Clifford M. Curry 1914-1933

CURRY

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 11/7/2012 at 20:59:45

Gruver Lad is Burned to Death in Car
Overcome by Monoxide Gas As He Sits in Vehicle by Roadside Northeast of Graettinger. Cause of Fire Unknown.
Well Known Here
Had Taken Part in Labor Day Boxing Bouts at Graettinger. Was 19 Years of Age.
A Fine Young Man
Saturday night about 11 o’clock Clifford M. Curry, 19-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Curry of Gruver, was overcome by monoxide gas while sitting in his car along the roadside near the Mack Grove farm southeast of Gruver and was burned to death before help could extricate him from his automobile. He was returning home from the Raymond Johnson farm near Ringsted, where he was employed.

George Bervin, a farmer living nearby, saw the car in the ditch right side up. The young man was sitting in the auto with his head to one side as if he were asleep. As the night was cold and fearing a holdup trap, Mr. Berven drove on to his home a mile away to leave his family. As he started back to the Curry car he noticed flames surrounding the vehicle. When he reached the machine the fire was so hot that he could do nothing to assist the young man.

Tracks in the snow showed that Clifford’s car had gradually gone off the highway and landed in a foot deep grade along the side of the road. Shoe tracks around the car proved that he had evidently got out of the vehicle and went around it in an effort to extricate it from its position. It is thought that he became chilled while doing this and returned to the front seat. It is thought further that he left the engine running. Evidence showed that he had removed the floor boards and it is thought as the snow was deep the exhaust gas from the engine gradually filled the car, killing him. The reason for the fire is unknown.

He is survived by his parents, five brothers and four sisters. The burial services were held at the Sternborg home at Estherville and later at the Graettinger Methodist church Wednesday. Burial was made in the Gruver cemetery.

Curry was a young man of excellent habits. He was said to be very industrious and was popular among his associates. On two different occasions he participated in boxing matches at the Labor Day celebration. The body was burned beyond recognition. (Estherville Democrat, Emmetsburg, IA, February 16, 1933)