Thomas H. Coomer was the son of Thomas and Fannie Saulsberry Coomer.

Obituary from the Princeton Clarion-News Saturday June 30, 1934

Lightning Kills Thomas Coomer

Struck As He Stands Under Tree In Rain

Loses Life Shortly After 4 O'Clock Friday Afternoon Northeast of Princeton Alongside Indiana Creek

Thomas Coomer, 46, was struck by and killed by lightning about 4:15 o'clock Friday afternoon about two miles north and east of Princeton, as he stood under an elm tree on the farm of Oscar Bottom, seeking shelter from a rain storm.

The tree is located about ten feet from the bridge over Indiana creek on the Tafttown road.

His body was discovered shortly after 5 o'clock by Paul Lehman, 27, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lehman, whose farm adjoins the Bottoms farm. The rain storm which Coomer sough shelter from was instrumental in the discovery of his body. Lehman was returning to his father's home from Princeton when the rain storm hit the section northeast of Princeton. The automobile which he was driving was drowned out by the rain a short distance west of the Indian creek bridge. He secured a ride in an oil truck to his father's house, farther east, but did not notice Coomer's body at that time, although passing near the spot where the body lay. Lehman returned to where his auto drowned out in a horse-drawn wagon with his father. Lehman was scanning the countryside to see what damage had been done by the wind storm which accompanied the rain. He noticed several trees with limbs blown off. His attention was attracted to an elm tree which apparently had been struck by lightning as part of the tree had been splintered by the bolt. It was then that he noticed the body of a man he recognized to be Coomer's lying on a narrow ledge between the tree and Indiana creek.

Lehman called to Coomer, whom he had earlier in the day seen hoeing tomatoes in an adjoining field.

"After I called to Coomer and he did not answer, I jumped over the ditch and went over to him and touched him and discovered he was dead," Lehman said. "I then went to the Bottoms farm and called Sheriff George N. Hitch telling him to get the coroner," Lehman stated.

"The lightning struck a limb on the north side of the tree," Lehman said, "and came down the trunk to within about six feet of the ground where it apparently glanced off and struck Coomer who had been standing on the south side. Coomer fell towards the east on a narrow ledge about a foot wide. Had his body fallen into the creek which had been swollen by the rain to a depth of several feet his body probably would have been carried down the stream and not discovered for some time. The hoe which Coomer had been using was lying beside his body."

The lightning struck Coomer on the right side of his face and chin and went down the right side of his chest. All these portions of the body were badly burned. Blood was running from Coomer's mouth when Lehman found him. George Witherow, 60, who lives with Bottoms, was working in the field with Coomer, plowing with a team of horses.

"It began to rain," Witherow said, "and I saw Coomer run toward Indian creek. He stopped under a small catalpa tree and ran from it to the elm tree farther south on the ditch. This was about 4:30 o'clock as near as I could guess. Then it began to hail and I started to take the horses to the barn. Just as I was leaving the field I heard a loud crash and turned to see a lightning bolt strike the tree. The horses reared at the report and started running. I tried to stop them but they kept running down the road and down to the Bottoms farm and I had no time to pay any particular notice to the tree. The first I knew of Coomer's death was when Lehman came to the Bottoms house to call Princeton".

Coomer's home is about a mile east of where the accident occurred. He had been working for Bottoms for about four days and had been employed at intervals by Bottoms for several years. He was formerly a painter at the Southern shops here.

He was a World war veteran serving 16 months overseas with the engineers corps.

His was the second lightning death within eight days in this vicinity., Louis Franklin Beckwith being struck and killed by a bolt June 21 near Oatsville.

Coomer is survived by: the widow, Mrs. Susan Coomer; four sons, Everett, Jack, Ben, and Bobbie Joe, at home; a daughter, Nola, at home; a stepdaughter, Mrs. Ruth Meek of Princeton; four brother, Haskell, John, Frank, and Arthur, of Princeton; two sisters, Mrs. Alva Gourley and Mrs. Charles Phillips, of Princeton, other relatives and a host of friends.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 o'clock Monday afternoon at the First Baptist church in charge of the Rev. Fred Porter, pastor. Burial will be in the I.O.O.F. cemetery. The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen will take part in the service and the American Legion will participate at the service by the grave.

Mr. Coomer at one time resided in Princeton while employed at the Southern shops. He resided in and around Princeton most all his life. His home is now four miles northeast of Princeton on the Tafttown road. Coroner Roy C. Smith investigated the death.