Milton G. Witter, 38, office manager of Mt. Vernon Milling Co.,
died at 11:45 a.m. today at Welborn Memorial Baptist Hospital in Evansville.
He had been ill of a blood pressure condition for several years
and during the weekend suffered a coronary occlusion at his home at 920 Main street.
His condition had been increasingly critical since he suffered the
occlusion.
The deceased was treasurer of First Methodist Church and an active figure in civic work
particularly as a Kiwanian.
The body will be brought to Short-Niehaus
Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon late today following a post-mortem
autopsy at the hospital.
Mr. Witter's residence in Mt. Vernon dated from shortly after the purchase of
Mt. Vernon Milling Co., by the present ownership. His wife is the former
Helen Hamilton of Mt. Vernon.
M.G. WITTER TIES TO BE HELD FRIDAY
Funeral services will be conducted Friday morning for Milton G.
Witter, 28, Mt. Vernon, who in ten years of residence in Mt. Vernon had contributed much to the progress of
his adopted community of residence.
The office manager of Mt. Vernon Milling Co., assistant treasurer
of J.R. Short Milling Co., Chicago, and local civic and church leader succumbed
shortly before noon yesterday at Welborn Memorial Baptist Hospital in Evansville to a ruptured aorta, a post-mortem
autopsy revealed. Afflicted with high blood pressure for several years he
became critically ill Sunday night at his home at 920 Main street and his condition worsened rapidly after
his removal to the hospital.
The body is at the Short-Niehaus Funeral
Home where friends may call after 7 o'clock this evening.
The funeral service will be conducted in Short-Niehaus
chapel at 10 a.m. Friday. Officiating clergymen will be Rev. J. Kenneth
Forbes, pastor of First Methodist church, in whose affairs the deceased had
taken a major role during his residence in Mt. Vernon, and Rev. Frank R. Greer, a former
pastor of First Methodist Church who is now minister of Trinity Methodist Church in Evansville.
Beulah lodge, no. 578, Mt. Vernon, Free & Accepted Masons, will
conduct graveside rites in Bellefontaine cemetery. In addition to his
membership in Beulah lodge, Mr. Witter was a 32nd degree Mason of Evansville
Consistory of Scottish Rite Masons, and a member of Mt. Vernon lodge of Elks. He was an auditing
committeeman of the local Elks lodge at the time of his passing.
Surviving are the wife, nee Helen Hamilton, whose marriage to the
deceased took place March 10, 1951; the mother, Mrs. Ada
H. Witter, Albert Lea, Minn. a brother, Lee H. Witter, Lansing, Mich., and two nieces, Jean and Susan Witter, Lansing, Mich.
Born in Waseco, Minn. reared in Albert Lea, Minn. and graduated in 1941 from the school of
accounting of the University of Minnesota where he was a member of chi Phi
fraternity, the deceased came to Mt. Vernon in 1947 as an accountant of Haskins
& Sells Auditing Co. following five years
association with his brother in their own accounting firm.
Mr. Witter's original college study was in the field of
journalism, an interest reflected in his very successful public relations with
the press in later life, but in his upper college years he turned to
accounting. He came to Mt. Vernon to make an expected two weeks audit when
J. R. Short Milling Co., Chicago, purchased Mt. Vernon Milling co., from local
ownership. He remained as a loyal employee of a newly organized Mt.
Vernon Milling Co., and became a "part and parcel" of his adopted
community.
Tireless energy, a keen, analytical intellect and high ideals and
noble purposes received quick recognition by Mt. Vernon citizenry and organizations.
Although he had no children, he was a devotee of your programs and
launched and guided during its stormy infancy the Cub Scout program in Mt. Vernon.
First Methodist church had no more devout, active member and he
was the very efficient treasurer of the church and member of the new house of
worship planning committee at the time of his death.
His civic endeavors were directed both through Chamber of Commerce
and Kiwanis Club channels. He was a past directive of the C. of C. a
present director of the Kiwanis Club in which he very successfully directed the
publication of Kiwanis Club Kids' Day newspaper editions and a past director
and chapter of the American Red Cross.
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Originally submitted by Betty Sellers