William E. VandeBrake
30 YOA
Corner Drugstore
302 Main Street
Rock Valley, IA
Sioux County
October 19, 1920
In the early evening of Tuesday, October 19, 1920, 30-year-old William E. “Will” VandeBrake of Rock Valley was shot and killed in the Corner Drugstore at 302 Main Street. He died later that night at a hospital. There were no witnesses.
Courtesy photo Penny Postcards From Iowa, USGenWeb ArchivesVandeBrake co-owned the drugstore with his pharmacist brother Eibert “Bert” VandeBrake.
Sheriff Robert B. Spratt investigated the murder for Sioux County. In addition, the Mayor of Rock Valley appointed these six local men as special Deputy Marshalls to help search for the killer: William Hoeder, Albert Veen, William Goomahs, Henry Bpyker, Peter ton Napel, and Elmer ten Pas.
At a mass meeting in Rock Valley, incensed and frightened townspeople publicly expressed their emotions and pledged a $1,000 reward for information about the murder.
The Hospers Tribune wrote of the killing:
“There is practically no clue as to the murderer. Different theories are advanced as motive for the shooting. Some would have it robbery, the murderer being frightened away after seeing what he had done. Others, that some dope fiend asked for drugs and upon being refused shot him . . . . But even if caught the man would have to confess as there is no one who could identify him.”
Despite the reward and the special deputies who assisted Sioux County Sheriff Spratt, the killer of Will VandeBrake was never found.
Left behind by the tragedy were Will’s 28-year-old widow Pearl and two young daughters — Dorothy J., aged 4, and Patricia who was 1 year and 8 months.
In April 1921, Will VandeBrake’s mother Petertje passed away from pneumonia. The Rock Valley Bee wrote of her:
“The deceased had reached the age of seventy years, and had always enjoyed good health, until last fall, following the death of her son, Will VandeBrake. She never seemed as well after this great shock.”
Not long after their mother’s death, Will’s brother Bert sold the Corner Drugstore.
A VandeBrake family member contacted Iowa Cold Cases with the following information:
“[On the evening of the murder], Bert was scheduled to work, but at the last minute something came up, and Will worked for him instead. It is thought that Bert was the intended target of the killer; and since the brothers looked very much alike, the gunman thought he was shooting Bert who was behind the prescription counter at the time.
The killers motive to shoot Bert was the killer wanted Bert’s wife, who I’m told was beautiful. (Bert’s wife did not know the killer was even interested in her). It looks like the killer concluded the only way he would have a chance of being with Bert’s wife was to kill Bert.
It all does make for quite the story: murder for love.”
Courtesy photo Ancestry.comWilliam E. VandeBrake was born January 14, 1890 in Sioux County to Dutch immigrants Petertje Den Herder and Eibert VandeBrake.
His siblings included Jene “Jane” VandeBrake Harmelink, Gerrit VandeBrake, Gijsje VandeBrake Wayenburg, Hendrik VandeBrake, Winnie VandeBrake, and Eibert “Bert” VandeBrake.
At the time of the 1915 census and when he registered for the WWI draft, Will VandeBrake was a self-employed barber in Sioux Center.
In early 1920, Will and Bert VandeBrake, bought the business in Rock Valley; although they named it “VandeBrake Pharmacy,” locals always called it the “Corner Drugstore.”
Will and his wife Pearl moved to Rock Valley and bought a home for their young family near the business.
Courtesy photo Iowa Gravestone Photo ProjectWill VandeBrake is buried with his extended family in Memory Gardens Sioux Center Cemetery.
Questions and information about the 1920 unsolved murder of William E. VandeBrake should be directed to the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office at 712-737-2280 or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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