OBITUARY - Plain Dealer, Wabash (IN)
CORONER BENDER CITES CONFUSING CLUES IN DEATH
Authorities have under investigation certain "confusing circumstances" surrounding the apparently suicidal death of Homer Lilves, 48, local factory worker, at his small apartment above the Ferm Kester barbership early Sunday morning. Death resulted from a load from a .20 gauge shotgun that tore off the left side of his head as he lay fully clothed, except for his shoes, in his bed. Lilves occupied two rooms at the South Miami street address. Coroner Todd Bender said his check-up, which was made in conjunction with Prosecuter Eugene M. Weesner and police indicated the man had taken his own life. However, the coroner ordered that fingerprints be taken from the corpse and that pictures be made of the room as a routine matter in the probe. "It would seem that death was due to suicide, although, as I say, there are several confusing factors," explained Coroner Bender. "The position of the gun as he clutched it in his hands, the position of his legs are a little hard to figure." Lilves lay diagonally across the bed with his legs crossed. His right hand held the barrel of the weapon a few inches from the sight, and the left hand lay open across the barrel shortly below that point. It was presumed that he had forced the trigger with his toe. The suicide theory was supported by statements made to officers by the widow, Mrs. Ertha Lilves, and the daughter, Marion, who recalled that Mr. Lilves remarked as he left them Saturday evening that he was going to shoot himself. However, they did not attach any particular importance to the assertion, because on previous occasions he also had made the same threat. Others who saw him Saturday night reported that he seemed in good spirits. He had been living apart from his wife. After the investigation, authorities expressed the belief that brooding over domestic difficulties probably was the motive for the suicide. Charles Russell, who lives in a room at the opposite end of the hall, recollected he heard a man he believed to be Lilves come upstairs hurridly about 12:15 o'clock Sunday morning. A few mintues later he heard a noise as if it might be the thud of something falling. Russell did not hear anyone descend the stairs. Officers were unable to find anyone else who heard the sound of the shot.
The body was taken to the Hoover funeral home folloiwng the investigation, but funeral rites were uncertain inasmuch as one son, Richard, 16, is on a "bumming" trip through the west and had not been contacted late Sunday, although State Police broadcast an appeal for his return. According to police, the death was discovered around 10 o'clock Sunday morning when the daughter called at her father's room to get the keys for the car. She immediately called the police.
The victim was born in Benton county, Ind., Nov. 29, 1891, the son of Charles and Lucia Lilves, but had been a resident of the community for the last several decades. His father preceded him in death in 1934. He at one time operated a grocery on Falls avenue, later worked as a salesman for John Richards, and recently had been employed at the Spencer-Cardinal plant.
Lilves was married to Ertha Eula Kline at Wabash Nov. 29, 1916, and to this union were born three children, the daughter Marion, and two sons, Loren (Red) Lilves, and Richard. They together with the mother, one brother, Benjamin, west of the city, and a sister, Mrs. May Welch of Fort Wayne, survive.
Services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Hoover Funeral home with burial in Falls cemetery. Rev. Fred Wolff, pastor of the First Christian church, will officiate. The body will remain at the funeral home.
CORONER BENDER CITES CONFUSING CLUES IN DEATH
Authorities have under investigation certain "confusing circumstances" surrounding the apparently suicidal death of Homer Lilves, 48, local factory worker, at his small apartment above the Ferm Kester barbership early Sunday morning. Death resulted from a load from a .20 gauge shotgun that tore off the left side of his head as he lay fully clothed, except for his shoes, in his bed. Lilves occupied two rooms at the South Miami street address. Coroner Todd Bender said his check-up, which was made in conjunction with Prosecuter Eugene M. Weesner and police indicated the man had taken his own life. However, the coroner ordered that fingerprints be taken from the corpse and that pictures be made of the room as a routine matter in the probe. "It would seem that death was due to suicide, although, as I say, there are several confusing factors," explained Coroner Bender. "The position of the gun as he clutched it in his hands, the position of his legs are a little hard to figure." Lilves lay diagonally across the bed with his legs crossed. His right hand held the barrel of the weapon a few inches from the sight, and the left hand lay open across the barrel shortly below that point. It was presumed that he had forced the trigger with his toe. The suicide theory was supported by statements made to officers by the widow, Mrs. Ertha Lilves, and the daughter, Marion, who recalled that Mr. Lilves remarked as he left them Saturday evening that he was going to shoot himself. However, they did not attach any particular importance to the assertion, because on previous occasions he also had made the same threat. Others who saw him Saturday night reported that he seemed in good spirits. He had been living apart from his wife. After the investigation, authorities expressed the belief that brooding over domestic difficulties probably was the motive for the suicide. Charles Russell, who lives in a room at the opposite end of the hall, recollected he heard a man he believed to be Lilves come upstairs hurridly about 12:15 o'clock Sunday morning. A few mintues later he heard a noise as if it might be the thud of something falling. Russell did not hear anyone descend the stairs. Officers were unable to find anyone else who heard the sound of the shot.
