Wilda Kerr d. 1948

KERR

Posted By: Volunteer - Cathy Joynt Labath
Date: 4/12/2003 at 08:15:14

Mt. Pleasant
News Mount Pleasant,
Henry Co., Iowa
Tuesday, June 29, 1948

GIRL DIES FROM FALL
Believe Birmingham Girl Walked in Sleep Birmingham, Ia.

(INS)- A 15-year-old farm girl died early today from injuries suffered in a fall from a windmill which she climbed while walking in her sleep. Van Buren County Coroner Harold Catcott said the girl, Wilda Kerr, fell from the windmill at the farm home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Veryl Kerr, five miles west of Birmingham. Mrs. Kerr said she was awakened about midnight Monday when she heard her daughter moaning. When she discovered the girl's empty bed she went to the farmyard to search for the girl. The mother said she found her daughter crumpled in a heap under the framework of the 40-foot windmill. The girl who soon lapsed into unconsciousness, was driven to the Jefferson county hospital. The girl died at 2:30 a.m. from a fractured skull and left arm injuries. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr said that, as far as they knew, this was the first time their daughter had ever walked in her sleep. The girl was a freshman in Birmingham high school last year.