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Exhaust Gas Is Fatal To Kennard Girl, 20

Joyce Anderson Is Victim of Accidental Asphyxiation

Joyce Anderson, 20-year-old Kennard girl, lost her life and her fiancé, Charles Dornacker, of Blair, barely escaped early Sunday morning when they were overcome by exhaust gas in a closed garage in east Blair. The pair was found by William Nielsen, Dornacker’s relief driver of the big cross country freight outfit.

According to Nielsen, he and Dornacker had arrived in Blair from a trip to California late Saturday afternoon. They were hauling a 16 ton load of California strawberries and lettuce and the load was under refrigeration. The refrigeration unit was powered by a gasoline engine, mounted on the front of the refrigerated trailer. It started and stopped automatically as temperature in the truck required.

The truck, an expensive diesel outfit was owned by Dornacker and was nearly new. He had been in the practice of putting it inside overnight because of fear of hail damage should a storm come up.

It is believed that Dornacker and Miss Anderson went to the garage to check on the truck after spending an evening together. Exhaust gas which had accumulated in the building from the refrigeration unit was apparently not detected in time by the pair.

Mr. Nielsen called the Blair Rescue Squad and Miss Anderson was declared dead when the squad arrived. Dornacker was able to be revived and was taken to Community Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Joyce Irene Anderson was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Anderson of Kennard. She was born December 7, 1944. She attended the Kennard schools and graduated from Blair High School with the class of 1962. Since that time she had graduated from the Omaha Automation Institute as an I.B.M. operator and has been working for Northwestern Bell for the past three years. She was 20 years of age at the time of her death.

She is survived by her parents and by a sister, Phyllis who is Mrs. Lauren Reining of Blair; by her grandparents, Mrs. Sherman Anderson and Mr. and Mrs. Otto Mencke. Two nieces and one nephew also survive.

Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at Emmaus Lutheran church, of which she was a member, with the Rev. Harold Laursen conducting the service. Burial under the direction of the Campbell Mortuary was made in the Kennard cemetery.

Pallbearers were Larry Betts, Douglas Bragg, Gordon Stork, Jerry Reining, Steve Luschen and Clyde Button.

Note: Per Kennard Cemetery Records: d 13 June 1965; buried Blk 7 Lot 25 Sp 1