JUNKER, Steven James 1952-1955

JUNKER

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/11/2010 at 12:31:10

Small Son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Junker Struck By Car and Killed

Steven James, 2 year and 4 1/2 months old son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Junker of Pleasant Valley township, was struck and killed by a car about 4:15 Friday afternoon. Owner and driver of the car was John Frey from Aplington, who with his wife were on their way to Grundy Center.

The accident happened on the road in front of the home of John Junker, three-quarters of a mile west of Buck Grove. Mr. and Mrs. John Junker are grandparents of the boy who was killed. Mrs. Vernon Junker, the son Steven, and his sister, Kathy, 1 1/2 years old, had been visiting at the John Junker home. They also called at the trailer home which is on the Junker farm adjoining the Junker yard. Mrs. Junker and the two children had stopped at the trailer home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Layker for a short visit. As Mrs. Junker and the two children were leaving the trailer home, Mrs. Layker accompanied them to the end of the yard. The two children were together and walking ahead. They had run across the road before the mother had attempted to cross. It is believed that they were attempting to cross the the road to the side of the mother as the car came along and struck the boy. The mother screamed when she saw the car approaching. The driver of the car said his attention was attracted by the mother's scream and that he did not see the children. One of the front lights and the bumper of the car hit the boy. His body was carried on the bumper for a distance of 84 feet before the car could be stopped. The frantic mother picked the child from the bumper and was carrying him to the house of his grandparents. A neighbor, Fred Johnson, who was in the Junker yard when the accident happened, took the little boy from his mother's arms and carried him into the house. Dr. Fred Roelfs from Aplington was called at once. When he and County Coroner Harold Engelkes examined the boy they expressed the belief that he was killed instantly. One side of his head was crushed and bones in both of his legs were broken.

Car Going 45 to 50 Miles An Hour
Mr. Frey was driving a 1946 Pontiac. He said he thought he was driving from 45 to 50 miles an hour. His wife, who was in the front seat with him, said she saw the children just before the car reached them, but that she was too frightened to scream. The little girl was just behind her brother when the car struck him and carried him away.

Surviving are the parents, the little sister Kathy, the grandparents, and many other relatives.

Services Tuesday Afternoon
Funeral services were held at 1 o'clock at the home Tuesday afternoon and later at the Reformed church in Wellsburg. Rev. George Poppen, pastor of the Wellsburg Reformed church, and Rev. Wiert Eekhoff, pastor of the Colfax Presbyterian church, officiated at the services. The church service was very largely attended. Burial was in the Colfax church cemetery.

The death of this little boy was the second highway fatality in Grundy county since the first of this year.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 7 April 1955, pg 1

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Buck Grove Boy, 2 Killed By Car

Steven Junker, 2, son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Junker of Buck Grove, was killed Friday when he was struck by a car on a gravel road west of Buck Grove. Driver of the car, Joe Frei, 70, of Aplington was not held. The accident happened when the boy, his sister, mother and grandmother were crossing the road from a neighbor's home.

--Eldora Herald-Ledger (Eldora, Iowa), 5 April 1955