A former Mulberry woman and her small grandson were buried following a double funeral service last Saturday at Dayton, Ohio.
Mrs. Viola (Rothenberger) Keller, died of a heart attack at her home in Dayton at 3:30 a. m. Thursday, May 22, five hours after the body of her grandson, 6-year-old Ronnie Marshall, was recovered from an abandoned basement excavation near his home. Mrs. Keller died unaware of the boy's death. She had been afflicted with a heart ailment since last winter, although she had improved in late weeks.
She was a daughter of Eli and Louisa (Hardesty) Rothenberger and was born and grew to womanhood in the farm home now owned by Mrs. Owen Skiles and occupied by the Carl Timmons family.
She was twice married. Her first husband was Alfred Jones. For a time after their marriage the Joneses resided here. They were the parents of five children, three of whom were born here. Four survive - Mrs. Margaret Marshall, Mrs. Pearl Cunningham, Fred Jones and Thomas Jones, all of Dayton. After moving to Dayton she became the wife of Reuben Keller, who also survives. They visited Mulberry frequently in recent years.
Other survivors are ten grandchildren, two sisters, Mrs. Everett Patton of Los Angeles and Mrs. Margaret Lapp of LaVerne, California, and a brother, Abe Rothenberger, Long Beach, Calif. The late Frank Rothenberger was a brother, Jay and Geneva Rothenberger are nephew and niece, and Mrs. Sarah Miller is an aunt of the deceased woman.
The grandson, son of Rodney and Margaret Marshall, disappeared while at play late Wednesday while his mother was at work at the Frigidaire plant. Search for him began at 6:30 in which the father and neighbors were aided by sheriff's deputies and members of the fire department. The body was removed from the water-filled excavation at 10:15 that night. The open hole had been dug for a residence basement but never used.
Besides his parents, the child leaves a sister, Margaret, 9, and a step-sister, Mary, 16.
Following the double funeral service the bodies were buried in separate cemeteries, Mrs. Keller in Memorial Park cemetery and the child in Willowview cemetery.
Newspaper clippings giving an account of the tragedy and showing pictures of Mrs. Keller and the boy were sent to The Reporter by Mrs. Mark Recher of Dayton, Ohio.
-- The Mulberry (IN) Reporter, May 30, 1947
Family Members
Parents
Elias "Eli" Rothenberger
1859–1930
Louisa M Rothenberger
1858–1907
Siblings
Frank Rothenberger
1879–1945
Margaret Rothenberger Lapp
1884–1954
