The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., May 22, 1958, page 1

BOY DROWNS IN POND ACCIDENT

     A 20-months-old lad toppled into a frigid fish pond at White Salmon Friday about noon and was drowned. James Clifton Stembridge, son of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Stembridge, was the victim. He is the grandson of Deputy Sheriff John Splawn and his wife.
     Mrs. Stembridge said she had checked the youngster about every five minutes as he played outside their home. The family lives on the Lauterbach property near the center of the city, just below Columbia High School.
     When she looked for the lad about noon, his mother noted he was missing, and found him shortly afterward, face downward in the icy pool. Emergency measures with a pulmotor failed to revive the lad, Sheriff Ez Kaiser reported. A little dog was the child's only companion at time of the tragedy.
     James, the couple's only child, was born October 1, 1956. Funeral services were conducted Tuesday afternoon, with the Rev. Oscar Olson officiating, and internment was made in the White Salmon IOOF cemetery.
     Pallbearers were Pete Bentley, Bill Kreps, Nick Nicholas, Wayne Carlock, and Bill Bush.
     Gardner's Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer