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In Memory

Jerry Roberts

GERALD A. ROBERTS

Funeral for Gerald (Jerry) A. Roberts, 30, who operated a grocery at the junction of III. 41-116 near St. Augustine, was conducted at 1:30 p.m. today at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Chapel by Dr. Joseph Hoffman. Burial was at East Linwood Cemetery. Pallbearers were Steve Goehl, Stewart Powell, Dan Schislcr, Clarence Owens, Dick Herslow and Mike Smith.

Mr. Roberts’ body was found at his home Sunday, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Self-Inflicted Wound Takes Woman’s Life

A 44-ycar-old Galesburg wom­an who taught in the Abingdon school district, apparently com­mitted suicide at her home Tuesday while her 20-year-old daughter slept in another part of the house, authorities report­ed today.

The body of Mrs. Clyde (Mar­jorie) Kisler, 185 Division St., was discovered about 7:30 p.m. by her husband when lie return­ed from work.

Kisler told police he found his wife lying on her back on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. She reportedly died from a single gunshot wound in the head. A snub nose revolver was lying on the body, police said.

The couple’s daughter Christy told police her mother drove her home about 4 p.m. and things seemed to be normal at that lime. She said she last saw her mother around 6 p.m. when the woman told her she was going upstairs to rest. The daughter fell asleep on a living room couch and heard no gunshot, she related.

Mr. Kisler notified police.

The former Marjorie J. Ganson was born June 17, 1927, at Havana and had lived in Gales­burg since 1951. She was a graduate of Western Illinois University at Macomb.

She married Clyde Kisler here Aug. 18. 1951. lie survives with four children, all at home: Mi­chael Leo, Christy, Tonya and Cynthia; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Ganson of Ha­vana; a brother, Milton Ganson of Havana; two sisters, Mrs. Russell Kruger of Peotone and Mrs. Jack Steele of Havana.

She was a member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church and the National Secretaries' Assn.

Funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may call Thursday eve­ning at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Chapel, where a Rosary will be said at 8 p.m.

A Knox County coroner’s jury ruled Thursday night that the deaths of an Abingdon area man and a Galesburg woman were suicides.

According to Knox County Coroner Robert Nelson, who conducted three inquests at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Chapel, last night, evidence indicated that the two incidents may have been related

Following the presentation of testimony, the jury ruled that the death of Gerald A. (Jerry) Roberts, 30, died as a result of Inhalation of carbon monoxide from a tractor’s exhaust fumes.

Roberts was found in a back room at his home at the junction of III. 41 and 111. 1J6 July. 9 about 4 p.m. by his wife, Linda Cheryl Roberts.

She told jury members she had returned from work when she found her husband lying on a couch. The exhaust pipe of a running tractor was connected to a hose sticking through a win­dow in the room. All other doors' and windows were closed.

According to Nelson, a state crime lab test revealed a 92 per cent carbon monoxide level in Roberts’ blood samples. Above 70 per cent is considered “rapidly fatal" by authorities.

Gerald K. Roberts of Swan Lake near Roseville, told the jury his son had contemplated suicide the week before.

The eider Roberts said he arrived at the junction between 4:30-5 p.m.

Mrs. Roberts said an appar­ent suicide note was discovered under a rug in the room where she found her husband’s body. The note read “I’m not going back to drinking—feel as if I would. Sorry, Jerry.”

Roberts was pronounced dead upon arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital at 4:45 p.m.

The second suicide ruling was made in the death July 11 of Marjorie Jean Kisler, 44, of 185 Division St. Jury members ruled her death suicide due to shock resulting from a bullet wound to the head.

Nelson noted there was strong evidence indicating Mrs. Kisler’s death was connected lo; that of Roberts two days earlier.

According to Clyde L Kisler. her husband, the Killers and Roberts were close friends. Kisler said his wife had appeared I to be “depressed about young Jerry.”

Kisler testified his wife previously contemplated suicide and attempted it four times in the preceding 9-10 years.

Kisler said he found his wife's body in an upstairs bedroom about 7:30 p.m. after returning home from work. A .38 caliber revolver was nearby. Kisler said the weapon had been locked in a filing cabinet in the basement at his home.

Mrs. Kisler was pronounced dead at the scene by deputy Knox County Coroner Edgar Bantz.

A 30-year old rural Abingdon man was discovered dead in his home Sunday afternoon after apparently taking his own life.

The body of Gerald A. (Jerry) Roberts, who resided near the intersection of III. 41-116, was discovered about 5 p.m. by his wife when she returned home it from work.

Roberts managed the Jerry’s Convenient Store No. 2 near his home.

He was reportedly last seen about two hours earlier at the store, when he asked an employee to fill his tractor with gasoline. Roberts then drove off on the tractor toward his home, the employee said.

Roberts’ wife found him lying on a couch in a bedroom. He had reportedly backed the tractor up to a window and connected the exhaust pipe to a vacuum hose, which was piped into a window of the room. Other entrances to the room were closed, Knox County sheriff’s deputies said, confining fumes to the bedroom.

Mrs. Roberts called the Abingdon Police and Fire Department, which responded with a resuscitator. Firemen were un­able to revive Roberts.

He was taken to Galesburg, Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:40 p.m. by Dr. Robert J. Nelson, Knox, County coroner.

Roberts was born Dec. 8, 1941, at Macomb, and lived most of his life in Galesburg, where he was graduated from high school. He served for five years' in the U.S. Navy.

He married Linda Cheryl Clay in Galesburg on April 24, 1965. She survives with a daughter, Tammy Ranee, at home; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald K. Roberts, Swan Lake, and a brother, Jim Roberts. Gales­burg.

Funeral will be Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Chapel, where friends may call Tuesday evening. Burial will be at East Linwood Cemetery.