Jon Erick O'Sell 1938-1974

OSELL, KITTLESON, KETTLESON

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/1/2014 at 22:58:29

Iowa State trooper dies in crash of crop duster
Rockwell City, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa State Trooper was killed Saturday in the crash of his light plane while crop dusting in Calhoun County.

Trooper Jon E. Osell, 36, Manson, who operated a crop dusting and aerial photography service while off duty for the Iowa Highway Patrol, was burned beyond recognition in the flaming crash of his single-engine plane, an IHP spokesman said.

Osell had served with the IHP since 1961.

The crash occurred about three miles northeast of Rockwell City on a farm operated by Mike Collins, Osell had ben spraying crops on an adjacent farm operated by Mike Folson, authorities said.

Osell had refueled at the Rockwell City airport just before the crash, officials said. The cause of the crash was not immediately determined.

A patrol spokesman said Osell’s wife, Esther, was serving as a flagman for her husband and was at the scene when the crash occurred.

The trooper’s death was the second crop dusting fatality in four days in west central Iowa.

Ross Nessler, 56, Moorland, was killed in a similar crash Wednesday near the Greene county town of Paton, less than 30 miles from the Saturday crash site. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, August 25, 1974)

The Estherville Daily News adds:
Funeral services for Mr. O’Sell will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Manson with burial about 2:30 p.m. in the Dolliver cemetery. Visitation will be at the Larson Funeral Home in Manson from noon Tuesday until time of services.

A 1956 graduate of Dolliver High School, Mr. O’Sell attended Iowa Lakes Community College in Estheville for two years and the University of Iowa one year. He was married to Esther Kettleson [Kittleson] at Ceylon, Minn., in 1950

Survivors include his wife, Esther; one daughter, Kelly; one son, Mark; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred O’sell of Dolliver; and five brothers, James of Dolliver; Gerald and Thomas of Fairmont; Alfred Jr. of Coon Rapids, Minn. and Robert of Albert Lea, Minn. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, August 26, 1974)

Salute to Officer
More than 180 law enforcement officials from Iowa were in Manson Wednesday to attend funeral services for State Trooper Jon Osell, 36, who died in a crop dusting plane crash while off duty last Saturday. More than 100 state troopers formed a double cordon as Osell’s casket was taken from St. Paul’s Lutheran church. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, Cedar Rapids, August 30, 1974)