Incident Details
Cause of Death:Corrections Employee David Lovett died during an outbreak at the Indiana Boys' School near Plainfield in the midst of the 1918 influenza pandemic.
After contracting the virus while on duty caring for sick offenders, he was under the care of a physician before he passed away from complications of pneumonia three days later.
The outbreak at the Indiana Boys' School left 375 staff and offenders ill with influenza, of whom 93 developed pneumonia resulting in 11 deaths.
Corrections Employee Lovett, from Beech Grove, was a teacher at the facility. He was survived by his wife, three daughters, mother, two brothers and three sisters.
Historical Note The 1918 influenza pandemic, commonly referred to as the Spanish flu, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide from February 1918 until April 1920 and claimed the lives of 11,289 Hoosiers. From August to December 1918, the deadly second wave was responsible for 5,900 deaths with the highest occurring in October when 2,092 died statewide and about 292,000 throughout the country. The pandemic caused 53 known law enforcement line of duty deaths in the United States. |
~ ~ ~