The body was taken to the Hoover funeral home folloiwng the investigation, but funeral rites were uncertain inasmuch as one son, Richard, 16, is on a "bumming" trip through the west and had not been contacted late Sunday, although State Police broadcast an appeal for his return. According to police, the death was discovered around 10 o'clock Sunday morning when the daughter called at her father's room to get the keys for the car. She immediately called the police.
The victim was born in Benton county, Ind., Nov. 29, 1891, the son of Charles and Lucia Lilves, but had been a resident of the community for the last several decades. His father preceded him in death in 1934. He at one time operated a grocery on Falls avenue, later worked as a salesman for John Richards, and recently had been employed at the Spencer-Cardinal plant.
Lilves was married to Ertha Eula Kline at Wabash Nov. 29, 1916, and to this union were born three children, the daughter Marion, and two sons, Loren (Red) Lilves, and Richard. They together with the mother, one brother, Benjamin, west of the city, and a sister, Mrs. May Welch of Fort Wayne, survive.
Services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Hoover Funeral home with burial in Falls cemetery. Rev. Fred Wolff, pastor of the First Christian church, will officiate. The body will remain at the funeral home.
OBITUARY - Plain Dealer, Wabash (IN)
CORONER BENDER CITES CONFUSING CLUES IN DEATH
Authorities have under investigation certain "confusing circumstances" surrounding the apparently suicidal death of Homer Lilves, 48, local factory worker, at his small apartment above the Ferm Kester barbership early Sunday morning. Death resulted from a load from a .20 gauge shotgun that tore off the left side of his head as he lay fully clothed, except for his shoes, in his bed. Lilves occupied two rooms at the South Miami street address. Coroner Todd Bender said his check-up, which was made in conjunction with Prosecuter Eugene M. Weesner and police indicated the man had taken his own life. However, the coroner ordered that fingerprints be taken from the corpse and that pictures be made of the room as a routine matter in the probe. "It would seem that death was due to suicide, although, as I say, there are several confusing factors," explained Coroner Bender. "The position of the gun as he clutched it in his hands, the position of his legs are a little hard to figure." Lilves lay diagonally across the bed with his legs crossed. His right hand held the barrel of the weapon a few inches from the sight, and the left hand lay open across the barrel shortly below that point. It was presumed that he had forced the trigger with his toe. The suicide theory was supported by statements made to officers by the widow, Mrs. Ertha Lilves, and the daughter, Marion, who recalled that Mr. Lilves remarked as he left them Saturday evening that he was going to shoot himself. However, they did not attach any particular importance to the assertion, because on previous occasions he also had made the same threat. Others who saw him Saturday night reported that he seemed in good spirits. He had been living apart from his wife. After the investigation, authorities expressed the belief that brooding over domestic difficulties probably was the motive for the suicide. Charles Russell, who lives in a room at the opposite end of the hall, recollected he heard a man he believed to be Lilves come upstairs hurridly about 12:15 o'clock Sunday morning. A few mintues later he heard a noise as if it might be the thud of something falling. Russell did not hear anyone descend the stairs. Officers were unable to find anyone else who heard the sound of the shot.
