FIND CAR OF BLAIR MAN WHO SUFFOCATED IN OMAHA HOTEL

Charles Booten, 38, Mistakes Doors in Smokey Room

Charles C. Booten, 38 year old member of a Blair firm engaged in selling feed and poultry supplies, died Friday in an Omaha hotel. The death occurred at the Logan Hotel, 1804 Dodge street, where Mr. Booten had registered Thursday morning.

The investigation which followed the tragedy determined that the probable cause of the accident was a smoldering cigarette. Mr. Booten, smoking in bed, fell asleep. His cigarette dropped from his outstretched hand onto the seat of an upholstered chair beside the bed. The chair caught fire.

Partially overcome by the smoke, Booten was awakened and tried to escape. However in attempting to leave the room, he opened a door into a closet instead of the door into the hallway. Then overcome, he collapsed into the closet.

All of the windows to the room were closed and the blazing upholstery consumed the oxygen in the room, causing Booten’s death by suffocation.

The body was discovered by an elevator operator who had used a pass key to enter the room when his knock was unanswered.

Booten, a veteran of World War II, is survived by his widow, Lois, three daughters, Janice and Joyce, who are twins, and Barbara and a son Billy.

The deceased man was born at Audubon, Iowa, but had moved to Blair about thirteen years ago. Funeral services were held Sunday, September 2, at 2 p.m. from the Methodist church in Blair, the Rev. Homer L Dickerson officiating. Interment under the supervision of the Campbell Mortuary was made in the Audubon, Iowa cemetery.

For several days after discovering Booten’s death, a search was carried out for his car which he had been driving the day he checked in at the hotel. The car, a 1951 Chevrolet, contained order books for feed which had been sold by Booten and his partner, Ray Wiblishouser, the forepart of last week. An item in the Omaha World Herald Tuesday brought it to light, however. Booten, it was discovered, had stored the car at the John Opitz garage before going to the hotel. Attendants, reading of the incident, recognized the description of the car and notified Blair authorities.

It was brought to Blair Tuesday afternoon.

#2-Audubon News-Advocate

"Charles Booton Dies in Omaha Hotel Room"

"Funeral services for Charles Clarence Booton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Booton of Audubon, were held at the Methodist church, Blair, Nebr., after he was found dead in an Omaha hotel room about 8 p.m. Friday by an employee of the hotel."

"It was first reported that Mr. Booton had evidently fallen asleep with a lighted cigarette in his room and, then, upon waking had tried to get out of the smoke-filled room, failing because he went to the closet door instead of the door leading our of his room. It is understood however, that he was overcome before he could move very far, although the closet door was reported open."

"Mr. Booton was born February 16, 1913 in Audubon. He was graduated from Audubon high school, and in 1935 married Miss Lois Williamson, of Maryville, Mo."

"Survivors include his wife, four children, Billy 15, twin daughters, Janice and Joyce, 14, and Barbara, 12; his parents; one brother, Robert R. Booton, Audubon; and five sisters, Mrs. L.J. (Marjorie) Larsen, Guthrie Center, Mrs. Howard (Martha) Lacy, Audubon, Mrs. Glen (Bette) Bancroft, Des Moines, Mrs. Dick (Pat) Ross, Gray, and Miss Marilyn Booton, Audubon."

"His grandmother, Mrs. J.C. Boyer, Des Moines, also survives."

"Mr. Booton was a member of the Methodist church. During World War II, he served for two years in the Navy."

"Br. Booton was a feed salesman, making his home in Blair, located about 40 miles north of Omaha. At one time, he and a partner had a feed store at Blair."

"Burial was at Audubon."

Other Children
William Lee aka Billy (b abt 1936)
Joyce Irene (b about 1937)
Barbara Joan (b about 1939)

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