Elmer Cornelius biography: 13 things about US Navy veteran born in Spokane, Washington

Who was Elmer Cornelius?

Elmer Morand Cornelius was born in Spokane, Washington, United States to Joseph Morand “Joe” Cornelius and Freida Eike. Joseph was born in California, USA while Eike was born Petra Jacobsdotter in Eike Farms, Fister, Rogaland, Norway.

Elmer has one sister named Eleanor Cornelius and two brothers namely Joseph Franklin Cornelius and Stanley Robert Cornelius. After Joe’s death in 1926, Eike was not able to care for all of her four children so Elmer, Eleanor and Stanley were sent to live in the Odd Fellows Orphanage in Walla Walla, Washington. 

Eleanor married Archie Rutherford. Elmer married Alice Pauline Gibson, who is Archibald Theodore “Frank” Gibson and Bird Mickey Gibson‘s daughter. 

Joseph Franklin was 9 years older than Elmer. Here are 13 more things about the latter:

1. On April 27, 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy amid World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945. He was later sent for accelerated training as an electrician at a college in Ohio, USA.
2. On September 26, 1943, he was onboard U.S.S. Hickox (DD-673) as it left New York, USA. He served the majority of his military experience aboard the U.S. Navy’s Fletcher-class destroyer in the Pacific Ocean. 
3. On June 15, 1941, he and Alice got married in Spokane. His brother Joseph Franklin and her friend Ida Cahill were witnesses of their wedding.
4. In 1942, Alice gave birth to their son Larry Morand Cornelius at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.
5. On February 10, 1945, he was released from the U.S. Navy.
6. In 1946, Alice gave birth to their daughter Ellen Gibson Cornelius at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane.
7. After Alice’s father died in 1955, he, Alice and her mother sold their homes in Spokane and moved in together to a newly purchased home also in Spokane.
8. On November 30, 1965, his mother died at her home in Bigfork, Flathead County, Montana, USA at age 80.
9. On August 18, 1996, his sister Eleanor died at age 78.
10. On April 9, 1995, his wife Alice died in Spokane at age 84.
11. On March 30, 1999, his brother Joseph died at the Oak Bluffs Retirement Center and Nursing Facility in Clearwater, Florida, USA at age 91.
12. On January 27, 2007, he turned 90.
13. On September 27, 2007, he died in Spokane.

On May 25, 1982, Elmer’s sister Eleanor found Archie dead inside their home in South Hill, Spokane. Archie was fatally stabbed allegedly by Tracy Sabron Pruitt. 

On October 27, 2022, Pruitt was arrested in Los Angeles, California for Archie’s murder. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail in Spokane.

In May 2023, Pruitt died of bilateral pulmonary thromboemboli due to right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis while in jail. He was 63.