FARMER, 28, ACCIDENTALLY SHOT SUNDAY

Lloyd Vittitoe Dies Of Wounds In Neck From .22 Rifle

Lloyd Vittitoe, 28, of the Herman vicinity, died shortly after 7:00 p.m. Sunday evening of accidental gunshot wounds sustained when his .22 caliber rifle discharged, sending a bullet through his neck.

The accident occurred at the Zimmerman farm, one and three fourths miles southwest of Herman. Vittitoe was in the employ of Gilbert Potable, Herman businessman and farmer.

According to the findings of the County Sheriff’s office at Blair, Mr. and Mrs. Vittitoe had entertained company during the day, and toward evening, while the party was visiting, a dog which was tied outside the house made considerable noise. Annoyed by the dog’s howling, Vittitoe determined to kill the dog and started out of the house with his loaded rifle.

Mrs. Vittitoe and the friends related that they heard a shot and presumed that the dog had been shot. However, when the young farmer did not return they investigated and found him lying in the yard with a gunshot wound through his neck.

Medical aid was immediately summoned from Blair, but he bled so seriously that his life could not be saved.

The Sheriff’s office stated that the gun had apparently been discharged by Vittitoe’s stumbling or striking it against something while enroute to kill the dog.

The deceased man is survived by his wife, Jean, and two young sons, ages 9 and 11 years.

Truhlsen Mortuary at Herman was called to take charge of the body.

A member of the Charles Jackson post of the American Legion at Herman, brief services were held at Herman at 9:30 Wednesday morning. Later in the day at 2 p.m. services were held in the First Christian church at Modale, Iowa, birthplace of the deceased. Burial was made at Magnolia, Iowa with military honors at the grave.

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

Find a Grave Memorial #96960495