Coal Gas Snuffs Out Woman's Life At Her Carbon Motel Apartment
A 46-year-old Lehighton R. 4 motel owner was asphyxiated Sunday morning in her one-floor apartment adjoining the motel units.
Mrs. Loretta (Smith) Mooney succumbed to coal gas after a pipe leading from the furnace to the chimney became disconnected.
Her daughter and grandson, Mrs. Shirley Sikorsky, 26, and Peter Sikorsky, 4, of Balton. Mass., were overcome. They are listed in good condition in Gnaden Huttten Hospital.
Mrs. Sikorsky, found unconscious on the kitchen floor, regained consciousness yesterday. Her son was found dazed in a bedroom.
State police at Lehighton and Carbon County Deputy Coroner William H. Weyhenmeyer said the tragedy was discovered about 9 a.m. by a handyman at the motel located half a mile south of the Lehighton Weissport Bridge along old Route 29 in Franklin Township.
Mrs. Mooney tried to get out of the building. She was found lying on the floor near the door of a sitting room leading to the motel office lobby. A pet dog was found dead nearby, police, said.
The apartment was constructed for family use.
Weyhenmeyer Issued a certificate of death due to asphyxiation. He said Mrs. Mooney had been dead less than an hour.
The victim was discovered by Herald Long of Lehighton R. 4., a handyman. He told police he checked the coal heating system about 8 a.m. and found a galvanized pipe had fallen out of a brick chimney in the basement. He replaced the pipe, loaded the stoker hopper with coal and then went to Sunday school. He said he did not realize there was any trouble in the apartment because he heard noises of someone moving around. Police theorize the, noises were made by Mrs. Mooney and her daughter struggling to escape the fumes. Mrs. Mooney was pronounced dead by Dr. Richard Cladding of Lehighton.
The Lehigh Fire Co. ambulance crew used oxygen in an attempt to revive her.
Born in Bowmanstown, Mrs. Mooney was a daughter of Jacob Smith of Palmerton R.1 and Mrs. Norman Murry of Bethlehem.
She had operated the motel for more than six years. She was a member of Trinity EvangelicaI Congregational Church, Palmerton.
Surviving with her parents and husband, Jacob Jr. of Palmerton, are two sorns, George of Allentown and Earl of Catasauqua; her: daughter, Mrs. Sikorsky; a brother, Clair Smith of Palmerton R. 1; three sisters, Mildred. wife of Paul E. Leiby of Allentown R. 2, Mrs. LaRue Green and Alverna, wife of Anthony Daddona, both of Allentown, and seven grandchildren.
The Kegel Funeral Home, Palmerton, is in charge of arrangements.
The Morning Call
January 2, 1962
A 46-year-old Lehighton R. 4 motel owner was asphyxiated Sunday morning in her one-floor apartment adjoining the motel units.
Mrs. Loretta (Smith) Mooney succumbed to coal gas after a pipe leading from the furnace to the chimney became disconnected.
Her daughter and grandson, Mrs. Shirley Sikorsky, 26, and Peter Sikorsky, 4, of Balton. Mass., were overcome. They are listed in good condition in Gnaden Huttten Hospital.
Mrs. Sikorsky, found unconscious on the kitchen floor, regained consciousness yesterday. Her son was found dazed in a bedroom.
State police at Lehighton and Carbon County Deputy Coroner William H. Weyhenmeyer said the tragedy was discovered about 9 a.m. by a handyman at the motel located half a mile south of the Lehighton Weissport Bridge along old Route 29 in Franklin Township.
Mrs. Mooney tried to get out of the building. She was found lying on the floor near the door of a sitting room leading to the motel office lobby. A pet dog was found dead nearby, police, said.
The apartment was constructed for family use.
Weyhenmeyer Issued a certificate of death due to asphyxiation. He said Mrs. Mooney had been dead less than an hour.
The victim was discovered by Herald Long of Lehighton R. 4., a handyman. He told police he checked the coal heating system about 8 a.m. and found a galvanized pipe had fallen out of a brick chimney in the basement. He replaced the pipe, loaded the stoker hopper with coal and then went to Sunday school. He said he did not realize there was any trouble in the apartment because he heard noises of someone moving around. Police theorize the, noises were made by Mrs. Mooney and her daughter struggling to escape the fumes. Mrs. Mooney was pronounced dead by Dr. Richard Cladding of Lehighton.
The Lehigh Fire Co. ambulance crew used oxygen in an attempt to revive her.
Born in Bowmanstown, Mrs. Mooney was a daughter of Jacob Smith of Palmerton R.1 and Mrs. Norman Murry of Bethlehem.
She had operated the motel for more than six years. She was a member of Trinity EvangelicaI Congregational Church, Palmerton.
Surviving with her parents and husband, Jacob Jr. of Palmerton, are two sorns, George of Allentown and Earl of Catasauqua; her: daughter, Mrs. Sikorsky; a brother, Clair Smith of Palmerton R. 1; three sisters, Mildred. wife of Paul E. Leiby of Allentown R. 2, Mrs. LaRue Green and Alverna, wife of Anthony Daddona, both of Allentown, and seven grandchildren.
The Kegel Funeral Home, Palmerton, is in charge of arrangements.
