Date: 19 Sep 1955
Place: Verdi, Washoe, Nevada
On 16 Sep 1955 in Salt Lake City, Utah, 22 year old Marion Henry "Mario" Cluff married 20 year old Dawna Gay Mendenhall at the Salt Lake Temple. The following day, they had a wedding reception in the Mapleton church for friends and family.
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| Wedding picture- cutting the cake From The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper |
While on their honeymoon, traveling west through Nevada, Dawna and Mario stopped at the Mylan Motel in Verdi, Nevada. The next afternoon, the owner of the motel found the couple dead, having died of asphyxiation due to monoxide gas poisoning from the gas heater in the motel room.
Marion Henry "Mario" Cluff
born: 07 Dec 1932 in Provo, Utah
died: 19 Sep 1955 in Verdi, Nevada, age 22
son of Spencer M. Cluff (1903-1966) & Nina Porter (1909-1979)
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| Mario's Death Certicicate |
Dawna Gay Mendenhall
born: 03 Feb 1935 in Mapleton, Utah
died: 19 Sep 1955 in Verdi, Nevada, age 20
daughter of Aaron B. Mendenhall (1893-1966) & Senate Johnson (1897-1965).
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| Dawna's Death Certificate |
Dawna and Mario were buried together in the Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah.
A year later- 24 May 1956- a newspaper article stated that the families of Mario & Dawna accepted a "substantial" out-of-court settlement- a damage suit that had been filed against the owner of the motel- Lester Mylan. I wish I knew what amount that was!
Next, I wanted to search for more information about the motel. Lester and Margaret E. Mylan were the owners of the motel.
Lester Vincent Mylan
born: 25 Sep 1904 in Rock Valley, Iowa
died: 18 Feb 1989 in Reno, Nevada, age 84
~son of Thomas H. Mylan (1862-1926) & Carrie Mabel Scott (b. 1875)
Margaret "Peggy" Elizabeth Tomlin Mylan
born: 16 May 1918 in Bassano, Canada
died: 27 Jan 1990 in Reno, Nevada, age 71
~daughter of John Francis Tomlin (1885-1937) & Maude E. Page (1884-1965)
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| Lester & Peggy's Gravestone at Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery Reno, Nevada |
Lester and Peggy had 3 children, Barbara, Jerry & Terry. They were both entrepreneurs. Lester with his stream of motels and then Peggy owned and operated a pet store, The Wonder (clothing store) and owned and operated 10 wedding chapels. I found a newspaper article in 1954- Lester had purchased three motel units on U.S. Highway 40 at Verdi for $2500. I searched through several newspapers- wondering when the motel had closed it's doors. In 1957, a year after the court settlement, they were still in business.
How I'm related: Dawna Gay Mendenhall Cluff was my 6th cousin, 5x removed.
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