First Name: Sarah
Last Name: Imhoff
Date of Birth: 20 May 1966
Date of Death: 9 Jul 1972
Town of Death: Hershey
County of Death: Dauphin
State of Death: Pennsylvania
Sarah J. Imhoff, six, of 7 Diller Road, New Cumberland, died Sunday at 2:45 a.m. at the Hershey Medical Center of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
The case was the first treated at the Medical Center this Summer. However, one other case was reported in the Lancaster area, but this could not be confirmed Sunday night.
The Hershey Medical Center is still awaiting confirmation of the diagnosis in the case by blood test.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is native to Southern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia areas, but is rare and not fatal when treated early.
It is transmitted to man and other animals by wood ticks infected with rickettsial organisms.
First symptoms include fever, headaches, and a measles-type rash. A physician at Hershey Medical Center cautioned that children should be examined daily for ticks since it usually takes the ticks from 12 to 24 hours to activate the disease in the body.
Only two cases were reported in Southern Lancaster County in 1970, with three cases the year before that. There were none last year.
The daughter of Mrs. Thelma J. Bewley Imhoff, of New Cumberland, and the late William C. Imhoff Jr., Sarah attended Sunday School at the New Cumberland Church of God.
Besides her mother, she is survived by two brothers, William H. and Carl C.; one sister, Rebecca Ruth, all at home; a maternal grandfather, Amos E. Bewley, Bird-in-Hand R1; maternal [great-]grandmother, Mrs. Susan W. Overly, Brethren Home, Neffsville; Also, a paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. Harry B. Imhoff, Lancaster
* Originally published in Intelligencer Journal, 10 Jul 1972
Imhoff – Entered into rest in Hershey, on July 9, 1972. Sarah J. Imhoff, daughter of Mrs. Thelma J. Bewley Imhoff, of 7 Diller Road, New Cumberland, in her 7th year. Private funeral services will be held from the Stradling Funeral Home , 30 N. Ninth St., Akron, Wednesday at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Bruce C. Hockenberry officiating. Internment in Eby’s Cemetery, Upper Leacock Twp. There will be no public viewing.
* Originally published in Intelligencer Journal, 11 Jul 1972