Griggs - Donald - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Donald Griggs, 16 year old Ladoga high school student, was injured fatally Sunday morning at 12:30 o’clock when an automobile struck him while he was riding a bicycle in the Ladoga-Roachdale road about a half mile south of Ladoga. The car which struck Griggs was operated by Wayne E. Miller, 19, of Ladoga. Ruby Bymaster, another Ladoga youth, was riding in the car with Miller. Griggs was headed north at the time of the accident and is believed io have been blinded by the headlights of the car, which was going south.

Dr. M. E. Gloss was summoned to administer first aid to the youth. He ordered him rushed to the Culver hospital at Crawfordsville in the Gottschall ambulance. He died while being taken upstairs on the Culver hospital elevator. It was said that a fractured rib punctured a lung, causing death. Sheriff Venter Bowers and Coroner A. L. Loop of Montgomery county conducted an investigation of the accident.

It is believed young Griggs had been visiting friends in Roachdale and was returning home at the time of the accident. The young man was born at Brownsburg, November 25, 1916, the son of David and Mertie Craver Griggs. He was a member of the Nazarene church and in his junior year at Ladoga high school. He was well liked by his classmates and had many friends.

Surviving, in addition to the parents, are eight brothers, Clifford, of  Ladoga; Leon and James, of Danville,  and Gerald, Herbert, Wilbur, Virgil and Harry at home: one sister, Helen, at home and two grandmothers, Mrs. Rhoda Griggs, of Indianapolis, and  Mrs. Morton Barlow, of Brownsburg.  Funeral services will be held at the Ladoga Nazarene church Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock in charge of the Rev. Robinson Essel Cooper. Burial will be in the Ladoga Cemetery. - kbz