SCHEFFERT, Randy 1953-1971

SCHEFFERT, DAUSENER

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 4/16/2013 at 23:59:13

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Sunday, April 25, 1971, Waterloo, Iowa]

Youth Dies
In C.F. Boat
Accident

CEDAR FALLS - A boat outing yesterday afternoon ended in death for a Waterloo youth who drowned after two powerless boats plunged over a three-foot spillway in the Cedar River here.

Dead is Randy Scheffert, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Scheffert of 727 W. 4th St., Waterloo. Funeral services are being planned by the Oppold Funeral Home in Waterloo. He was a student at Columbus High School.

Injured, but in fairly good condition at Sartori Memorial Hospital last night was Russell Fisher, 63, of 1921 Clay St. Scheffert was dead upon arrival at the 'hospital.

According to an account from Martin McGeough, 16, of 930 West 7th St., Waterloo, he, Scheffert and two other Waterloo youths were boating on the river north of the spillway near the Hwy. 218 bridge. McGeough said their 20 horsepower outboard motor had given them trouble earlier while they were trying to make a turn upriver. "We didn't think too much about it at that time," McGeough said.

A few moments later, he said, the engine gave out completely. The boys couldn't restart it so they jumped out and tried to push the boat towards shore. Bystanders at Olsen Boathouse at First and Franklin Streets heard the stranded youths yelling for help. Daryl Whitehead, 17, of 2017 Valley High Dr., said he, Fisher and Dave Schultz, 15, of 2712 Edgewood, jumped into a rowboat and headed toward the drifting motorboat.

"The oar broke and we were trying to paddle it with the stub," Whitehead said. The rescue boat got close enough to throw a line to the other boat and the two boats then went over the spillway together. "We went off the dam, and the next thing I knew I was lying on a log beside the river," McGeough said.

The fire department was summoned at 5:22 p.m. By that time three of the victims had made their ways to shore.

Others Saved -- Kolpeck, 15, of 124 North College St., said he and another boy were walking along the river and saw the accident. He said they rescued another two of the victims by wading into the river and pulling them to shore.

The last person to be rescue was Bill Kipp, 16, of 360 Clough St., Waterloo. Kipp was stranded in the middle of the fast moving water with the overturned boat loged on a rock. Firemen first tried to wade out toward Kipp but the current was too swift. They eventually used a motor boat to rescue the youth.

The fourth passenger in the boat, which was owned by the Scheffert family, was James Lentfer, 18, of 1122 Sheerer Ave;, Waterloo.

McGeough, Lentfer, Kipp and Whitehead were treated and then released from Sartori Hospital. Schultz was not hospitalized.

---------------------------------

[Waterloo Courier, Monday, April 26, 1971]

Funeral services for Randy Scheffert, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Scheffert of 727 W 4th St., will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The Rev. William G. McLaughlin, Columbus High School instructor, will officiate at the concelebrated mass, with burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery. The rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Oppold Funeral Home. Those who wish may make gifts to the Columbus High School Memorial Fund.

Randy, who drowned Saturday afternoon in one of two boats that plunged over a spillway in the Cedar River at Cedar Falls was a native of Waterloo. He
was born here on April 12, 1953, to Edward and Shirley Dausener Scheffert and would have graduated next month from Columbus High School, where he was active in dramatics and track. Randy was a member of Sacred Heart Church.

He is survived by his parents; a brother, Terry Scheffert of 736 Burr Oak Ave., Evansdale; a sister, Wendy, at home; his paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Scheffert. of Guttenberg; and his maternal grandmother Mrs. Ellemena Dausener, who resides at the Scheffert home here.

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Newspaper obit had Randy's dad as Robert Scheffert. That is incorrect according to the drowning article, and his father, Edward J. Scheffert's obit.

Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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