Former Kokomo Youth Shoots Self at Movie. Follows Pattern of Entire Life.
The Kokomo Tribune, The Kokomo Dispatch
Wednesday, November 7, 1945
Following a pattern of tragedy that marked his entire life, George Thomas Packard, 23, former Kokomo youth and an honorably discharged sailor of the U. S. Navy, shot himself through the heart Tuesday while seated in a crowded Brooklyn, N. Y. movie house watching a film, "Back to Bataan".
He died instantly and police found on his body a navy identification card bearing the name "George T. Packard, 502 Morgan street, Kokomo, Ind." He wore civilian clothes and had a discharge button on his lapel.
He was well known in Kokomo and was the son of talented parents. His mother was a noted vocalist and was a star with the Civic Opera in Chicago, singing under the name of Assunta Calugi, her maiden name. His father also was a well-known musician and piano tuner here for many years.
On March 31, 1927, the father dropped dead in a Kokomo barber shop. Less than two months later the mother, nerve wracked with despondency and worry over the care of three small children, committed suicide. The children were reared in a Masonic home and the Union Bank of Kokomo was made guardian of the estate. When an older sister, Mrs. Mildred Hammond, 502 East Morgan street, graduated from the school and was married she brought George to her home and he entered Kokomo Hugh School. Later he was employed by the Haynes Stellite Company.
George was born November 19, 1922 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy October 1, 1942. serving with both Atlantic and Pacific fleets as a gunner's mate. Once his ship was torpedoed and he was in the water for 36 hours. He later was in the submarine service off Guadalcanal.
When he became 21 years of age the bank guardianship was closed and he received his inheritance. On November 2, 1943, just a week (continued on page Fifteen) before sailing with the Atlantic fleet, he and Miss Jacqueline DeWitt, daughter of Orville DeWitt, 1531 South main street, were married in New York.
On his return from service he and his wife had marital difficulties which culminated in a divorce action which he filed in the Howard County circuit court. He charged that his wife misused $1,715 of his money, joined the WAVES without his consent and bought and traded automobiles and a motorcycle without his consent. The case was compromised before it came to trial and later the couple went to New York together. The family reported that later they separated again and in letters to his sister he indicated he could "see but one way out of it all".
Threatened Suicide
Mrs. Packard, 19, said today that George had threatened to commit suicide "if things didn't go right for him".
"I can't think of why he did it – he had so much to live for", the young widow said. She admitted she had left her husband in Brooklyn, returned to Kokomo and filed for divorce.
"He just couldn't face things," she sobbed. "He always said that if things didn't go for him, he'd do the same thing his mother did. He said he had her blood in him."
She said he ordered her to leave him in Brooklyn and asked her to get a divorce, as the aftermath of a quarrel there "one Sunday afternoon" several weeks ago.
Rode Motorcycle East
Mrs. Packard said the couple went to Brooklyn from Kokomo on a motorcycle after he got a discharge from the Navy and she from the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy.
Jacqueline said she did not believe that the couple's separation was responsible for Packard's act.
"Just before I got word of his death, I had a nice letter from him," she said. "He said he held nothing against me and realized it was for the best."
"It couldn't have been war nerves," she added, explaining that Packard had never seen active duty, although he had served on cargo ships in combat theaters. "He was just perfect. There wasn't a thing wrong with his nerves when he returned."
He is survived by his sister, Mrs. Hammond, a brother Frank, now in the U. S. Navy on Saipan, and his wife, who lives at 1531 South Main street.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but the body will be returned to the Eller Mortuary here.
The Kokomo Tribune, The Kokomo Dispatch
Wednesday, November 7, 1945
Following a pattern of tragedy that marked his entire life, George Thomas Packard, 23, former Kokomo youth and an honorably discharged sailor of the U. S. Navy, shot himself through the heart Tuesday while seated in a crowded Brooklyn, N. Y. movie house watching a film, "Back to Bataan".
He died instantly and police found on his body a navy identification card bearing the name "George T. Packard, 502 Morgan street, Kokomo, Ind." He wore civilian clothes and had a discharge button on his lapel.
He was well known in Kokomo and was the son of talented parents. His mother was a noted vocalist and was a star with the Civic Opera in Chicago, singing under the name of Assunta Calugi, her maiden name. His father also was a well-known musician and piano tuner here for many years.
On March 31, 1927, the father dropped dead in a Kokomo barber shop. Less than two months later the mother, nerve wracked with despondency and worry over the care of three small children, committed suicide. The children were reared in a Masonic home and the Union Bank of Kokomo was made guardian of the estate. When an older sister, Mrs. Mildred Hammond, 502 East Morgan street, graduated from the school and was married she brought George to her home and he entered Kokomo Hugh School. Later he was employed by the Haynes Stellite Company.
