Petro - Harry
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review, February 20, 1961
Funeral services for Harry Petro Jr. were held Friday afternoon in the Hunt and Son Funeral Home with Rev. Hilton Whitaker officiating. Burial was in the IOOF Cemetery at Darlington. Serving as pallbearers and assisting with the floral tributes were James Chesterson, Joe Haskett, Dwight Sorrells, Leonard Holt, Howard Wilkinson and Justin Myers. Funeral rites of the Masonic Lodge were given at the grave by Hamlin Cox of the Darlington Lodge of which the deceased was a member. Selections were played on the organ by Mrs. O. C. Edwards. – jlr
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review, February 15, 1961
Harry Petro Jr., 40, was found dead in his car Wednesday morning at the old shale pit northeast of Crawfordsville. Dr. J. M. Kirtley, acting coroner, said the death was suicide, caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. He was found at 10 a.m. by James McCollum, Rt. 6, and Albert McGill, Brazil, workers at the pit. McCollum said that when they came to work at 8 o’clock they noticed the car parked near the ford through Walnut Fork. He said that cars are often parked there, and that they went to work without investigating. At about 10 o’clock, as McGill went back into the pit to set charges of explosives, McCollum walked to the car to investigate. “I went down and checked it, and noticed what happened,” he said. The engine was running, and there was a length of flexible pipe running from the exhaust pipe into the car through the vent window in the right rear door. The windows were covered with steam and dripping water. McCollum went back to get McGill, and together they pulled the pipe away from the window and opened all four doors. “Black smoke just poured out of that car,” McCollum said. Petro was lying in the front seat, his feet propped up on the backrest. The accelerator pedal was jammed down with something resembling a flare, McCollum said. The men went back to the shale pit office and telephoned the sheriff’s office. Petro, who lived at 906 Louise Ave., had been operating an agricultural lime business recently. Previously he was in the gravel business for seven years. Born Dec. 1, 1920, in Boone County, he was the son of Harry and Maude Livengood Petro. He was married Sept. 20, 1946, to Lucille Gisley at Mulberry. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Army in Alaska for four years. He was a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Petro attended the Youngs Chapel and Darlington schools. He was a member of the Darlington Masonic Lodge. The survivors include the wife; the mother, Mrs. Maude Petro of this city, and a daughter, Marlene Kay Petro. His father died in March, 1960, and a brother, Beryl, also preceded him in death. Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. (EST) Friday at Hunt and Son Funeral Home with Rev. Hilton Whitaker, pastor of the First Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Darlington IOOF Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. Thursday. – jlr