Dale Dean Follette drowned in Palmetto Lake, Geneva-on-the-Lake, the afternoon of Nov. 21, 1961.
The 2-year-old child had left his house around 4:30 p.m. for the short walk to the home of his grandmother, Mrs. Henry Perrin. When the familiar knock on the door did not come, a search was initiated and he was found floating, face down, in about 4 feet of water.
It was dark when the child was found and flashlights had to be used to spot the body, some 50 to 75 feet from the Perrin home.
Police Chief Kemerait, a neighbor of the Follettes, surmised that the youngster tripped on a wobbly dock and fell in the water. Steps leading to the dock were covered with leaves and slippery.
Dale was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen D. Follette, who also had a daughter, Annette.