Alva Pfleger, Clay Teacher, Dies In Fall
Article taken from The Portsmouth Times

Alva Pfleger, 39, popular Clay High School teacher, was injured fatally Thursday night while coon hunting.

Mr. Pfleger was hunting on a Jackson County farm with his father, Albert, and a neighbor, Roy Sudbrook.

He suffered a broken nech and apparently died instantly about 9 p.m. when he fell about 30 feet from a tree.

Jackson County Coroner Charles Gaskill of Wellston returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr. Pfleger, his father and friend were hunting on a farm 12 miles south of Jackson of Route 139. After treeing a coon, Mr. Pfleger climbed the tree to shake it out so the dogs could run it, is was reported. He fell when a limb broke beneath his foot.

Mr. Pfleger had taught at Clay since 1948 when he returned from service in World War II. He held the rank of lieutenant (senior grade) in the Navy.

Mr. Pfleger also had taught at Portsmouth West prior to the war. He was recalled and served in the Korean War.

School was dismissed at Clay today after word of the death of Mr. Pfleger. A basketball game scheduled at South Webster tonight also was canceled, Robert Estepp, Clay principal, said.

A bachelor, Mr. Pfleger, is survived by his father with whom he lived in White Gravel community, Minford, Rt. 1. Also surviving is a brother, Raymond, of Green Bay, Wis., a professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Mr. Pfleger, a native of Scioto County, was one of Clay's most popular teathers, colleagues said. He was especially popular with the student body.

Mr. Pfleger was a graduate of Minford High School and Ohio University.

The body is at Don Sperry Funeral Home in Jackson where friends may call after 10 a.m. Saturday.

Funeral services are to be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the funeral home with a burial in Jenkins Cemetery.