Allen County Kansas
Obituaries and Death Notices

Morris

Rebecca Ann Morris, Iola Register, 13 June, 1960

Rebecca Ann Morris, 5-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Morris, apparently drowned yesterday afternoon in three or four inches of water in a storm cellar near her parents' home one mile south and one mile west of LaHarpe. Dr. Gerald Pees, coroner, said that she had a concussion on the back of her head. Investigating officers said the child may have tumbled down the stairs, been knocked unconscious when she struck the floor and drowned as she lay face down in the shallow water. Sheriff Ray Emmons assisted in the investigation.

The officers said that Mr. and Mrs. Morris were visiting friends in Iola, leaving Rebecca Ann and her older brother, David Wayne, at home. David told the officers that he and his sister were watching television when she left to go to an outdoor toilet about 3 p.m. When she did not return, David became alarmed and after a brief search found his sister's body at the foot of the stairs. He told the officers he moved her so her face was not in the water. David called neighbors saying something was wrong and they phoned Mr. and Mrs. Morris who returned at once to the home. They called Sheriff Ray Emmons who notified Dr. Pees and went to the scene with a fireman and resuscitator. The child was dead when the officers arrived. Emmons said that Mr. Morris told him that the cellar had not been in use although he had recently pumped water from it, preparing to clean it up and using it this summer and fall.

In addition to her parents and David, the child is survived by three brothers, Billie Lee Morris, San Francisco, Wayne and John Joseph Morris of the home; her grandmother, Mrs. Ann Looney, Iola. Services will be announced later by the Waugh Funeral Home.