Jeff Hutchinson, left, Animas Museum director, speaks during a ceremony Tuesday at Greenmount Cemetery to dedicate a headstone at the unmarked grave of Loisa Bass, who died Oct. 8, 1918. Loisa, who died on her 8th birthday, was believed to be one of Durango’s first victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The flu killed more than 200 people in La Plata County and 246 people in Silverton, 10% of the town’s population. Worldwide, the pandemic killed between 50 million and 100 million people. Next to Hutchinson is First United Methodist Church Pastor Jeff Huber, who read from a hymnal that would have been in use at the time of Loisa’s death.
First United Methodist Church Pastor Jeff Huber reads from a hymnal Tuesday at Greenmount Cemetery to dedicate a headstone at the unmarked grave of Loisa Bass, who died Oct. 8, 1918. Loisa, who died on her 8th birthday, was believed to be one of Durango’s first victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The flu killed more than 200 people in La Plata County and 246 people in Silverton, 10% of the town’s population. Worldwide, the pandemic killed between 50 million and 100 million people.
