Alton Leonard Arnold was born to Daniel Simon Arnold and Tracie M. Balitz in Platte, Benzie, MI, USA on Friday, October 30, 1925.
Brother Alton was born October 30, 1925. In those days, siblings were not made aware of a new brother or sister coming. You just woke up one morning and you had a new brother delivered at home. I think my Grandmother Balitz probably delivered us all before the doctor arrived. I would have been about eight so I didn’t remember too much about him as a baby.
Alvin E. Arnold Memoirs
Then, sometime in June, brother Alton also got pneumonia similar to what I had. They did the poultice thing with him also, but didn’t operate to insert drainage tubes. He went through quite a long sick period and seemed to be improving. I remember the morning he woke up out of a semi coma; he said, “I’m hungry and want something to eat”. My mom fixed him something to eat and he ate a bit of food. Alton then lay back in bed and died. My dad was working in the field close by and they told me to get him, because my mother almost went out of control. I remember her taking it awfully hard. Only at this time could I know the feeling. Alton was just under eight years old. It was July 11, 1934 that he died. Fortunately, Allen and Laban escaped getting serious ill with this pneumonia.
Alvin E. Arnold Memoirs
Alton passed away of “double pneumonia with pleurisy and double emphysema” in Platte, Benzie, MI, USA on Wednesday, July 11, 1934 at the age of 8. He had been under a doctor’s care since June 12 and had his left and right side pleural cavities drained on June 30th and July 5th, respectively. Alton was buried at Platte Township Cemetery on Saturday, July 14, 1934.
Alton is listed on his death certificate as Alton Leonard Arnold, an 8 year, 8 month, 11 day old, male, white, single, school child, born in Michigan to Daniel Arnold of Michigan, and Tracy Balitz of Michigan. Informed by Daniel Arnold of Honor, Michigan.
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