OBIT: John D. DOMER, 1940, Meyersdale, Somerset County, PA

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Meyersdale Library.
Transcribed and proofread by: Richard Boyer.

Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
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JOHN D. DOMER

Well Known Meyersdale Man is Victim of Hit and Run Driver

John D. Domer's Lifeless Body Found on Route 219, Just South of Salisbury, Last 
Friday Evening - Officers are Working on Clue That Indicates Automobile May Have 
Been 1935 Ford V-8 - Was Laid to Rest With Military Honors By Sons of Union 
Veterans Reserves.

  Word was received in Meyersdale last Friday evening, about 9:45, that the 
lifeless body of John D. Domer, 53, of Meyersdale, was found along Route 219 
about 200 yards south of Salisbury borough limits, near the S.E. Moser Farm.
  Coroner F. E. Sass of Boswell and the state motor police at Somerset were 
notified as soon as the body was discovered and immediately started an 
investigation to ascertain the nature and cause of the accident that caused his 
death.  Evidence and signs found at the scene of the accident caused the 
officers to arrive at a definite conclusion that Mr. Domer came to his death as 
the victim of a hit and run driver.
  Information assembled here and there and pieced together relates only probable 
details of how Mr. Domer happened to be in the vicinity where the accident 
occurred.  There were no eye witnesses that he was hit by a passing motorist but 
the signs were very plain that this is what happened.
  It appears Mr. Domer was invited by some friends to take an automobile ride to 
Salisbury.  While in Salisbury, he visited at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roy 
Vought, formerly of Meyersdale.  He mentioned to the Vought's that he intended 
to return to Meyersdale with the same persons who took him to Salisbury.
  Mr. Domer was seen at Fred Speicher's service station in Salisbury, about 
9:30, where he apparently intended to meet his friend for the homeward journey.
  He probably tired of waiting and decided to start walking in the direction of 
home, hoping his friends would come along and pick him up.
  Signs at the scene of the accident show that Mr. Domer was walking at the left 
side of the road, and the car that hit him was traveling in the direction of 
Meyersdale.  The car must have been traveling at an excessive rate of speed for 
it carried the body approximately two hundred feet.
  It is believed when the occupants of the car realized what happened they 
deposited a bottle of whiskey and two receipts from liquor stores, which they 
had in their possession, near Mr. Domer's body to convey the impression he was 
intoxicated and staggered in front of the oncoming automobile.
  It is common knowledge among the many Meyersdale people who knew Mr. Domer 
that he was a total abstainer and very much opposed to drinking intoxicants.  No 
one could be made believe the bottle of whiskey and the receipts belonged to Mr. 
Domer.
  An investigation of the liquor store receipts revealed that one came from the 
State Store in Uniontown and the other from the Meyersdale store.  The latter 
was issued at about 8:30 Friday evening, but William Dickey, in charge of the 
store at that time, could not recall who had made the purchase.
  Other evidence found at the scene of the accident was a small piece of metal, 
such as could have come only from a model 1935 Ford V-8.  Several persons at the 
McClure service station in Salisbury are said to have seen a Ford V-8, with four 
young men, turn at the gas station and dash off in the direction of Meyersdale 
just previous to the time the accident was reported.
  Several rumors have been afloat this week that the hit and run driver 
responsible for Mr. Domer's death has been apprehended, but upon investigation 
have been found untrue.  However, with the evidence at hand there is every 
reason to believe the Pennsylvania Motor Police will again in this case get 
their man.

Funeral Services for Mr. Domer

  Funeral services for John Daniel Domer were held at the W. C. Price & Son 
Funeral Home Monday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, with Rev. H. Carl Buterbaugh of 
the M. E. Church officiating.
  John Daniel Domer was the son of Francis A. and Julia Lowery Domer, both 
deceased.  He was born November 17, 1886 and came to his death Friday, July 26, 
1940 at the age of 53 years, 8 months and 9 days.  Besides his parents, he was 
preceded to the grave by one brother, L. Roy Domer, who died in September 1936, 
at Williamsport, Pa.  He is survived by one sister, Marion, a teacher in the 
public schools at Charleston, W.Va.
  Mr. Domer was well known by everyone in the Meyersdale community.  In the boom 
days of Meyersdale, when new houses were being built in large numbers, Mr. Domer 
followed the plastering trade.  He also worked in the employ of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad Company for a number of years.  In later years he suffered a 
partial paralysis of the right side and was unable to work.
  He was an ardent Republican and will be remembered for the vast number of 
petitions he circulated to have candidates names placed on election ballots.
  John Daniel Domer, although not a veteran of any war, was laid to rest with 
full military honors by the local organization of Sons of Union Veterans of 
which he was a member.  His casket was draped with the American Flag.  The three 
volleys in salute to the dead were fired by a uniformed detail representing Co. 
C of the Sons of Veterans Reserve, which was followed by a bugler sounding taps.

Meyersdale Republican, August 1, 1940