Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1969: An airman stationed at Cannon Air Force Base had died at Alamogordo Lake — the third area drowning victim at the state park lake in a week.
Robert Schenke, who worked at the hospital at Cannon, was attempting to swim from the shore to a barge anchored 40-60 feet out in the lake.
“He swam 30 or 35 feet out from shore and then began yelling for help,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
One week before Schenke’s accident, Johnny Harvey, 6, of Clovis fell into turbulent water near the lake’s spillway. Johnny’s brother DeWayne Harvey, 13, tried to save him, but both boys drowned.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact him or sign up for our weekly historical newspaper deliveries at:
