Links
Other Counties
Belmont County Obituaries
Hollis Elmore Smith
Former Flushing Youth Killed
Flushing --- Hollis Elmore Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Smith of Norfolk, Va., formerly of Flushing, died in the DePaul Hospital April 30, according to word received here.
Hollis Elmore Smith, 16, of 118 Glendale Av., Norfolk, Va., died April 30th at 9:50 p.m. at DePaul Hospital as a result of a wound received in the afternoon when a .22 calibre (sic) cartridge accidentally exploded in the makeshift gun he was holding. The youth, a student at Granby high school, was in the rear of his home in Glenwood Park when the accident happened at 5 p.m. He was alone at the time and it seemed as though he was trying to load a home-made weapon, made by strapping a short piece of pipe to the breech of a 12-gauge shotgun with friction tape. Within this pipe he had placed a small steel cylinder into which was fitted a .22 calibre (sic) cartridge. The handle of a pair of pliers was found jammed between the steel cylinder and the inside of the pipe. Apparently he had forced it there to steady the steel cylinder and the cartridge had exploded when it struck the firing pin of the gun.
The bullet passed through the palm of his left hand and into his head above the right eye. He was taken to Depaul Hospital in the police ambulance.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Smith, he was in his sophomore year at Grandy high school. He had been there for three and a half years, including junior high school, and was active in the school’s safety patrol and on the track team as a pole vaulter. At the time of his death, he was on leave of absence from the Norfolk Newspapers, Inc., where he had an afternoon job, in order to take part in the sport.
Smith was born in Flushing and had lived in Norfolk eight years. Besides his parents, he is survived by brother, Donald A. Smith, and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Bethel, of Flushing. He was a member of the Glenwood Park Presbyterian Church.
Name and date of newspaper unknown
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
| G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
| M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
| S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
Y |
| Z |