George was born November 19, 1922 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy October 1, 1942. serving with both Atlantic and Pacific fleets as a gunner's mate. Once his ship was torpedoed and he was in the water for 36 hours. He later was in the submarine service off Guadalcanal.
When he became 21 years of age the bank guardianship was closed and he received his inheritance. On November 2, 1943, just a week (continued on page Fifteen) before sailing with the Atlantic fleet, he and Miss Jacqueline DeWitt, daughter of Orville DeWitt, 1531 South main street, were married in New York.
On his return from service he and his wife had marital difficulties which culminated in a divorce action which he filed in the Howard County circuit court. He charged that his wife misused $1,715 of his money, joined the WAVES without his consent and bought and traded automobiles and a motorcycle without his consent. The case was compromised before it came to trial and later the couple went to New York together. The family reported that later they separated again and in letters to his sister he indicated he could "see but one way out of it all".
Threatened Suicide
Mrs. Packard, 19, said today that George had threatened to commit suicide "if things didn't go right for him".
"I can't think of why he did it – he had so much to live for", the young widow said. She admitted she had left her husband in Brooklyn, returned to Kokomo and filed for divorce.
"He just couldn't face things," she sobbed. "He always said that if things didn't go for him, he'd do the same thing his mother did. He said he had her blood in him."
She said he ordered her to leave him in Brooklyn and asked her to get a divorce, as the aftermath of a quarrel there "one Sunday afternoon" several weeks ago.
Rode Motorcycle East
Mrs. Packard said the couple went to Brooklyn from Kokomo on a motorcycle after he got a discharge from the Navy and she from the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy.
Jacqueline said she did not believe that the couple's separation was responsible for Packard's act.
"Just before I got word of his death, I had a nice letter from him," she said. "He said he held nothing against me and realized it was for the best."
"It couldn't have been war nerves," she added, explaining that Packard had never seen active duty, although he had served on cargo ships in combat theaters. "He was just perfect. There wasn't a thing wrong with his nerves when he returned."
He is survived by his sister, Mrs. Hammond, a brother Frank, now in the U. S. Navy on Saipan, and his wife, who lives at 1531 South Main street.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but the body will be returned to the Eller Mortuary here.
Former Kokomo Youth Shoots Self at Movie. Follows Pattern of Entire Life.
The Kokomo Tribune, The Kokomo Dispatch
Wednesday, November 7, 1945
Following a pattern of tragedy that marked his entire life, George Thomas Packard, 23, former Kokomo youth and an honorably discharged sailor of the U. S. Navy, shot himself through the heart Tuesday while seated in a crowded Brooklyn, N. Y. movie house watching a film, "Back to Bataan".
He died instantly and police found on his body a navy identification card bearing the name "George T. Packard, 502 Morgan street, Kokomo, Ind." He wore civilian clothes and had a discharge button on his lapel.
He was well known in Kokomo and was the son of talented parents. His mother was a noted vocalist and was a star with the Civic Opera in Chicago, singing under the name of Assunta Calugi, her maiden name. His father also was a well-known musician and piano tuner here for many years.
On March 31, 1927, the father dropped dead in a Kokomo barber shop. Less than two months later the mother, nerve wracked with despondency and worry over the care of three small children, committed suicide. The children were reared in a Masonic home and the Union Bank of Kokomo was made guardian of the estate. When an older sister, Mrs. Mildred Hammond, 502 East Morgan street, graduated from the school and was married she brought George to her home and he entered Kokomo Hugh School. Later he was employed by the Haynes Stellite Company.
George was born November 19, 1922 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy October 1, 1942. serving with both Atlantic and Pacific fleets as a gunner's mate. Once his ship was torpedoed and he was in the water for 36 hours. He later was in the submarine service off Guadalcanal.
When he became 21 years of age the bank guardianship was closed and he received his inheritance. On November 2, 1943, just a week (continued on page Fifteen) before sailing with the Atlantic fleet, he and Miss Jacqueline DeWitt, daughter of Orville DeWitt, 1531 South main street, were married in New York.
On his return from service he and his wife had marital difficulties which culminated in a divorce action which he filed in the Howard County circuit court. He charged that his wife misused $1,715 of his money, joined the WAVES without his consent and bought and traded automobiles and a motorcycle without his consent. The case was compromised before it came to trial and later the couple went to New York together. The family reported that later they separated again and in letters to his sister he indicated he could "see but one way out of it all".
Threatened Suicide
Mrs. Packard, 19, said today that George had threatened to commit suicide "if things didn't go right for him".
