Opinion ID: 2185465
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: background for thilking claim

Text: June Thilking is the widow of William Thilking, a former employee of The Travelers Insurance Company since 1983, who worked in Omaha, Nebraska, as the life, health, and financial services manager in Travelers' Omaha territory. William Thilking organized and coordinated Travelers' marketing strategy for the Omaha territory, which included Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. On May 20, 1989, William Thilking, after a full day's preparatory study, took an examination at completion of the last in a series of insurance courses designed to maintain his proficiency in the insurance industry. On May 24, 1989, William Thilking drove from Omaha to Rapid City, South Dakota, for meetings on May 25 and 26 with employees and customers of Kluthe & Lane Insurance agency concerning insurance and estate planning matters, and to recognize Kluthe & Lane for its service to Travelers. William Thilking's schedule for May 26 indicates that he had arranged Travelers-related activities which commenced at 8:30 a.m. with Thilking's attendance at a breakfast meeting. Later in the day, Thilking toured Mount Rushmore, where he met a potential customer and discussed insurance business, and ended the day with an evening dinner party at which he participated in entertainment by playing the guitar and singing. Shortly after 9 a.m. on May 27, William Thilking left Rapid City and started to drive back to Omaha. At approximately 3 p.m. on May 27, William Thilking was discovered in his automobile near Ainsworth, Nebraska. Thilking's vehicle was undamaged in a ditch and had its engine running with the transmission in drive when a Brown County deputy sheriff arrived at the scene in response to an emergency call. An ambulance transported William Thilking to the Brown County Hospital, where he was examined by Dr. Melvin Campbell, who concluded that Thilking died before arrival at the hospital. According to the death certificate signed by Dr. Campbell, the cause of William Thilking's death was cardiac arrest. Also, on the death certificate Dr. Campbell noted that the [i]nterval between onset and death was immediate. Under the death certificate heading OTHER SIGNIFICANT CONDITIONSConditions contributing to death but not related, Dr. Campbell wrote hypertension. There was no autopsy on William Thilking.