| Name |
Baker, Penelope Ann |
| Birth |
15 May 1942 |
| Gender |
Female |
| Death |
1948 |
Sayre, Bradford, Pennsylvania, USA  |
- 20250625Chicago-
Raymond Rees & Penelope Ann Baker, Sweden Valley, die after minor operations a year ago at Sayre
The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania •
Thu, Jun 23, 1949 p1
CLIPPED BY
wetzupdoc • 25 June 2025
• Death of Child Following Minor Operation to Be Investigated
The death of a child here last week following an operation for the removal of tonsils will be Investigated by the State Department of Welfare, it was announced this week by Walter P. Wells, president of the Potter County Memorial Hospital Board of Directors.
An autopsy was performed by Dr. Leo Moss, of Olean, immediately following the death of Carol Ann Wolf, three-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Wolf, about 3 o'clock Friday morning in the hospital. The autopsy report, as well as all hospital records pertaining to the case, will be turned over to Department of Welfare Investigators.
Mr. Wells made it clear that the pending investigation "does not in any sense indicate that the surgeon (Dr. C. E. Baxter), his assistants or the hospital are in any way at fault in this unfortunate death. We want to know why it happened and we think everyone concerned and the community at large is entitled to an impartial investigation."
The deaths of two Sweden Valley children about a year ago following tonsillectomies in the local hospital was believed a factor in the decision to call for an Investigation. The children, Raymond Rees and Penelope Ann Baker, both six, died a year ago at Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre.
The deaths still remain a major medical mystery. Becoming ill immediately following the operation, performed by Dr. H. C. Mosch, the children were returned to the hospital here after a day at their homes. Next day they were taken to Sayre, where Raymond died 16 days later. Penelope Ann lived for 35 days.
There was belief in some quarters that death was due to poison taken before the children entered the hospital for the operation. Bichloride of mercury was suspected as a possible agent. However, it was learned Tuesday for the first time, that tissue analysis at the Mellon Institute, at Pittsburgh, disclosed no evidence of either mercury or arsenic.
The information was contained in a letter to the Enterprise from Gerald W. Vickery, Bradford County Coroner. The full text of the letter follows:
"The cause of death on the death certificate of Raymond Francis Rees was toxic nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys), cause unknown. I can not give you the cause of death of the girl as that was signed by Dr. De Wan and I have been un able to contact him. (Ed. Note: Dr. De Wan is Mr. Vickery's deputy and a pathologist on the Robert Packer staff.)
"A letter from Dr. De Wan on August 21, 1948 reads as follows: "
We have received a report on the tissues (liver and kidneys) of the two children from Coudersport. The report shows no evidence of arsenic or mercury. All tissues contain a small amount of lead, which was within normal limits."
"The report of the brains of the children, sent to Children's Hospital, Philadelphia, showed nothing which caused death.'
"This is all the information I have regarding the children."
In the year since the death of the children, Mr. Wells, both as district attorney and hospital board president, has sought unsuccessfully to enlist the aid of impartial investigators, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in an effort to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
Some surprise was expressed when the Bradford County Coroner, who had jurisdiction because the children died at Sayre, failed to hold an inquest. In a letter to the local district attorney, District Attorney Smyth, of Bradford County, attributed the failure to hold an inquest to the fact that the deaths were neither violent or unattended. Mr. Smyth ascribed the death of the little Rees boy to pneumonia. The death of Penelope Ann, he stated, was due to heart failure.
Meanwhile, an investigation initiated by Miss Florence V. Lyon, aunt of Raymond and the nurse who attended the children while they were hospitalized here the first time, has been halted, it was learned Tuesday. Miss Lyon, operating room nurse at Olean General Hospital, disclosed that her attorney, Charles J. Margiotti, had Informed her through his nephew, Samuel E. Margiotti, a member of the firm of Margiotti & Casey, Pittsburgh, that he had dropped the case.
Mr. Margiotti informed Miss Lyon that "our investigation is at an end because we have been unable to unearth any evidence to confirm your suspicions."
Miss Lyon said she planned to complain to the Committee of Ethics of the Pennsylvania Bar Association because of the handling of the case by Margiotti & Casey. She disclosed that she had given the firm a $500 retainer and had tried vainly to get a portion of it back after Mr. Margiotti had withdrawn from the case..
