On March 25, 1947, a violent explosion struck Centralia Coal Company Mine No. 5 in Wamac, Illinois. By March 29, it was confirmed that the explosion, combined with the subsequent release of poisonous gas, had taken the lives of 111 of the 142 men working in the mine at the time of the accident. Those who died included Joseph Kock Sr. and other Beckemeyer miners: Rodrigo Alvarez, Luther Frazier, Joseph Peiler, Anton Skrobul, Andrew Farley, John Mazeka, John Placek, and Alfred Stevens.