POWELL, Larry Lee 1939-1949

POWELL, CROSBY, PEDDICORD, BOHNSACK, UCKER, KEIFER

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 10/22/2014 at 20:39:43

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Tuesday, June 7, 1949, Waterloo, Iowa]

RIVER CLAIMS FIRST VICTIM, NEAR THE DAM

Larry Powell, 10, Drowned in Cedar; Recover Body Tuesday Morning.

Waterloo firemen took the body of the season's first drowning victim from the Cedar River here at 10:25 a. m. Tuesday.

He was Larry Powell, 10. son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd D. Powell of 315 West First Street The boy drowned about 3 p. m. Monday, but his fate was not definitely determined until early Tuesday, when police found his clothes under the west end of Park Avenue Bridge.

Larry was swimming at the dam Monday afternoon with his brother, Keith, 13. and Charles Willard, 15, of 217 West Third Street. The boys were playing on the dam and climbed down behind the flash boards to let water coming over the crest of the dam flow over them, companions of the dead youth said.

The older Powell boy and Willard slid off the dam into the water below and after they swam to safety, they noticed that Larry had disappeared. They were unable to find his clothes and so decided he had put them on and gone home.

When Larry was still missing at 9 p.m. Monday, his parents notified police. An investigation followed that led to discovery of his clothes Tuesday morning.

Firemen immediately began dragging the river after placing a fence across the channel below Fifth Street bridge. The body was taken from about 12 feet of water by Fire Department Captain Wilber Grove and Fireman Robert Barnes.

They said it was in an eddy about 10 feet below the dam, about 50 feet from the west side of the river.

The body was found directly below the place on the dam where Keith Powell and the Willard boy had told firemen they had last seen Larry

As dragging operations started Tuesday morning, spectators gathered on the bridges and traffic officers were assigned to keep traffic moving.

The drowning occurred only the day before Schoitz Memorial pool, the only supervised swimming site in the city, was scheduled to open for the season. Official opening of the pool was slated for Tuesday.

The tragedy provoked considerable sentiment among spectators at dragging operations Tuesday morning for a city ordinance banning swimming around the dam and at other location in the city regarded as hazardous.

Larry Lee Powell was born in Packard, Iowa, Aug. 26, 1938. His parents, Floyd and Lola Powell came to Waterloo with their family in 1946.

An Emerson School student, he was a member of Washburn Community Church.

Surviving are the parents; a sister, Shirley; two brothers, Keith and Billy, all at home, and the paternal grandfather, Elic Powell, Shell Rock, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by a sister. The body is at Parrott & Wood Funeral Home.

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[Waterloo Daily Courier, Wednesday, June 8, 1949, Waterloo, Iowa]

Funeral services for Larry Lee Powell, 10, who drowned in the Cedar River near the downtown dam Monday afternoon, will be at 2 p m . Thursday at the Parrott & Wood funeral home. Rev. Sargeant Lustoff, pastor of the Washburn Community Church, will officiate.

Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, Shell Rock.

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His mother was Lola M. Crosby Powell, daughter of William and Mary Peddicord Crosby.
Siblings were William D., Shirley M. Bohnsack, Keith, Gladis Ucker and Mrs. George Keifer