SHAFSTAL, Roy 1892-1951

SHAFSTAL, WOLTHOFF

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 2/24/2019 at 17:38:16

Roy Shafstal Killed In Car Collision; Wife Badly Hurt; Waterloo Man Dead

Two people were killed and one was critically injured in a three car and truck crash 2 1/2 miles south of Hudson about 3:30 last Wednesday afternoon.

Roy Shafstal from Grundy Center was killed instantly. His wife has been in a critical condition at Schoitz hospital in Waterloo and at the outset she was given little chance to recover. She has been unconscious since the collision but there are now some hopes that she might live.

The second person killed in the collision was Carl W. Morgan, 19, from Waterloo.

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stafstal and their daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Holger Sievertson and their two small boys, Dennis and Curtis, had been to Waterloo and were on their way home to the Shafstal farm a mile north and a half mile east of the Y on Primary 63. Mr. Shafstal was driving his 1951 Hudson. Mr. Sievertson was riding in the front seat with Mr. Shafstal. Mrs. Shafstal and daughter and the two boys, Dennis and Curtis, were in the back seat. Mrs. Shafstal was seated on the left side directly behind the driver. Curtis was on his grandmother's lap when the collision occurred.

Truck Out of Control
A semi-truck driven by Mervin A. Schiefelbien, 34, from Waterloo was coming from the opposite direction. The truck went out of control because the steering apparatus went out of commission and it veered into the path of the Shafstal car with a terrific crash that crushed in the left side of the Grundy Center car and sent it into the ditch. Mr. Shafstal was dead when his body was removed from the wreck.

Miss Jessie Carter, a parole agent from the state training school at Mitchellville, was driving south and a short distance behind the Shafstal car. She narrowly avoided a collision by turning her car into a ditch. She was only slightly injured but her car was quite badly damaged.

A third car going south and a short distance behind the Carter car did not take to the ditch but crashed into the stalled truck. This car was driven by Carl W. Morgan, 19, from Waterloo. He was also killed instantly. None of the victims were thrown from their cars. Morgan was employed by the Western Auto Stores in Waterloo and he was driving one of the owner's cars which was almost completely destroyed in the crash.

An ambulance from Waterloo reached the scene of the accident shortly after it took place. Mr. and Mrs. Sievertson and the children and Miss Carter were taken to Schoitz Memorial hospital in Waterloo. Miss Carter, Mr. Sievertson and the two boys were only slightly injured and they were released from the hospital after treatment. Mrs. Sievertson was released the next day. Mrs. Shafstal received a head fracture and facial lacerations.

Born at Morrison
Mr. Shafstal was born at Morrison, Iowa. He was 62 years old on April 2nd of this year. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Shafstal, among the early residents of Grundy county. He attended school at Morrison and later graduated from the Grundy Center high school. He was married to Bertha Wolthoff of Grundy Center 37 years ago last January. For 12 years after their marriage they resided on the M. L. Hostetter farm in Washington township. After that time they purchased a farm four miles south and a half mile east of Hudson. Eight years ago their son-in-law and family moved on that farm and Mr. and Mrs. Shafstal came to Grundy Center where they had purchased the Dr. McDowell residence property. In late years they had been spending the winter months in Florida. The Shafstals were a fine family. All who knew them were their friends and the friends received a severe shock when they heard of the misfortune that came to them. Those who will miss them most aside from the immediate family are the Shafstal's nearest neighbors.

Mr. and Mrs. Shafstal had two children, one of them, a son, died in infancy. Their daughter and her husband have three sons, Gary 12, Denis 7, and Curtis 2. Other survivors are one sister, Luva Bakker from Marshalltown.

Mr. Shafstal's body was removed to the French Funeral Home at Reinbeck. Funeral services were held in the First Presbyterian church in Grundy Center Monday afternoon. The services were conducted by Rev. Gerben Van Putten. Burial was in the Reinbeck cemetery.

Mr. and Mrs. John Brownwell from Aurora, Illinois, and Mr. and Mrs. Herb Rompf from Waterman, Ill., arrived Sunday to attend funeral services for Mr. Shafstal. They were next door neighbors of the Shafstals in Florida. While in Grundy Center they were at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Lynch.

Attendance at the church service was very large. All available seats were occupied in the church auditorium and in the basement.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 3 June 1954, pg 1, 6