OBIT: Betty Louise FIKE, 1941, Meyersdale, Somerset County, PA

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

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BETTY LOUISE FIKE

Burns Fatal to Meyersdale Girl
Betty Louise Fike, 13, Died Friday Evening in Local Hospital

  Severe body burns, received when her clothing ignited from a bonfire, caused 
the death of Betty Louise Fike, 13-year-old daughter of Paul and Cora 
(Wissinger) Fike, last Friday evening in the Hazel McGilvery Hospital.
  Miss Betty, who resided with her mother on Keystone Street, was piling fuel on 
a bonfire near Flaugherty Creek, last Thursday evening, when her dress caught 
afire.  In the excitement she started to run to her home some distance away, and 
in so doing caused the blaze to spread rapidly over her entire body.
  Frank H. Brown, a neighbor, heard the girl's screams and recognized her 
plight, grabbed an old rug which he wrapped around her and rolled her in the 
grass to extinguish the flames.  William Durst and others on Large Street saw 
the accident but were handicapped in reaching the scene by Flaugherty Creek.  
Mrs. Krygsman, another neighbor, also came running with a rug and assisted in 
smothering the fire.
  After being given first aid treatment by Dr. Wenzel she was rushed to the 
Hazel McGilvery Hospital where everything possible was done to relieve the 
excruciating pains.  The girl's legs, arms and body were burned severely, and 
her hair was ablaze when rescued.  She passed away late Friday evening.
  Betty Louise Fike is the little girl who accompanied Margaret Brown, daughter 
of Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Brown, who was killed in a sled riding accident on 
Keystone Street Jan. 8, 1940.  She saved her own life on that occasion by 
rolling off the sled just before her companion and the sled crashed into a coal 
truck.
  Betty Louise Fike was born on January 2, 1928.  She is survived by her 
parents, a sister, Mrs. John Quinn, and a brother, Robert, both of Meyersdale.
  Funeral services were held at the Fike home at 2:30, Monday afternoon, by Rev. 
DeWitt L. Miller, pastor of the Church of the Brethren.  Burial took place in 
the Union Cemetery under the direction of W. C. Price & Son, local morticians.

Meyersdale Republican, April 17, 1941