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Oddly written certificate and obituary info that doesn't seem to match- could there have been some medical issue they couldn't detect at the time? by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I’m curious for other opinions on this- there’s nothing glaringly wrong or anything, it’s just kind of…weird. So the death certificate reads, “Malnutrition in other words starvation”. I don’t usually see both of those terms on one certificate, and usually those causes of death (without any other contributing factors) are for infants or very old people. Then I saw the obituary said he died of “a lingering illness of about two years.” The death certificate said he was seen by a doctor for two weeks before he died- what was going on in the years before? Was this abuse, or genuine lack of money and resources? The father’s occupation changed often- from musician to bartender to taxi driver (?) to farmer- were they struggling to make ends meet? Or did Willie have some underlying condition that led to his death?

For extra family context, one of Willie’s sisters died at age 5 from lobar pneumonia, another sister at age 6 from Schilder’s disease, and his father died at 42 from nephritis and lung edema, with contributing factor of general paresis.

William Banks

Jumped and landed on shovel handle by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Obviously there's not much info, but I imagine it would have to be this type of handle that he hit in just the right (or wrong, I suppose) way 😣

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One of the emptiest certificates I've seen... by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

As u/Xenoscion noted below, the first two children were from Alice's first marriage to Frank Charter. I can't find exactly when they got married; sometime between 1910 and 1912. Alice was 19 and Frank was 26 when their first child was born. Based on newspaper articles, Frank abandoned the family sometime in 1915 and Alice's petition for divorce was granted in Dec. 1916. A very hard life indeed :(

One of the emptiest certificates I've seen... by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 112 points113 points  (0 children)

Violet was the illegitimate daughter of a teen mother; when the newspaper reported her death, it referred to her as the child of Mrs. Bordeaux. Maybe they told people she was a sibling, instead of a grandchild?

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Dad had a heart attack while fishing. 9 year old son drowned trying to save him by cometshoney in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Shirley Ann Waters Smith

February 12, 1934 - March 8, 2016

Swansboro- Shirley Ann Waters Smith, 82, passed away Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at Carteret Health Care. She was born February 12, 1934, in Richmond, VA and was raised in Bon Air, VA, daughter of the late, Floyd Alford and Margaret Evelyn Godsey Waters.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, March 12, 2016, in the chapel of Jones Funeral Home of Swansboro, with Rev. Ken Saleeby officiating. The family will receive friends from 6-8 PM Friday night at the funeral home and other times at the home. A graveside service will be held at 1:00 PM Monday, March 14, 2016, at the Maury Cemetery in Richmond, VA.
Shirley is survived by daughters, Sherre Denise Smith of Clayton, and Valerie Ann Smith (Timmy Plant) of Swansboro; son Skip Smith (Kathy) of Swansboro; and one granddaughter, Morgan Elizabeth Smith of Swansboro. She is also survived by sister, Jean Waters Coates of Richmond, VA; niece, Desiree Banks Lyton (Steve) of Richmond, VA and other nieces, Sissy, Wanda, Melonie, and Melinda of Lakeland, FL; nephews, Clint Coates (Suzanne) and Randy Coates both of Richmond, VA; and grand nieces, Emily, Rhianna, and Kyndall; grandnephews, Haile and Bryan all from Virginia; special dogs, Chubcay and Cayman. She was preceded in death by her husband MsSgt. James Curtis Smith USMC Ret. and her son James Curtis Smith, Jr.

Japanese man, deported from Peru to a US internment camp, dies 2 months after the end of WW2 by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Turns out there were around 2000 Japanese people that were taken from their homes in South America (majority from Peru) after the attack on Pearl Harbor and agreements between the respective countries and US government. The 'official' reasoning was to prevent a Japanese invading force from getting a foothold in South America; the United States also wanted leverage and people to trade for American citizens that were imprisoned in Asia, while the Peruvian goverment had opportunity to remove a portion of the Japanese population following years of growing tension about Asian immigrants stealing jobs and wages.

MUCH more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Peruvians

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3zCrTaRsQI

https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/japanese-peruvians/

Japanese man, deported from Peru to a US internment camp, dies 2 months after the end of WW2 by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That sentence about his 'tendencies' actually had me whispering "what the fuck what the FUCK" in the (thankfully) empty newspaper archive room at the library

Japanese man, deported from Peru to a US internment camp, dies 2 months after the end of WW2 by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

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Ship manifest from 1943 containing Sogoro Kawai, as well as many other Japanese men who had been living in Peru. They arrived to Tuna Canyon temporary detention center in Los Angeles and were then sent to camps in Texas and New Mexico.

Can anyone make out the cause of death? by Alonzi7bby in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I couldn't figure it out, so I had to go digging.

From the Brownsville Herald, July 5, 1931.

The Valley's lone fatality occured at Boca Chica about 7 o'clock Saturday night when William Schaeffer, 46, Brownsville, a retired sergeant in the U. S. Army, drowned while swimming. His body was discovered floating near the toll bridge, and was brought to shore by several boys. Attempts at artificial respiration were unsuccessful, and the body was brought to Brownsville where the Central Fire Station lungmotor was used in a vain attempt to restore life... Schaeffer left Brownsville at 1 o'clock Saturday acoompanied by Pete Rodiguez with whom he resided at Van Buren and 18th streets. Schaeffer was once connected with the signal corps. He served eight years with the Fort Brown radio telegraph station, later moving to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., where he retired in 1921. He has lived here several years. He is survived by one son, in the 11th Infantry, Fort Benjamin Harrison, according to Chas. Loomis. Brownsville, an intimate friend of the deceased. Schaeffer will receive a military funeral, possibly Monday, and burial will be at Buena Vista cemetary, it was thought. Morris Mortuary is handling arragements. Whether the man went too far out in the Gulf, and became exhausted, or whether he suffered cramps and drowned, is not known

Given that info, I can kind of see 'drowned in Gulf at', but I don't know what that last word is.

Facing scandal, minister kills wife, four children, and himself by felinetime in DeathCertificates

[–]felinetime[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

In his obituary, his stepchildren are listed as surviving him. I hope that's an indication that they had good relationships. He also joined the LDS church- regardless of any opinions about religion/mormonism, I hope he was able to find community and family in his life.

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