Grandma Dedafoe's Scrapbook
Dimondale Boy Drowns
Merle HILLIARD, 14, Dies When He Loses Grasp On Tube in River
(Special to The State Journal)
Dimondale, June 24 - A 14-year-old boy drowned in Grand river here Sunday
afternoon when he lost his grip on an inflated inner tube with which he was swimming below the dam.
The victim was Merle Hilliard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ford HILLIARD who live on
highway M-99 about two and one-half miles east of Dimondale.
Jack Spekhout of Dimondale, with whom the boy was swimming, saw him lose his grip
on the inner tube and go under. Spekhout called to F.E. Miller, 521 North Dexter drive, Lansing,
who was on the opposite side of the river and Miller rowed to the spot in a boat and pulled the
Hilliard boy out of about five feet of water. Taking him to the west bank of the river Miller
applied artificial respiration until the Lansing fire department inhalator crew arrived. The
inhalator was used on the victim for over an hour but efforts to revive him proved futile.
Surviving, besides the parents, are two sister, Mrs. Pauline DEDAFOE and Mrs.
Darlene PAUL(TAUL); two brothers, Lee and Lloyd, and a grandmother, Mrs. Emma HILLIARD. The body was
removed to the Allen funeral home here to await funeral services which are tentatively set for
2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Dimondale Methodist Church.
Funeral Card
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