April 19, 1973

Johnson County youth is killed

       A teen-age boy became Johnson County’s 14^th traffic fatality of the year when he was struck by a car and killed Thursday night as he walked along State Road 135 near Smith Valley, two miles west of Greenwood. Mark Harmon Cory, 14, Greenwood route five, was pronounced dead on arrival at Johnson County Memorial Hospital after being hit at approximately 9:10 p.m. Driver of the auto was Curtis J. Hillock, 24, of 484 Carol Drive, Greenwood. Johnson County sheriff’s deputies later charged Hillock with driving under the influence of liquor and booked into the county jail at 1:39 a.m. today. The Cory boy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Cory and was a ninth grade student at Center Grove Junior high school. He was reportedly walking south on State Road 135 approximately one-quarter mile south of the intersection of County Road 900 North, when Hillock’s southbound auto struck him. It was later learned that Cory was collecting for a newspaper route when the accident occurred. It has not yet been determined whether the youth was walking on the roadway itself or on the shoulder along side the road. According to the report Hillock filed with the sheriff’s department, he and a companion were en route to Bargersville, but when the car stuck something he lost control of the auto and it went into a ditch next to the road. He and the companion later found the body of the Cory boy lying near the road. Hillock also noted that vision was poor at the time due to the rain. The boy was reportedly dressed in dark clothing. Hillock is being held on $250 bond pending his appearance Monday in Franklin City Court. The Cory youth was one of two persons killed Thursday night in Indiana traffic accidents. Steven R. Hershberger, 2, Middlebury, was killed when a family buggy he was riding in collided head-on with a car on U.S. 20, west of Shipshewana in LaGrange County. The horse was also killed when struck by a car operated by Kenneth Carner, 28, Shipshewana. The child’s mother Mrs. Wilma Hershberger, 27, and his uncle Daniel Hershberger, 17, were injured seriously.        

                                                                         Services for the Cory youth

The Center grove freshman was born Oct. 9, 1958, in Indianapolis to John and Frances Mae Volk Cory. Other survivors include a twin sister and brother, Sherry Ann and Kerry and another brother, Jonnie, all at home; a sister, Bonnie Mae Yelding, Indianapolis; and a brother, Terrance, who is with the U.S. Army in Germany. The youth had attended Our Lady of Greenwood schools until this school year, and he had played football for his former school. He was a member of Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic church. Funeral services will be held at J.C. Wilson Greenwood chapel 9:30 a.m. Monday, with services following at Our Lady of Greenwood Catholic church at 10 a.m. Friends may call at the funeral home after 2 p.m. Saturday. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.  (Reprinted with permission of the Daily Journal)
 

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