Dolly Coffelt, a neighbor of Vera's, was Vera's close friend and confidant. She was at Vera's bedside in her final days and at her death, and present as Vera directed her lawyer in drafting Vera's will. Dolly was the only individual outside Vera or Lynn's immediate family named in Vera's will.

Declaration of Dolly Coffelt

1. My name is Dolly Coffelt and I have personal knowledge of the matters stated in this declaration. If called to testify I would competently testify as follows.

2. I met Vera Vietor in 1951 and we became fast friends, as we remained until her death in 1972.

3. Throughout the 21 years I knew Vera Vietor we visited almost on a daily basis partly because we live close to each other and partly because we got along so well. Vera told me that I replaced her mother in her mind.

4. Vera was a nature lover who looked after raccoons, pine squirrels, quail and many other birds she (and I) had a wild lizard when we befriended and visited in the apple and cherry orchard on the southwest corner of the property. Vera had regular conversations with the lizard whose name was Lucy.

5. Vera loved her house and all the wild vegetation, birds and animals which were on her property. She particularly loved wild azaleas, rhododendrons and huckleberries, but she also enjoyed her own garden. I helped her with her garden.

6. Her house was dear to Vera. It was featured in a Sunset Magazine article. The lawn was manicured and she had special trees, including an oak, a dogwood, and a buckeye. Vera was delighted with the unpainted driftwood look of the house, with its hardwood floors—she hated carpets.

7. When discussing her will, Vera told me that she wanted everything left as is, and nothing changed. She wanted to leave the house and the land as a shrine for the public to see it as she had left.

8. After Vera died I used to go to her house but I don’t do it anymore because it makes me angry to see how the HAF has changed it. They painted the driftwood exterior of the house, carpeted the hardwood floor, cut down the oak, dogwood, and buckeye trees, made a parking lot where the lawn and garden were. It was like a park but now it is terrible the way that they (HAF) tore it up.

9. Every Memorial Day after Vera died and while my husband was alive (he died in 1990) I used to take Vera’s favorite flowers from her property to take to the graveyard and place on Vera’s grave. That stopped one year when an employee told me I can only pick the flowers that did not look good, i.e. leave the best flowers for them and the visitors to Vera’s property. Mr. Pennekamp came to me later and apologized but I stop picking flowers at Vera’s house for good.

10. Vera was mentally alert until the last two or three days of her life and she died on the longest day of 1972, June 21 or so.

11. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct except as to those matters stated on information and believe, and I believe them to be true.

Executed 24 August 1999 Indianola CA

Dolly Coffelt

NOTE: Dolly's Declaration was ignored in September 1999 when the Court ruled that HAF had not breached Vera's Will, on the basis of a bogus Pennekamp Declaration with the Judge called "uncontested" (ignoring declaration by Vera's five nieces and nephews). Thus, the Court ignored declaration by five individuals with intimate knowledge of Vera and her Indiana property over a combined 170 years, while crediting the egregious declaration of one charlatan who never knew Vera. See Navigator site 'Vera's Watchdog Rebuttal'. To HAF Public Misinformation for critique of Pennekamps 25 Autust 1999 bogus (alleged) declaration the Courts never allowed Vera's side to challenge in Court.