8/18/57
A victim of chance is laid to rest
By Al McConagha
Minneapolis Tribune
Staff Writer
Killed by chance and the O'Kasick brothers, Eugene Lindgren was buried Tuesday. It began to rain soon after the gray casket was carried to a waiting hearse through a saluting cordon of uniformed lawmen. IT WAS STILL raining when the ceremony at Anoka's Forest Hills cemetery ended with the fainting of Lindgren's eldest daughter, 13-year-old Patty. Lindgren, 30, a painter and father of three, lived peacefully on Constance road north of Anoka until last Saturday afternoon. Then he was taken hostage and murdered by the fleeing brothers.
It was chance and the O'Kasick brothers that the Rev. William J. Hyllengren spoke of during the funeral sermon in Zion Lutheran church, Anoka."CHANCE is a very real part of life," the minister told the 500 persons who filled the church. "Sometimes things happen in this world that are not the will of God, when God's will is blocked by the evil hearts of some men." "Because chance is a part of life," he said. "The good die young. The wicked prosper. And tragedy comes to those who are innocent." Standing near the flower-laden casket, Mr. Hyllengren spoke of the O'Kasicks: "There w a s something missing in the home life of these men. The love of material things had become an obsession in their hearts. "MAN'S HEART is never a vacuum. It is going to be filled with something-either that which is good or that which is not good." It does no good simply to point to the guilty in this tragedy, he said. There are those "who have sinned to be, sure -- and, perhaps, those who have been sinned against." Mr. Hyllengren said that it burdens him, not only that Lindgren was killed, but also that "there are two who may never have lived." In his final word to the, Lindgren family, Mr. Hyllengren said it is "the memories of your life of love together; that must sustain you now." IT WAS ONE of these memories that already had been voiced by daughter Patty: "Dad saved all of our lives. They would have broken down the door if it hadn't been for his bravery."
OFFICIALS of six police departments formed an honor guard Tuesday at the funeral of Eugene Lindgren, killed by the - fugitive O'Kasick brothers Saturday. The ceremony was at Anoka's Forest Hills cemetery. Lindgren, 30, was taken hostage and was slain by the fleeing brothers. Represented were the Minneapolis, Fridley and Anoka police departments, the Minnesota highway patrol and deputy sheriffs of Hennepin and Anoka counties. Mrs. Lindgren, photo at right was helped by a friend. Highway patrolman James Crawford, who saw Lindgren killed and who later killed two of the fugitives, is just left of Mrs. Lindgren, saluting
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