Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Proctor, John D. April 24, 1971
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Nan Wheaton wheaton1624@yahoo.com October 21, 2013, 1:13 pm

Ionia Sentinel-Standard - Mon. April 25, 1971 & Hastings Reminder - Wed. April 28, 1971


Find Man’s Body in fire

John D. Proctor, 40, of Lake Odessa, apparently took his own life before an 
explosion blew up his home setting fire to the structure about 8:30 pm Sunday. 

Ionia state police continuing their investigation indicated the explosion and 
resulting fire may have been caused from a dynamite charge. Meanwhile, two 
members of the state police bomb squad were called in on the investigation.

Detective David Townshend and Trooper Eugene Ambs answered the call. Both were 
in Ionia Friday noon to remove a ticking device from the shop building at Ionia 
high school. That investigation also is being continued. 

Proctor’s home was located east of Lake Odessa on Ainsworth and Bonanza road, 
according to state police.

Richard Hull, Ionia county coroner, was summoned to the Lake Odessa area when 
Proctor was found dead, apparently from self-inflicted wounds before the 
explosion.

Authorities indicated the man was separated from his wife.

The body was removed to Pickens funeral chapel in Lake Odessa and an autopsy is 
scheduled for 5 pm Monday.

Proctor was born in Ithaca, the son of Jesse and Minnie Thrush Proctor. He was 
employed as a maintenance man at the Lake Odessa canning company. He married 
Shirley Dexter October 27, 1950, and attended Calvary United Brethern church.

Survivors include his wife; four sons; Sgt. Kenneth Proctor, with the armed 
forces in Vietnam, John, Brian and Dale of Lake Odessa; one daughter, Susan, 
also of Lake Odessa. Other known survivors include four sisters and one brother.

Services at Pickens funeral chapel are incomplete pending arrival of his son 
from Vietnam.

Burial will be in Lakeside cemetery.

Lot # E579



Hastings Reminder – April 28, 1971

Man Dies in Home Explosion

John D. Proctor, 40, of Bonanza Road, died Sunday night, April 25, in an 
explosion and fire that wrecked his home about a mile east of Lake Odessa.

Neighbors who heard the blast and saw the fire called State Police at the Ionia 
Post. They found Mr. Proctor dead in the burning frame house where he lived 
alone.

The body was taken to the Pickens Funeral Home at Lake Odessa, where services 
are pending the arrival or word from a son, Sgt. Kenneth, serving in Vietnam. 

Mr. Proctor was a maintenance man at the Lake Odessa Canning Company.

He was born in Ithaca on Feb. 26, 1931, the son of Jesse and Minnie (Thrush) 
Proctor. He married Shirley Dexter of Lake Odessa on Oct. 27, 1950.

Mrs. Proctor was living at a different rural Lake Odessa address.

Also surviving are three other sons, John, Brian and Dale; a daughter, Susan 
Jean of Lake Odessa; four sisters and one brother.



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