Frankie Vivian III (1929-1939)

VIVIAN, HATFIELD, BOLDEN

Posted By: John Davis (email)
Date: 10/23/2019 at 18:43:46

Obit posted in Ottumwa Courier September 3, 1939
Photo With Obit
Frankie Vivian III, Negro, 10-year-old-son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Vivian 712 West Mechanic street, was drowned about noon Sunday while swimming in the sand pit on South Wapello street. Fireman, police and highway patrolmen, attempting to revive the lad, administered artificial respiration for more than an hour without success. It was estimated that the boy had been in the water 35 minutes before Fireman Eddie Anderson, after a number of dives, brought the body to the shore. Frankie was with four other youngsters-Wayne and Byron Brouhard, James Sellwood and Albert Davis-at the time. Unable to swim, he had left his clothes on the bank and was wading along the edge when he stepped into a deep spot and lost control. Authorities said Wayne Brouhard rode his bicycle to the John Welch home on South Wapello street and a call for help was placed. Fireman Anderson and Harley McClure and Patrolman Paul Laird reached the scene first and began treatment with the city's inhalator as soon as the body was recovered from the pit. County Coroner Gordon Traul later joined the group. A crowd of several hundred persons assembled on the Ottumwa Sand Co. property to watch rescue attempts. The boy was a pupil in the eighth room at the Douglas school. He had been an honor roll member of the summer vacation Union Bible school conducted by the Second Baptist and A.M.E. churches and belonged to the Second Baptist Sunday school. Besides the parents, Frankie is survived by two sisters, Mary Agnes and Carol Joyce; a brother Sterling Colman; and grandparents Mrs. Agnes Hatfield, Ottumwa and Sterling Bolden, Omaha, Nebraska. The body is at the Lester Jay funeral home pending arrangements. Services for Frank Vivian III, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Vivian, 712 West Mechanic street, who was drowned in the Des Moines river Sunday, will be Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Lester Jay funeral home. Burial will be in the Ottumwa cemetery. Pallbearers will be Clifford Yoeman, Ralph Yoeman, Max Sanders, Albert Hatfield, Jackie Nichols and Burl Beecham.