LONGNECKER, David Edwin 1871-1937

LONGNECKER, DUNN

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 2/24/2019 at 17:38:14

Ed Longnecker Hit By Car; Dies Instantly

Car Owned And Driven By Dumont Man Catches Longnecker As He Tries To Cross Pavement

Ed Longnecker was struck and almost instantly killed by a car driven and owned by Ben VanHorn from Dumont on the paved highway at the R. S. Plager farm five miles west of Grundy Center at 6:30 Friday evening.

Longnecker was driving home two milk cows from the Plager pasture on the south side of the highway. The cows had crossed the paving. Longnecker had started to cross the paving when he saw a car coming from the east. He halted for a moment to let the car pass. The driver of the car expected that Longnecker was going to cross the paving ahead of him and he turned his car to the left off the paving and when he saw that Longnecker was turning back he turned his car on the highway again and shot across the paving on the other side of the road and as he did so his right front fender caught Longnecker, turned him about and tossed him on the paving. Both the driver and Longnecker were trying to get out of each other's way when they ran together. The terrific blow when the head struck the paving resulted in a fractured skull, and death was almost instantaneous.

R. S. Plager saw the accident and in trying to prevent it he nearly became a victim also. He had been doing chores and had gone out to the road to help Longnecker across. When he saw the car coming from the east, he got into the middle of the road and tried to signal the driver to slow down or to stop. The driver paid no attention to the signal until he came close to it and then he became confused and apparently lost control of his car. The car was stopped about 200 feet from where Longnecker was lying.

A doctor was called immediately but the victim was dead when the doctor reached him. His body was brought to the Coffman funeral home in Grundy Center.

Mr. VanHorn is about 50 years old. He is engaged in the farm machinery business at Dumont. He was on his way to Conrad to look at some horses. The accident was a serious shock to him. He was not held to blame by the officers after they questioned him. He was driving a 1935 Ford V-8. He said his brakes had not been working very well. Richard Dorsey, 25, from Waverly, was riding in the VanHorn car.

Longnecker had been employed at the Plager farm only a few days. He was used as an extra hand on the farm during the rush season.

Funeral services were held at the Methodist church in Grundy Center Sunday afternoon. The services were conducted by the local pastor, Rev. J. B. Bird. Burial was by the side of the wife in the Grundy Center cemetery.

Obituary
David Edwin Longnecker was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, Nov. 1, 1871, and died May 14, 1937, at the age of 65 years, 5 months, 14 days.

He came west with his parents 54 years ago, settling on the farm where Ira Klinefelter now lives.

He was married to Esther Dunn Dec. 11, 1895, and to this union were born 3 sons: Guy R. of Waterloo, Glenn who died in infancy, and David Leroy, also of Waterloo. His wife preceded him in death March 29, 1931.

Besides the two sons, there are four sisters and two brothers who survive: Emma of California, Nettie Pieper of Green Mountain, Elizabeth Buchan of Waterloo, Ida of Marshalltown, William of Peterson, Iowa, and Frank in Virginia; also five grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

He had been a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge for about 40 years and of the Grundy Center Methodist Episcopal church since 1916.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 20 May 1937, pg 1