The Morning Call
January 2, 1962
Coal Gas Snuffs Out Woman's Life At Her Carbon Motel Apartment
A 46-year-old Lehighton R. 4 motel owner was asphyxiated Sunday morning in her one-floor apartment adjoining the motel units.
Mrs. Loretta (Smith) Mooney succumbed to coal gas after a pipe leading from the furnace to the chimney became disconnected.
Her daughter and grandson, Mrs. Shirley Sikorsky, 26, and Peter Sikorsky, 4, of Balton. Mass., were overcome. They are listed in good condition in Gnaden Huttten Hospital.
Mrs. Sikorsky, found unconscious on the kitchen floor, regained consciousness yesterday. Her son was found dazed in a bedroom.
State police at Lehighton and Carbon County Deputy Coroner William H. Weyhenmeyer said the tragedy was discovered about 9 a.m. by a handyman at the motel located half a mile south of the Lehighton Weissport Bridge along old Route 29 in Franklin Township.
Mrs. Mooney tried to get out of the building. She was found lying on the floor near the door of a sitting room leading to the motel office lobby. A pet dog was found dead nearby, police, said.
The apartment was constructed for family use.
Weyhenmeyer Issued a certificate of death due to asphyxiation. He said Mrs. Mooney had been dead less than an hour.
The victim was discovered by Herald Long of Lehighton R. 4., a handyman. He told police he checked the coal heating system about 8 a.m. and found a galvanized pipe had fallen out of a brick chimney in the basement. He replaced the pipe, loaded the stoker hopper with coal and then went to Sunday school. He said he did not realize there was any trouble in the apartment because he heard noises of someone moving around. Police theorize the, noises were made by Mrs. Mooney and her daughter struggling to escape the fumes. Mrs. Mooney was pronounced dead by Dr. Richard Cladding of Lehighton.
The Lehigh Fire Co. ambulance crew used oxygen in an attempt to revive her.
Born in Bowmanstown, Mrs. Mooney was a daughter of Jacob Smith of Palmerton R.1 and Mrs. Norman Murry of Bethlehem.
She had operated the motel for more than six years. She was a member of Trinity EvangelicaI Congregational Church, Palmerton.
Surviving with her parents and husband, Jacob Jr. of Palmerton, are two sorns, George of Allentown and Earl of Catasauqua; her: daughter, Mrs. Sikorsky; a brother, Clair Smith of Palmerton R. 1; three sisters, Mildred. wife of Paul E. Leiby of Allentown R. 2, Mrs. LaRue Green and Alverna, wife of Anthony Daddona, both of Allentown, and seven grandchildren.
The Kegel Funeral Home, Palmerton, is in charge of arrangements.
The Morning Call
January 2, 1962
A 46-year-old Lehighton R. 4 motel owner was asphyxiated Sunday morning in her one-floor apartment adjoining the motel units.
Mrs. Loretta (Smith) Mooney succumbed to coal gas after a pipe leading from the furnace to the chimney became disconnected.
Her daughter and grandson, Mrs. Shirley Sikorsky, 26, and Peter Sikorsky, 4, of Balton. Mass., were overcome. They are listed in good condition in Gnaden Huttten Hospital.
Mrs. Sikorsky, found unconscious on the kitchen floor, regained consciousness yesterday. Her son was found dazed in a bedroom.
State police at Lehighton and Carbon County Deputy Coroner William H. Weyhenmeyer said the tragedy was discovered about 9 a.m. by a handyman at the motel located half a mile south of the Lehighton Weissport Bridge along old Route 29 in Franklin Township.
Mrs. Mooney tried to get out of the building. She was found lying on the floor near the door of a sitting room leading to the motel office lobby. A pet dog was found dead nearby, police, said.
The apartment was constructed for family use.
Weyhenmeyer Issued a certificate of death due to asphyxiation. He said Mrs. Mooney had been dead less than an hour.
The victim was discovered by Herald Long of Lehighton R. 4., a handyman. He told police he checked the coal heating system about 8 a.m. and found a galvanized pipe had fallen out of a brick chimney in the basement. He replaced the pipe, loaded the stoker hopper with coal and then went to Sunday school. He said he did not realize there was any trouble in the apartment because he heard noises of someone moving around. Police theorize the, noises were made by Mrs. Mooney and her daughter struggling to escape the fumes. Mrs. Mooney was pronounced dead by Dr. Richard Cladding of Lehighton.
The Lehigh Fire Co. ambulance crew used oxygen in an attempt to revive her.
Born in Bowmanstown, Mrs. Mooney was a daughter of Jacob Smith of Palmerton R.1 and Mrs. Norman Murry of Bethlehem.
She had operated the motel for more than six years. She was a member of Trinity EvangelicaI Congregational Church, Palmerton.
Surviving with her parents and husband, Jacob Jr. of Palmerton, are two sorns, George of Allentown and Earl of Catasauqua; her: daughter, Mrs. Sikorsky; a brother, Clair Smith of Palmerton R. 1; three sisters, Mildred. wife of Paul E. Leiby of Allentown R. 2, Mrs. LaRue Green and Alverna, wife of Anthony Daddona, both of Allentown, and seven grandchildren.
The Kegel Funeral Home, Palmerton, is in charge of arrangements.
The Morning Call
January 2, 1962
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