The body was taken to the Hoover funeral home folloiwng the investigation, but funeral rites were uncertain inasmuch as one son, Richard, 16, is on a "bumming" trip through the west and had not been contacted late Sunday, although State Police broadcast an appeal for his return. According to police, the death was discovered around 10 o'clock Sunday morning when the daughter called at her father's room to get the keys for the car. She immediately called the police.
The victim was born in Benton county, Ind., Nov. 29, 1891, the son of Charles and Lucia Lilves, but had been a resident of the community for the last several decades. His father preceded him in death in 1934. He at one time operated a grocery on Falls avenue, later worked as a salesman for John Richards, and recently had been employed at the Spencer-Cardinal plant.
Lilves was married to Ertha Eula Kline at Wabash Nov. 29, 1916, and to this union were born three children, the daughter Marion, and two sons, Loren (Red) Lilves, and Richard. They together with the mother, one brother, Benjamin, west of the city, and a sister, Mrs. May Welch of Fort Wayne, survive.
Services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Hoover Funeral home with burial in Falls cemetery. Rev. Fred Wolff, pastor of the First Christian church, will officiate. The body will remain at the funeral home.
CORONER BENDER CITES CONFUSING CLUES IN DEATH
Authorities have under investigation certain "confusing circumstances" surrounding the apparently suicidal death of Homer Lilves, 48, local factory worker, at his small apartment above the Ferm Kester barbership early Sunday morning. Death resulted from a load from a .20 gauge shotgun that tore off the left side of his head as he lay fully clothed, except for his shoes, in his bed. Lilves occupied two rooms at the South Miami street address. Coroner Todd Bender said his check-up, which was made in conjunction with Prosecuter Eugene M. Weesner and police indicated the man had taken his own life. However, the coroner ordered that fingerprints be taken from the corpse and that pictures be made of the room as a routine matter in the probe. "It would seem that death was due to suicide, although, as I say, there are several confusing factors," explained Coroner Bender. "The position of the gun as he clutched it in his hands, the position of his legs are a little hard to figure." Lilves lay diagonally across the bed with his legs crossed. His right hand held the barrel of the weapon a few inches from the sight, and the left hand lay open across the barrel shortly below that point. It was presumed that he had forced the trigger with his toe. The suicide theory was supported by statements made to officers by the widow, Mrs. Ertha Lilves, and the daughter, Marion, who recalled that Mr. Lilves remarked as he left them Saturday evening that he was going to shoot himself. However, they did not attach any particular importance to the assertion, because on previous occasions he also had made the same threat. Others who saw him Saturday night reported that he seemed in good spirits. He had been living apart from his wife. After the investigation, authorities expressed the belief that brooding over domestic difficulties probably was the motive for the suicide. Charles Russell, who lives in a room at the opposite end of the hall, recollected he heard a man he believed to be Lilves come upstairs hurridly about 12:15 o'clock Sunday morning. A few mintues later he heard a noise as if it might be the thud of something falling. Russell did not hear anyone descend the stairs. Officers were unable to find anyone else who heard the sound of the shot.
The body was taken to the Hoover funeral home folloiwng the investigation, but funeral rites were uncertain inasmuch as one son, Richard, 16, is on a "bumming" trip through the west and had not been contacted late Sunday, although State Police broadcast an appeal for his return. According to police, the death was discovered around 10 o'clock Sunday morning when the daughter called at her father's room to get the keys for the car. She immediately called the police.
The victim was born in Benton county, Ind., Nov. 29, 1891, the son of Charles and Lucia Lilves, but had been a resident of the community for the last several decades. His father preceded him in death in 1934. He at one time operated a grocery on Falls avenue, later worked as a salesman for John Richards, and recently had been employed at the Spencer-Cardinal plant.
Lilves was married to Ertha Eula Kline at Wabash Nov. 29, 1916, and to this union were born three children, the daughter Marion, and two sons, Loren (Red) Lilves, and Richard. They together with the mother, one brother, Benjamin, west of the city, and a sister, Mrs. May Welch of Fort Wayne, survive.
Services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Hoover Funeral home with burial in Falls cemetery. Rev. Fred Wolff, pastor of the First Christian church, will officiate. The body will remain at the funeral home.
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