Elias Katz was born in June 1861 in Russia. He married Ella Polishook Katz in 1885 in Berdychiv, Zhytomyr, Ukraine. They had four children in 10 years. He died on December 7, 1905, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the age of 44, and was buried in Fort Worth, Texas.

E. Katz, 49 years of age, died Thursday at the B'nai B'rith hospital in New Orleans, according to a message received here this morning. The body will arrive in Fort Worth tonight and funeral will be held by Rabbi Halpren Saturday morning. Interment will be made in the Jewish cemetery.

The dead man was formerly in business in this city and had been ill for several months, having been sent to New Orleans several weeks ago in hope of his recovery.

He is survived by his widow and three children, who live here.

Published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on December 8, 1905

Byron K: I suspect that Elias was ill with yellow fever and died from it. I've researched and found that Yellow Fever was prevalent around New Orleans around 1905:

from this PBS website:

Yellow fever appeared in the U.S. in the late 17th century. The deadly virus continued to strike cities, mostly eastern seaports and Gulf Coast cities, for the next two hundred years, killing hundreds, sometimes thousands in a single summer.

9. New Orleans; May-October 1905; more than 900 dead Yellow fever epidemics took more than 41,000 lives in New Orleans from 1817-1905, but the 1905 outbreak was America's last. Today, yellow fever continues to appear in small outbreaks in South America and more serious epidemics in West and Central Africa.

WOODMEN UNVEILING

Exercises to be Held by W.O.W. at Jewist Rest Cemetary

The Woodmen will have a monument unveiling for those Jewish members of the w.o.w. who are buried in Jewish Rest cemetary, viz: L. Levi, E. Katz and D. Burkvich.

The members of Lone STar camp No. 2 W.O.W. will assemble at the hall No 605 Main street at 2:30 Sunday afternoon and will proceed from the hall to the cemetary, leaving the lodge room at 3 o'clock. Judge J. C. Smith will be the orator of the day.

See this link to learn more about the Woodmen of the world. But basically, when Joseph Cullen Root founded the Modern Woodmen of the World in 1883, he envisioned it as part life insurance, part fraternal organization. The basic premise was, in a way, a play on Root’s name: a way for members to sink financial roots that would help provide security for their families. The organization initially accepted as members only males in their peak earning years: age 15 to 52. When a member died, their compatriots would take up a collection to help sustain the widow and any children.