OBITUARY - MERLE PETERSON

Submitted by: Jenny Tenlen

Source: "The Chicago Tribune", Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois; 19 Jun 1950.

GIRL FALLS INTO RIVER; BROTHER DIES IN RESCUE

Longview, Wash., June 18 (AP) -- A Longview youth drowned today while trying to
rescue his 18 year old sister who had topple into the water from an amphibious
"duck."

The victim, Merle Peterson, 20, had jumped into the swollen Cowlitz river with a
friend, William Lewis, 22, also of Longview, to save Peterson's sister, Janice,
who had lost her balance on the loaded "duck."

Peterson weakened and Lewis tried vainly to hold both the brother and sister
above the surface. The girl was brought to a hospital here suffering from shock.