PAYNE, Mrs. Esther: Died 1974

PAYNE

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 5/19/2016 at 05:10:12

The Fairfield Ledger
Thursday, Jan. 24, 1974

Hit By Truck -
Injuries Fatal To Fairfield Woman

Mrs. Esther Payne, 52, chief operator at the United Telephone Office in Fairfield, was fatally injured this morning when she was hit by a pickup truck in a pre-dawn accident.

The accident took place at 7:34 a.m. in the 100 block on W. Burlington Avenue near the telephone office where she was employed.

The fatally injured woman was first taken by ambulance to Jefferson County Hospital and immediately transferred to the University Hospital in Iowa City where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Reports from Iowa City said her death was caused by head and massive internal injuries.

Police officers who investigated the fatal accident said the pickup truck was driven by Jerry Laverne Anderson, 23, who resides in Leisure Living Estates mobile home park at the west edge of Fairfield. He was traveling west.

Officers said the driver told them all at once he observed a pedestrian in front of his vehicle and he was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

Police further reported the vehicle carried the accident victim on the front of the truck for a considerable distance before she dropped to the pavement when the vehicle stopped. Officers said charges are pending.

Because of daylight savings time, it was still dark when the accident occurred.

Mrs. Payne, a native of the Greene Community, came to the United Telephone Office in Fairfield in August, 1973, as chief operator.

She came from Newton where she had been an operator for a number of years. Mrs. Payne had had 15 years experience with the telephone company.

In her position at the Fairfield office, she was in charge of the Fairfield Traffic Department as a toll center for Birmingham, Stockport, Libertyville and Packwood as well as Fairfield.

Survivors include a daughter and a son-in-law who reside at Greene. Rites are pending.

Mrs. Payne is the second traffic victim in Jefferson County so far this year. The first was Jan. 6 when Betty Ann Stockstell, 22, Ainsworth, was killed in a two-car crash south of Fairfield.
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The Fairfield Ledger
Friday, Jan. 24, 1974

Payne Rites At Greene

Funeral services have been tentatively set for Monday morning at Greene for Mrs. Esther Payne, Fairfield resident who was killed early Thursday morning when hit by a pickup truck in the 100 block on W. Burlington Avenue.

The body is at the Reid Funeral Chapel in Green Where arrangements are pending.

(Transcribed for genealogical purposes only.)