Wilfred had gone swimming with neighborhood boys at a farm pond several miles north of the farm on property belonging to the Baier family. He may have been pulled into a sink hole and suffocated. He had a brown pony with a white star on it's forehead. The pony's name was Star. After Wilfred's death the saddle and bridle were kept first in the barn and later in an upstair closet. Star was kept in the pasture to graze for the rest of his life. No one was allowed to ride him.