BLAIR BOY DROWNS WHILE FISHING SUNDAY

Falls From Boat, Current Draws Him Under. Body is Found

Billy Plumb, 15 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Plumb of near Blair, was drowned last Sunday while fishing in the Missouri river at the Petersen Bend several miles north of Blair in Burt county.

The boy and his father were fishing from a row boat when the boy apparently reached for some object in the water and fell from the boat. Although the boy could swim the current was too strong for him and he went down.

Seeing the danger the son was in, the father dove overboard and reached him but the current pulled him from his arms. He continued the diving for some time in the hopes of recovering the boy, but nothing came of it.

The body was found Wednesday afternoon at about 5:30 o’clock, only a short distance from where he had gone down.

Funeral services with Rev. Hamilton officiating and Chris K. Bendorf in charge were held this Thursday morning at the Blair cemetery at 10:30 o’clock.

Besides his immediate family, he leaves his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ras Short and a number of aunts and uncles to mourn his tragic death.

#2-July 18, 1938- the Pilot Tribune- Billy Plumb

BOY DROWNS IN MISSOURI RIVER SUNDAY

BILLY PLUMB LOSES LIFE IN ATTEMPT TO RECOVER BOAT IN MIDSTREAM

THREE SISTERS AND PARENTS SURVIVE

BLAIR FARM BOY DROWNS AT PETERSEN BEND NEAR HERMAN SUNDAY; FATHER DIVES AFTER SON BUT CURRENT PULLS LAD FROM HIS ARMS

Billy Plumb, 15-year-old Blair farm boy, and student in Blair high school, was drowned in the Missouri river near Petersen bend at Herman Sunday morning when he tried unsuccessfully to retrieve a rowboat in midstream after it had broken loose from its moorings.

The body was recovered at 5:30 p.m. yesterday near the place where he was drowned, after volunteers had conducted an intensive search since Sunday. Burial was made at 10:30 this morning in Blair cemetery.

John Plumb, the boy’s father, dove into the river and reached his drowning son, but the current pulled the lad from his arms. The father continued to dive but could not find the boy. Exhausted and suffering from shock and exposure, Mr. Plumb was brought into Blair.

With members of the family and others friends, Billy had gone to Petersen Ben Saturday night on a fishing expedition. They put out their nets and spent the night on a river island. They were fishing at the time of the tragedy.

The youth, who lived on a farm southwest of Blair near the golf course with his parents, was a former pupil at McCarthy rural school. In May he completed his freshman year in Blair high school, and was to have entered the tenth grade there in September.

He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Plumb; and three sisters, May, Jeanette and Dolores Plumb. Mr. and Mrs. R.A. Short of this city are his grandparents.

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

Note: spelled Billie on tombstone

FindaGrave #117928037