Clarence C. Curtis
Man Commits Suicide in Lusk Business District Fri.
Clarence C. Curtis, 20, of Lusk shot himself with a .22 caliber rifle just above and to the front of the right ear about 10:15 Friday morning behind Burge Motors garage in Lusk. He died about 12:45 p.m. the same day at the Niobrara Memorial Hospital.
Curtis had purchased the rifle just a few minutes earlier at Templeton's Firestone Store in Lusk. He told Robert Templeton, proprietor of the store, that he was purchasing the rifle for his wife but was not sure if it was the kind she wanted.
Forrest Van Tassell of Lusk said that he witnessed the shooting and described the shooting in detail to local officers.
According to a suicide note which was found in the pocket of his clothes and other information gathered by authorities he shot himself because Margaret Swedberg refused to marry him. Curtis was fined $25.00 and sentenced to five days in jail in Police Court Sept. 6 on a charge of beating Margaret Swedberg and creating a disturbance at Johnson's Corner. Margaret Swedberg was thought to have been his wife at the time of the Police Court trial. The fine was paid and the sentence suspended so that Curtis could resume his work at the Lusk Service Station.
Curtis' body was taken to Ogallala, Nebraska where funeral services were held.