"I can't think of why he did it – he had so much to live for", the young widow said. She admitted she had left her husband in Brooklyn, returned to Kokomo and filed for divorce.
"He just couldn't face things," she sobbed. "He always said that if things didn't go for him, he'd do the same thing his mother did. He said he had her blood in him."
She said he ordered her to leave him in Brooklyn and asked her to get a divorce, as the aftermath of a quarrel there "one Sunday afternoon" several weeks ago.
Rode Motorcycle East
Mrs. Packard said the couple went to Brooklyn from Kokomo on a motorcycle after he got a discharge from the Navy and she from the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy.
Jacqueline said she did not believe that the couple's separation was responsible for Packard's act.
"Just before I got word of his death, I had a nice letter from him," she said. "He said he held nothing against me and realized it was for the best."
"It couldn't have been war nerves," she added, explaining that Packard had never seen active duty, although he had served on cargo ships in combat theaters. "He was just perfect. There wasn't a thing wrong with his nerves when he returned."
He is survived by his sister, Mrs. Hammond, a brother Frank, now in the U. S. Navy on Saipan, and his wife, who lives at 1531 South Main street.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but the body will be returned to the Eller Mortuary here.
The Kokomo Tribune, The Kokomo Dispatch
Wednesday, November 7, 1945
Following a pattern of tragedy that marked his entire life, George Thomas Packard, 23, former Kokomo youth and an honorably discharged sailor of the U. S. Navy, shot himself through the heart Tuesday while seated in a crowded Brooklyn, N. Y. movie house watching a film, "Back to Bataan".
He died instantly and police found on his body a navy identification card bearing the name "George T. Packard, 502 Morgan street, Kokomo, Ind." He wore civilian clothes and had a discharge button on his lapel.
He was well known in Kokomo and was the son of talented parents. His mother was a noted vocalist and was a star with the Civic Opera in Chicago, singing under the name of Assunta Calugi, her maiden name. His father also was a well-known musician and piano tuner here for many years.
On March 31, 1927, the father dropped dead in a Kokomo barber shop. Less than two months later the mother, nerve wracked with despondency and worry over the care of three small children, committed suicide. The children were reared in a Masonic home and the Union Bank of Kokomo was made guardian of the estate. When an older sister, Mrs. Mildred Hammond, 502 East Morgan street, graduated from the school and was married she brought George to her home and he entered Kokomo Hugh School. Later he was employed by the Haynes Stellite Company.
George was born November 19, 1922 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy October 1, 1942. serving with both Atlantic and Pacific fleets as a gunner's mate. Once his ship was torpedoed and he was in the water for 36 hours. He later was in the submarine service off Guadalcanal.
When he became 21 years of age the bank guardianship was closed and he received his inheritance. On November 2, 1943, just a week (continued on page Fifteen) before sailing with the Atlantic fleet, he and Miss Jacqueline DeWitt, daughter of Orville DeWitt, 1531 South main street, were married in New York.
On his return from service he and his wife had marital difficulties which culminated in a divorce action which he filed in the Howard County circuit court. He charged that his wife misused $1,715 of his money, joined the WAVES without his consent and bought and traded automobiles and a motorcycle without his consent. The case was compromised before it came to trial and later the couple went to New York together. The family reported that later they separated again and in letters to his sister he indicated he could "see but one way out of it all".
Threatened Suicide
Mrs. Packard, 19, said today that George had threatened to commit suicide "if things didn't go right for him".
"I can't think of why he did it – he had so much to live for", the young widow said. She admitted she had left her husband in Brooklyn, returned to Kokomo and filed for divorce.
"He just couldn't face things," she sobbed. "He always said that if things didn't go for him, he'd do the same thing his mother did. He said he had her blood in him."
She said he ordered her to leave him in Brooklyn and asked her to get a divorce, as the aftermath of a quarrel there "one Sunday afternoon" several weeks ago.
Rode Motorcycle East
Mrs. Packard said the couple went to Brooklyn from Kokomo on a motorcycle after he got a discharge from the Navy and she from the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy.
Jacqueline said she did not believe that the couple's separation was responsible for Packard's act.
"Just before I got word of his death, I had a nice letter from him," she said. "He said he held nothing against me and realized it was for the best."
"It couldn't have been war nerves," she added, explaining that Packard had never seen active duty, although he had served on cargo ships in combat theaters. "He was just perfect. There wasn't a thing wrong with his nerves when he returned."
He is survived by his sister, Mrs. Hammond, a brother Frank, now in the U. S. Navy on Saipan, and his wife, who lives at 1531 South Main street.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but the body will be returned to the Eller Mortuary here.
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