OBIT: Claude FULLERTON, 1948, formerly of Somerset County, PA

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

Copyright 2007.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
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CLAUDE FULLERTON

Former Garrett Man's Body Found On Potomac Bank

  The body of Claude Fullerton, 34, of Washington, D.C., who had been missing 
since October 28, was found Sunday morning at ten o'clock after it had been 
washed up on the bank of the Potomac River, 40 miles south of the nation's 
capital.
  Mr. Fullerton, a step-son of John and the late Vera Sipe Fullerton, was born 
in Garrett.  He and a friend, Walter Farrell, also of Washington, went on a 
fishing trip down the Potomac last October in Mr. Fullerton's motor boat.
  First reports received by relatives in Garrett indicated that the motorboat 
struck a sandbar, Mr. Fullerton was knocked overboard by the impact and drowned.  
But, when his companion told several ambiguous tales of the accident, the 
suspicious circumstances gave rise to investigations.
  When the body was recovered Sunday morning, it was reported by investigators 
that there was no water in his lungs, his clothes were not torn but his face was 
badly bruised and the back of his head was crushed.
  The body, which was held in Washington for an inquest, arrives in Garret this 
afternoon to lie in state at the home of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Henry Weaver, 
until burial.
  Mr. Fullerton married Miss Alice Weaver in 1933, and the couple lived in 
Garrett until 1940.  They then moved to Washington where he was employed by the 
United States government, stationed as a guard at the White House.  When this 
job was given to World War II veterans over a year ago, Mr. Fullerton secured 
employment as a guard at the Potomac Edison electric power plant in Washington.
  He is survived by his wife and a daughter, Joanne, of Washington.  Also 
surviving him are the following sisters and brothers:  Mrs. Zelda Shaffer, 
Meyersdale; Mrs. Waneta Murray, Garrett, and John Fullerton, Rocky Mount, N.C.  
A brother, William, was killed in action in Germany in 1945.
  Funeral services will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Lutheran Church, 
Garrett.  The Rev. John C. Miller, pastor of the Evangelical Church, will 
officiate.

Meyersdale Republican, November 11, 1948