Surnames: Root, Huntzicker

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., Wis.) Tuesday, May 31, 1938, P. 8

Root, Homer M. (22 June 1846 - 29 May 1938)

HOMER ROOT DIES AT OWEN SUNDAY

Pioneer Clark County Lumberman, Banker, Official, Was Nearly 92

Neillsville--Homer M. Root, prominent in the development and in the affairs of Clark county for nearly 70 years, died shortly before 8 o'clock Sunday night at the Clark county hospital, where he had made his home since April 25. he would have been 92 years old on June 22.

Mr. Root, who held several county offices during his long lifetime, played an important part in the establishment of the Clark county hospital and it was his desire to spend his last days there.

Last Rites Wednesday

Funeral services will be conducted at the Lowe funeral home here at 2 p.m. Wednedsday, with the Rev. G. W. Longnecker officiating. The remains will be cremated in accordance with Mr. Root's wishes, and the ashes will be buried in the Greenwood cemetery.

Born June 22, 1846, on a farm in Guilford, N.Y., Mr. Root attended Harpersville seminary, Oxford academy, in New York state, and Wadsworth South school at Hartford, Conn., after which he entered the teaching profession.

He came west in 1869 with the intention of teaching school, but changed his mind and entered the lumbering business, working in various capacities until 1874, when he formed a partnership with B. F. Thompson, and during the next 11 years they logged off about 55,000,000 feet of pine limber. Mr. Root was engaged in lumbering for 19 years.

Held County Offices

In the meantime he developed a farm in the town of Eaton, and after serving the township for 10 years as clerk, was elected county clerk, an office which he held for eight years. Later he became register of deeds, and still later served for about 18 years as supervisor from Neillsville's second ward. He was a prominent Republican and was chairman of the Republican state central committee in 1886.

He became cashier of the Commercial State bank upon its organization in 1898, and assumed the presidency in 1916. Later he headed the Dairy Exchange bank, with which he was affiliated until its consolidation with the Neillsville bank in 1931. He also built up a private insurance business, which he disposed of only recently.

He was married in 1891 to Mrs. Mary J. Huntzicker, who died in 1927. He is survived by two stepchildren, Frederick Huntzicker, Fresno, Calif., and Victor E. Huntzicker, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.