LIGHTNING KILLS AURORA FARMER
A rural Aurora man was killed, and another man burned, when lightning struck a tree in a hay field about two miles north of Crane about 6 o'clock Wednesday evening.
Killed by the bolt was Harold Blankenship, 33, of Rt. 2, Aurora. Injured was Danny Williams, 35, also of Rt. 2, Aurora. Williams was taken to Cox Medical Center in Springfield by Peterson Ambulance, where he was treated and released.
A neighbor who lives just a couple of hundred yards from the hay field where the accident occurred, Paul Wise, said that Blankenship and Williams were bailing hay in the field when rain began to fall.
Wise, who was the second person at the scene following the accident, said that both men headed for some trees along the edge of the field for protection from the rain. No sooner had they gotten under the trees, Wise said, then the lightning struck.
Mrs. Blankenship was the first to arrive after the accident, and she found her husband wasn't breathing and Williams "fuzzy headed" from the shock. She ran to the Wise home and summoned help, where upon an ambulance was called.
Wise said he administered heart message and his wife gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the ambulance arrived, but "I was pretty sure he was dead when I first saw him. His eyes were rolled up into his head."
Stone County Sheriff James R. Barnes, serving as acting coroner, pronounced Blankenship dead at the scene.
John Hodges of rural Aurora, driver of the Peterson ambulance, said that much of the clothing Williams was wearing was "ripped right off him from the waist down. His pants were split, the boots he was wearing were ripped into two, and a pair of nylon socks melted on his feet."
Williams was working for Blankenship at the time of his accident. He lives near the Blankenship farm.
Blankenship, who was described by neighbors as a prominent cattleman, raised registered Hereford cattle on his farm north of Crane.
Survivors include his wife Ester; his parents Mr. and Mrs. Duane Blankenship of Jenkins; two sons, Harold Curtis Blankenship and Howard Dennis Blankenship, both of the home; two sisters, Mrs. Louise Nickle of Cassville, and Mrs. Marie Blisard of Verona; and three brothers, Henry Blankenship of Route 2, Aurora, Carl Blankenship and Pat Blankenship, both of Jenkins.
Services were held Saturday, June 28 at Clio Cemetery.
Cassville Republican, Wednesday, July 2, 1975
A rural Aurora man was killed, and another man burned, when lightning struck a tree in a hay field about two miles north of Crane about 6 o'clock Wednesday evening.
Killed by the bolt was Harold Blankenship, 33, of Rt. 2, Aurora. Injured was Danny Williams, 35, also of Rt. 2, Aurora. Williams was taken to Cox Medical Center in Springfield by Peterson Ambulance, where he was treated and released.
A neighbor who lives just a couple of hundred yards from the hay field where the accident occurred, Paul Wise, said that Blankenship and Williams were bailing hay in the field when rain began to fall.
Wise, who was the second person at the scene following the accident, said that both men headed for some trees along the edge of the field for protection from the rain. No sooner had they gotten under the trees, Wise said, then the lightning struck.
Mrs. Blankenship was the first to arrive after the accident, and she found her husband wasn't breathing and Williams "fuzzy headed" from the shock. She ran to the Wise home and summoned help, where upon an ambulance was called.
Wise said he administered heart message and his wife gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the ambulance arrived, but "I was pretty sure he was dead when I first saw him. His eyes were rolled up into his head."
Stone County Sheriff James R. Barnes, serving as acting coroner, pronounced Blankenship dead at the scene.
John Hodges of rural Aurora, driver of the Peterson ambulance, said that much of the clothing Williams was wearing was "ripped right off him from the waist down. His pants were split, the boots he was wearing were ripped into two, and a pair of nylon socks melted on his feet."
Williams was working for Blankenship at the time of his accident. He lives near the Blankenship farm.
Blankenship, who was described by neighbors as a prominent cattleman, raised registered Hereford cattle on his farm north of Crane.
Survivors include his wife Ester; his parents Mr. and Mrs. Duane Blankenship of Jenkins; two sons, Harold Curtis Blankenship and Howard Dennis Blankenship, both of the home; two sisters, Mrs. Louise Nickle of Cassville, and Mrs. Marie Blisard of Verona; and three brothers, Henry Blankenship of Route 2, Aurora, Carl Blankenship and Pat Blankenship, both of Jenkins.
Services were held Saturday, June 28 at Clio Cemetery.
