Date : 31 Aug 1938
Location : Hope Cemetery, Chippewa Falls, WI
Body Recovered But Efforts to Revive Her Fail After Nearly 2 Hours.
Joyce Gettler, 12-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gettler, 507 North State street, drowned while bathing at the Mill pond yesterday afternoon shortly after 4 o'clock. It was the first drowning in this vicinity this summer.
The body was recovered by firemen about 20 minutes after the girl was missed, but all efforts to revive her failed. Joyce was a poor swimmer, and it is believed she drowned when she stepped into a deep hole. The body was recovered in about seven feet of water.
Hundreds of persons watched on while firemen and others searched for the body. Several dove into the water in search for the body but were unsuccessful. The body was found about 15 feet from the pier when one of the grappling hooks encountered it and brought it to the surface.
Volunteers who dove into the waters of the pond in an effort to recover the body of the little girl, said they were unable to see beneath the water because of its muddy condition.
Playmates of Joyce and other bathers said today that they missed Joyce at about 4 o'clock, but thought that she had gone home. A little later one of the youngsters discovered the girl's clothing on the bank. She became alarmed and notified the others.
Residents of Mrs. Elsa Leidholdt Feidler's home, Jefferson avenue, called the fire department, and the department using hooks and boat recovered the body.
Dr. Richard S. Rodgers, Dr. J. A. Kelly; Kermit Hahn and Peter Pangborn and an unidentified man took turns with artificial respiration, but could not revive the child. They worked over the girl for nearly two hours.
Joyce, who was born in Detroit on July 11, 1926, came to Chippewa Falls in 1929 with her parents and had attended school in this city. Besides her parents, she is survived by six sisters and one brother, Dorothy, Norma, Marie, Delores, Yvonne, Lois and Bernard.
The remains will be taken from the Bennett-LaFrania Funeral Home Tuesday afternoon to the residence on North State street where the body will lie in state until Wednesday morning. Funeral services will be held at the Notre Dame church Wednesday morning at 7:30 o'clock. Interment will be in Hope cemetery.
Chippewa Herald-Telegram - Aug 29, 1938
