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Hynek's brother Stanley was killed in an automobile
accident on February 9, 1934. The driver of the car was a
neighbor, Frank Kacher. Stanley and he had spent the
afternoon in Ft. Atkinson discussing the corn and hog reduction campaign.
Within a mile of Little Turkey, their
car skidded into a three-foot ditch and turned over.
Stanley had severe head injuries and was pinned under the
automobile. He remained conscious and was rushed to the New
Hampton hospital, where he died two hours later.Stanley Dostal was born August 6, 1888, in Borsice, Moravia. He was seventeen years younger than his brother Hynek. He arrived in America at the age of eleven. Stanley can be seen in one early photograph with his brother, Vaclav, and his cousins, Joseph and Agnes. Joseph and Agnes were Raymond Dostal's children. Stanley served in the infantry of the 83rd division during World War I. Upon returning home from the war, he married Lucy Pecota on November 4, 1919. Immediately after Stanley's accident, Father Vaclav Dostal was summoned to the hospital. Blood was transferred directly from Father Dostal's veins to his dying brother, but little could be done. On Valentines Day, February 14, 1934, The Decorah Journal printed Stanley's obituary. 
Stanley Dostal's funeral was attended by 20 priests and was
one of the largest ever held in Little Turkey. His brother
Rev. Vaclav Dostal said the reqium high mass. He left
behind his widow, Lucy, and six children. Frank Katcher
survived the accident, but guilt later led him to commit
suicide near the Dostal farm. Ironically, Stanley's son
Louis, who was also a veteran, was killed on August 8, 1961,
in an automobile accident not far from Little Turkey. Lucy
remained on the farm until she died on December 19, 1960.
The Dostal family farm now looks much as it did in the
1930s. The area surrounding the farm is very flat. Only
Mildred Dostal, Stanley's daughter-in-law, lives on the farm,
where she raises pigs and cows.Later that year, on July 25, 1934, the Decorah Journal reported the death of Hynek's mother, Marie Dostal. She died on July 18th, 1934. Her obituary read in part... "Mrs. Mary Dostal of Little Turkey, Iowa, the beloved mother of Rev. Father Dostal passed away peacefully last Wednesday evening. "Grandma" Dostal as she was know to thousands of her friends lived to be a ripe old age. At the time of her death she was 86 years and seven months old. Mrs. Dostal was born in Czechoslovakia during the turbulent year of 1848. She was married to (Ignatius) Dostal and God blessed them with a large family of eleven children. Of these five were consecrated to the service of God. Two sons became priests and three daughters nuns. Another son, Dr. Dostal, is a prominent journalist in St. Louis, who was recently decorated by the Pope for his fearless defense of the church. Grandma Dostal was beloved by all that knew her. She was most kind and charitable to everyone, especially to the poor. Her funeral took place last Saturday morning at Little Turkey. Hundreds of her devoted friends came to pay their last respects. Seventeen priests were present in the sanctuary. Her son, the Rev. Father Dostal, celebrated the requiem High Mass."She was buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Little Turkey alongside her husband, Ignatius. Also buried in the cemetery, are Stanley and his wife Lucy, and their son Louis. Three generations of Dostals now lie buried in the small cemetery located only a mile from the original farm.  |