bit surprising that he was ready to remarry three months after the death of his wife.
As for the murderer, William H. Fick — his family belonged more to western Lake County, it appears. He was born in Hammond in 1918. The Ficks lived there for a time as well as in Lansing (Illinois), and in Gary. William enlisted in the Army in 1941 and served until 1945. Around 1941-2, he married Gertrude Kozloski (I can't find the marriage record; I'm just guessing based on the age of their eldest child). The 1950 census recorded three children in the Fick household.
William and Gertrude were still married when the tragedy occurred, but separated, as the Gazette noted. That would explain why William was employing a housekeeper. Gertrude Fick was living on Union Street in East Gary (Lake Station), according to the request for a veteran's grave marker that she filled out a few days after William's death. She gave the same address for William on his death certificate, although the Gazette says he lived "near Wheeler."
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[1] "Jilted Suitor Kills 2, Self," Daily Tribune (Greencastle), 2 Sept. 1958; "Jilted Suitor Kills Pair, Self at Hobart," Daily Tribune (Tipton), 2 Sept. 1958.
[2] I believe George Young was her grandfather.
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