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Obituaries

James E. Heathman | Found Rockne crash, 90

    Inquirer
    Published 

James Easter Heathman, 90, who as a teenager raced to a field near his family's central Kansas farm to find the plane crash that killed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, has died.

Mr. Heathman died Tuesday at an Emporia, Kan., hospital, where he had been for about a week after contracting pneumonia, said his son, Tom Heathman.

Tom Heathman said his father had been taking people to the crash site, on private land near the Heathman farm, for 20 years. He said his father gave the free tours because he wanted to honor Rockne, who at 43 was at the height of his career at the time of the March 1931 crash.

- AP

    Inquirer