Shullsburg man killed in crash

Edward Frederick Hofer was born on July 29, 1957 in Hazel Green, WI to parents Edna Mae Humphrey and Frederick Charles Hofer. He grew up in Shullsburg, Wisconsin and attended Shullsburg High School there. After high school, he was a student of Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore, Wisconsin. On September 19, 1975 Ed was involved in a head-on collision on hwy. 61 that took his life and injured three other people. Edward was instantly killed in the crash. The accident happened on a straight stretch of dry pavement, half a mile north of Rogers Branch bridge. Straka, driving a pickup truck, apparently crossed the center line into the path of the Hofer car. Hofer, King, and Man were on their way home from Southwest Tech in Fennimore, where they attended school. Edward Hofer's body remained trapped in the wrecked car for nearly an hour. Gasoline from a ruptured tank had soaked the rear of the vehicle, and the Fennimore rescue squad avoided using a cutting torch or power saw due to fire risk. The body was finally freed when a wrecker pulled the wreck apart. See more about the accident that caused his death at One Killed, Three Injured In Crash on Highway 61.