Cassville Republican, Wednesday, July 2, 1975
LIGHTNING KILLS AURORA FARMER
A rural Aurora man was killed, and another man burned, when lightning struck a tree in a hay field about two miles north of Crane about 6 o'clock Wednesday evening.
Killed by the bolt was Harold Blankenship, 33, of Rt. 2, Aurora. Injured was Danny Williams, 35, also of Rt. 2, Aurora. Williams was taken to Cox Medical Center in Springfield by Peterson Ambulance, where he was treated and released.
A neighbor who lives just a couple of hundred yards from the hay field where the accident occurred, Paul Wise, said that Blankenship and Williams were bailing hay in the field when rain began to fall.
Wise, who was the second person at the scene following the accident, said that both men headed for some trees along the edge of the field for protection from the rain. No sooner had they gotten under the trees, Wise said, then the lightning struck.
Mrs. Blankenship was the first to arrive after the accident, and she found her husband wasn't breathing and Williams "fuzzy headed" from the shock. She ran to the Wise home and summoned help, where upon an ambulance was called.
Wise said he administered heart message and his wife gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the ambulance arrived, but "I was pretty sure he was dead when I first saw him. His eyes were rolled up into his head."
Stone County Sheriff James R. Barnes, serving as acting coroner, pronounced Blankenship dead at the scene.
John Hodges of rural Aurora, driver of the Peterson ambulance, said that much of the clothing Williams was wearing was "ripped right off him from the waist down. His pants were split, the boots he was wearing were ripped into two, and a pair of nylon socks melted on his feet."
Williams was working for Blankenship at the time of his accident. He lives near the Blankenship farm.
Blankenship, who was described by neighbors as a prominent cattleman, raised registered Hereford cattle on his farm north of Crane.
Survivors include his wife Ester; his parents Mr. and Mrs. Duane Blankenship of Jenkins; two sons, Harold Curtis Blankenship and Howard Dennis Blankenship, both of the home; two sisters, Mrs. Louise Nickle of Cassville, and Mrs. Marie Blisard of Verona; and three brothers, Henry Blankenship of Route 2, Aurora, Carl Blankenship and Pat Blankenship, both of Jenkins.
Services were held Saturday, June 28 at Clio Cemetery.
Cassville Republican, Wednesday, July 2, 1975
A rural Aurora man was killed, and another man burned, when lightning struck a tree in a hay field about two miles north of Crane about 6 o'clock Wednesday evening.
Killed by the bolt was Harold Blankenship, 33, of Rt. 2, Aurora. Injured was Danny Williams, 35, also of Rt. 2, Aurora. Williams was taken to Cox Medical Center in Springfield by Peterson Ambulance, where he was treated and released.
A neighbor who lives just a couple of hundred yards from the hay field where the accident occurred, Paul Wise, said that Blankenship and Williams were bailing hay in the field when rain began to fall.
Wise, who was the second person at the scene following the accident, said that both men headed for some trees along the edge of the field for protection from the rain. No sooner had they gotten under the trees, Wise said, then the lightning struck.
Mrs. Blankenship was the first to arrive after the accident, and she found her husband wasn't breathing and Williams "fuzzy headed" from the shock. She ran to the Wise home and summoned help, where upon an ambulance was called.
Wise said he administered heart message and his wife gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the ambulance arrived, but "I was pretty sure he was dead when I first saw him. His eyes were rolled up into his head."
Stone County Sheriff James R. Barnes, serving as acting coroner, pronounced Blankenship dead at the scene.
John Hodges of rural Aurora, driver of the Peterson ambulance, said that much of the clothing Williams was wearing was "ripped right off him from the waist down. His pants were split, the boots he was wearing were ripped into two, and a pair of nylon socks melted on his feet."
Williams was working for Blankenship at the time of his accident. He lives near the Blankenship farm.
Blankenship, who was described by neighbors as a prominent cattleman, raised registered Hereford cattle on his farm north of Crane.
Survivors include his wife Ester; his parents Mr. and Mrs. Duane Blankenship of Jenkins; two sons, Harold Curtis Blankenship and Howard Dennis Blankenship, both of the home; two sisters, Mrs. Louise Nickle of Cassville, and Mrs. Marie Blisard of Verona; and three brothers, Henry Blankenship of Route 2, Aurora, Carl Blankenship and Pat Blankenship, both of Jenkins.
Services were held Saturday, June 28 at Clio Cemetery.
Cassville Republican, Wednesday, July 2, 1975
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