Obituary Record

Theodore Whitmus
Died on 6/1/1938
Buried in Herman Cemetery

Whitmus, Theodore 6/1/1938

#1-Printed in the June 2, 1938 Pilot-Tribune, Blair, Nebraska

Note: June 2, 1938 was a Thursday. The boy died Wednesday afternoon; that would be June 1, 1938

Note: Bill Lippincott, who farms north of Blair, says the lake was drained in the 1950's/1960's when the Army Corps straightened out the Missouri, and he thinks Ned Tyson bought the land from Bunn's. He said that years later, people would come up from north Omaha wanting to fish at Bunn's, and asking “Where is Bunn’s Lake?” Before the lake was drained, teenagers would come out and go ice-skating. Sharron Potadle, daughter-in-law of Gilbert Potadle (Gilbert found the body), writes: “After trying to think who might have some info concerning Bunn's Lake, I called Bob Krogh since he has lived in Blair his whole life. He remembered it immediately, even said he'd gone fishing there a few times in his youth. He said that he'd even gone out, as an adult, to where he remembered it to be to see if he could still see any remnants of it but had never been successful at that. At any rate, this is the way he described the location as nearly as he could remember: follow the bottom road (10th St) out of Blair, past the road that now goes to the Driftwood, to the point where the road makes its first curve to the west. Somewhere in that area there used to be a small road that went north again & then east & in that area was the "lake" which I'm sure today would be called a large pond. The fact that the news story refers to the possibility of there being a fence that might have been erected during a dry spell & that the lake was just ten feet deep would make it easy to believe that somewhere along the line it dried up for the last time.

Searchers Find Body of Herman Youth at Bunn’s

Theodore Whitmus, 14, is drowned Wednesday as Boat Capsizes

Youth, 14, Drowns; Fell from Boat While Fishing

Youthful Angler Unable to Swim

Men Recover Body After Two-Hour Search; Victim’s Friend on Fatal Expedition is Overcome With Grief After Giving Alarm

Thrown into the water when the boat in which he was fishing was upset by waves, Theodore Whitmus, 14-year-old Herman youth, was drowned at Bunn’s lake north of Blair yesterday afternoon before the horrified eyes of his fishing companion, Clifton Milversted, Jr, 15, also of Herman.

Theodore, unable to swim, disappeared in five feet of water, and Clifton, panic-stricken, rushed to summon aid before being overcome with grief. So unnerved was the Milersted lad by the experience that he was unable to direct searchers for almost two hours after the tragedy occurred.

Men with wires, poles and rakes searched the lake bed nearby for more than half an hour before the body was found by Gilbert Potadle and Wilbur Lowe of Herman, who were wading behind a boat rowed by Byron Bunn. They brought the body to shore, where it was placed in a waiting ambulance and taken to the Truhlsen undertaking parlor in Herman.

Cries Unanswered

C.J. Robinson and Bill Moore of Blair, fishing some distance down the lake, said later they had heard shouts at about the time the accident happened, but disregarded them believing them to be the shouting of a group of the boys who had been at the lake.

The drowning victim was a son of Mrs. Esther Whitmus, a widow living in Herman. His father died about two years ago. Surviving him, in addition to his mother, are two sisters: Miss Martha Whitmus and Mrs. Alfred Zimmerman, and two brothers.

It was announced this morning that funeral services for the Whitmus boy will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at the Herman Methodist Church, the Rev. A.W. Clarke officiating. Burial will be in the Herman cemetery.

#2-Printed in the June 2, 1938 Enterprise, Blair, Nebraska

Herman Lad Drowns in Bunn’s Lake

Boat Sinks While Fishing. Body in Water Two Hours

10 FEET FROM SHORE

Theodore Whitmus, fifteen-year-old son of Mrs. Esther Whitmus of Herman, was drowned in Bunn’s lake north of Blair Wednesday afternoon.

Theodore and Clifford Milversted, both of Herman, had ridden out on a bicycle and stopped at the J.P. Jensen home where they borrowed fishing tackle and then in a boat had rowed out in the lake. The presumption is that they had rowed into a line of fence posts set when the lake was dry and had thus stove in the boat.

Evidently Milversted could swim, but Whitmus went under in between five and six feet of water. Milversted in his excitement rode his wheel to the Jensen home and reported the accident. Call for assistance was immediately made, and the whole countryside responded. A search was instituted but it was fully two hours before the body was found by Gilbert Potadle of Herman, and taken from the water.

Mrs. Whitmus is a widow, her husband having died about a year ago. Two sons and two daughters survive, Raymond and Lloyd, and Martha and Mrs. Jeannette Zimmerman.

#3-9 June, 1938 - The Enterprise

Funeral services were held Friday afternoon at 2:30 at the Methodist church for Theodore Whitmus, son of Mrs. Esther Whitmus, who was drowned Wednesday afternoon at Bunn’s lake. Rev. A. W. Clarke officiated. Six Boy Scouts were pallbearers. They were Raymond Korshoj, Monte West, Earl Stokes, Clifton Milversted, Junior Stokes and Gerald Fausett. The Girl Scouts attended the service in a body and formed a line of march. Theodore William Whitmus, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Whitmus, was born at Lillian, Nebraska near Broken Bow June 6, 1923 and died June 1, 1938. Just five days before his 15th birthday. His parents moved here from Broken Bow twelve years ago. He attended school at Glendale and Hill Creek before entering the Herman schools. He was a member of the Boy Scout troop No. 138 of Herman and of the Methodist church. He was always considered a good boy. Besides his mother, he is survived by two brothers, Raymond and Lloyd, two sisters, Mrs. Janet Zimmerman and Martha. His father and one sister preceded him in death.

~~~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library, Blair, Nebraska.~~~

FindaGrave memorial 90616859

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