LAURITSON, Clifford L. 1900-1986

LAURITSON, BUNGER

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 3/9/2017 at 11:19:29

Newspapers.com
Arizona Republic
Phoenix, AZ
March 19, 1986
page 23

An 85-year-old man who somehow became separated from friends and family at Sky Harbor Airport died Tuesday aftr he apparently lost his way, had a heart attack and tumbled down steps at the control tower.

Clifford L. Lauritson, a former Valley resident who lived in Waterloo, Iowa, was found on an outdoor landing at the top of a flight of stairs leading to the fire escape of the 10-story tower west of Terminal 3. Phoenix Police Sgt. Clyde Barker said Lauritson, who had spent the winter in Phoenix with his sister, Mae Bunger, apparently became confused while walking between Terminals 2 and 3. "We had a little mix-up," Bunger said. "He was 85 years old, and I think he was a little confused." She speculated that her brother got separated from a Wisconsin couple they had taken to the airport.

Police think Lauritson was trying to get into Terminal 3 when he mistakenly walked up 14 steps to the landing outside the control tower, had a heart attack and fell after trying to reach a locked door at the top of 11 more steps above the landing.

Lauritson's body was spotted about 9 a.m. by an airline passenger walking on the pedestrian bridge between Terminals 2 and 3, the sergeant said, adding that the passenger contacted a baggage loader, who summoned police. Bunger, 74, said she had paged and searched for her brother for more than an hour before contacting police about 10 a.m.

Bunger, who moved to Phoenix from Waterloo in October, said she had gone to the airport with her brother to drop off friends, George and Violet Miller of Rhinelander, who were scheduled to leave at 9 a.m. on a United Airlines flight to Chicago.

NOTE: Find A Grave Memorial #4124544l; Garden of Memories; Waterloo, Black Hawk Co., Iowa