Roger Dooley (1951)

DOOLEY

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler (email)
Date: 2/18/2007 at 08:27:45

Winterset Madisonian - July 11, 1951
Winterset, Iowa

ROGER DOOLEY OF DAVENPORT DIES

Neighbors Form Human Chain to Locate Body of 8-Year-Old

Eight-year-old Roger Dooley of Davenport drowned last Saturday afternoon in a farm pond one mile south of Peru.

The tragic death occurred while the youth and his two brothers and a sister were visiting their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Dooley of Peru.

Roger's body was found by a group of neighbors who linked arms and waded through the pond. The water was about five fee deep where the youth was found.

A Winterset doctor was at the scene, but attempts at artificial respiration failed. It is believed the boy was under water for nearly an hour.

He had gone wading in the pond with his two brothers. The older brother, Jerry, aged 12, summoned help when young Roger disappeared under water.

The youth's father, Donald Dooley, and his grandfather were both putting up hay in a nearby field.

Neighbors who came to help rescue the boy first tried dragging the pond with a wire fence. When this method failed, they formed a human chain and began wading across the pond.

The boy was returned to Davenport for burial.