The Rochester Sentinel 1970 - Fulton County Public Library

Bertha Cooper
Mrs. Bertha COOPER, 91, Fulton, died at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Canterbury
Manor nursing home. She had been in ill health 5 1/2 years and serious three weeks.
Born June 30, 1879, in Wabash county, she was the daughter of Emmanuel and Ellen
CURTIS UNGER. Her marriage was March 4, 1902, to Wilbur COOPER. He preceded in death
July 31, 1957. Mrs. Cooper had resided in Fulton since 1932, moving from Logansport. She was
a member of the Fulton Baptist Temple.
Surviving are three sons, Oral [COOPER] Sr., Lansing, Mich.; Paul [COOPER], South
Bend, and Charles [COOPER], R.R. 1, Lucerne; one sister, Mrs. Bessie ANDERSON, Rochester;
seven grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild. One daughter, a
brother, and two sisters preceded in death.
Final rites will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Ditmire-Zimmerman funeral home in Fulton.
Eastern Star services will be 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Rev. Harry D. WILLIAMS will officiate.
Burial will be in the Mount Hope cemetery at Logansport. Friends may call at the funeral home
after 6 p.m. Friday.
Ann Wagoner
The death of Miss Ann WAGONER, 50, Rochester, was ruled Wednesday night by Dr.
Wayne KNOCHEL, Fulton county coroner, as suicide by pest poisoning.
Dr. Knochel, who serves part-time in the emergency room of St. Elizabeth’s hospital at
Lafayette, telephoned Sheriff Homer CARR from Lafayette between 8 and 9 p.m. Wednesday to
inform him of the ruling.
The coroner said this morning that Miss Wagoner had been dead between two and three
hours before the body was discovered. The body was found about 11 a.m. Tuesday by Sheriff
Carr in a room at the Ghrist motel here.
Sheriff Carr said he was called to the motel by the motel owners, who told him they had
not seen Miss Wagoner since she had checked in at the motel about noon Monday.
Dr. Knochel said he received a verbal report Wednesday evening from Dr. David
ALSTOTT, pathologist who performed an autopsy on the body, that strychnine was found in Miss
Wagoner’s stomach.
The coroner said that Miss Wagoner consumed an undetermined amount of strychninetreated
wheat, which is used as a pest poison.
Dr. Knochel said he expects to receive the written report on the autopsy from the
pathologist in about two weeks. The coroner then will file his written report in the Fulton county
clerk’s office.
Friday, December 25, 1970
[no paper - holiday]