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BROADVIEW HOUSE FIRE KILLS HUSBAND AND WIFE By Vanessa Gezari Tribune Staff Writer February 19, 2001 For 50 years Jane and Arthur Kuettler Jr. lived together in a small brick house in Broadview, devoted to one another and their neighborhood. On Sunday morning, Arthur Kuettler, 82, and his 80-year-old wife collapsed in their living room as they tried to get out of the house when a fire started in their basement, firefighters said. Relatives say Arthur Kuettler, a retired engineer, was trying to help his wife, who had Parkinson's disease and had trouble moving. "He would not have left the house without her," said their daughter-in-law Marla Kuettler. "He was completely devoted to her. And she depended on him; she loved him dearly." Five months shy of their 60th wedding anniversary, the Kuettlers died as they lived: together in the home they'd bought when their tree-lined street was little more than a dirt track through the fields. A neighbor called 911 about 6:30 a.m. to report the fire in the 2300 block of South 23rd Avenue. "We saw smoke," said John Ealey, 53, who lived across the street from the Kuettlers for about 15 years. "Whatever it was, it was just smoldering. We never saw flames." Firefighters found the front screen door unlocked and the front door open. They found the Kuettlers unconscious about 10 feet from the door. The couple were taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead about 7 a.m. They probably died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said. "Our entire family's in shock," said their son David. "They were the best parents you could ever have wanted. They were such caring people. Everything was for their kids and their neighbors." Arthur Kuettler worked for about 40 years for Western Electric Co. in Cicero, and Jane Kuettler was a homemaker. He planted tomatoes in his garden and gave them to friends and family. While the woman who lived next door was out of the country, he tended her home, mowing the lawn, clearing the snow and collecting the mail. "Art in particular was a really wonderful guy," Ealey said. "He relished life. He looked forward to the changing of the seasons, to cutting the grass and shoveling snow--whatever it took. You hear people refer to good men all the time. He was a good man to the core." Officials Sunday were trying to determine what caused the fire. The house was equipped with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, which were being tested. Survivors include another son, Thomas; a daughter, Susan Simon; Arthur Kuettler's sister, Myrtle Johnson; Jane Kuettler's brother, Edward Lloyd; four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. http://www.chicago.tribune.com/version1/article/0,1575,SAV-0102190202,00.html ****************