- age 6. 35 days after tonsillectomy. Declared "heart failure".
|
| Burial |
1948 |
Sweden Hill Cemetery, Sweden, Potter, Pennsylvania, USA |
| operation |
Abt 23 Jun 1948 |
Potter County Memorial Hospital, Coudersport, Potter, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Tonsillectomy. She died 35 days later, a mystery. Dr. H.C. Mosch. |
- 20250625Chicago-
Raymond Rees & Penelope Ann Baker, Sweden Valley, die after minor operations a year ago at Sayre
The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania •
Thu, Jun 23, 1949 p1
CLIPPED BY
wetzupdoc • 25 June 2025
• Death of Child Following Minor Operation to Be Investigated
The death of a child here last week following an operation for the removal of tonsils will be Investigated by the State Department of Welfare, it was announced this week by Walter P. Wells, president of the Potter County Memorial Hospital Board of Directors.
An autopsy was performed by Dr. Leo Moss, of Olean, immediately following the death of Carol Ann Wolf, three-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Wolf, about 3 o'clock Friday morning in the hospital. The autopsy report, as well as all hospital records pertaining to the case, will be turned over to Department of Welfare Investigators.
Mr. Wells made it clear that the pending investigation "does not in any sense indicate that the surgeon (Dr. C. E. Baxter), his assistants or the hospital are in any way at fault in this unfortunate death. We want to know why it happened and we think everyone concerned and the community at large is entitled to an impartial investigation."
The deaths of two Sweden Valley children about a year ago following tonsillectomies in the local hospital was believed a factor in the decision to call for an Investigation. The children, Raymond Rees and Penelope Ann Baker, both six, died a year ago at Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre.
The deaths still remain a major medical mystery. Becoming ill immediately following the operation, performed by Dr. H. C. Mosch, the children were returned to the hospital here after a day at their homes. Next day they were taken to Sayre, where Raymond died 16 days later. Penelope Ann lived for 35 days.
There was belief in some quarters that death was due to poison taken before the children entered the hospital for the operation. Bichloride of mercury was suspected as a possible agent. However, it was learned Tuesday for the first time, that tissue analysis at the Mellon Institute, at Pittsburgh, disclosed no evidence of either mercury or arsenic.
The information was contained in a letter to the Enterprise from Gerald W. Vickery, Bradford County Coroner. The full text of the letter follows:
"The cause of death on the death certificate of Raymond Francis Rees was toxic nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys), cause unknown. I can not give you the cause of death of the girl as that was signed by Dr. De Wan and I have been unable to contact him. (Ed. Note: Dr. De Wan is Mr. Vickery's deputy and a pathologist on the Robert Packer staff.)
"A letter from Dr. De Wan on August 21, 1948 reads as follows: "
We have received a report on the tissues (liver and kidneys) of the two children from Coudersport. The report shows no evidence of arsenic or mercury. All tissues contain a small amount of lead, which was within normal limits."
"The report of the brains of the children, sent to Children's Hospital, Philadelphia, showed nothing which caused death.'
"This is all the information I have regarding the children."
In the year since the death of the children, Mr. Wells, both as district attorney and hospital board president, has sought unsuccessfully to enlist the aid of impartial investigators, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in an effort to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
Some surprise was expressed when the Bradford County Coroner, who had jurisdiction because the children died at Sayre, failed to hold an inquest. In a letter to the local district attorney, District Attorney Smyth, of Bradford County, attributed the failure to hold an inquest to the fact that the deaths were neither violent or unattended. Mr. Smyth ascribed the death of the little Rees boy to pneumonia. The death of Penelope Ann, he stated, was due to heart failure.
Meanwhile, an investigation initiated by Miss Florence V. Lyon, aunt of Raymond and the nurse who attended the children while they were hospitalized here the first time, has been halted, it was learned Tuesday. Miss Lyon, operating room nurse at Olean General Hospital, disclosed that her attorney, Charles J. Margiotti, had Informed her through his nephew, Samuel E. Margiotti, a member of the firm of Margiotti & Casey, Pittsburgh, that he had dropped the case.
Mr. Margiotti informed Miss Lyon that "our investigation is at an end because we have been unable to unearth any evidence to confirm your suspicions."
Miss Lyon said she planned to complain to the Committee of Ethics of the Pennsylvania Bar Association because of the handling of the case by Margiotti & Casey. She disclosed that she had given the firm a $500 retainer and had tried vainly to get a portion of it back after Mr. Margiotti had withdrawn from the case..
|
| Person ID |
I105537 |
WETZEL-SPRING |
1942 - 1948 (5 years)
