Sanders, William Richard (1936-1968)

SANDERS, BIGGS

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 1/13/2022 at 07:14:02

Daily Freeman Journal
Webster City, Iowa
Monday, March 25, 1968

Local Man Killed in Sunday Mishap

W.R. Sanders pinned under car in ditch

William R. (Bill) Sanders, 32, Webster City, was instantly killed early Sunday afternoon when the car in which he was riding and being towed by another vehicle, overturned in a shallow ditch about four miles northeast of Webster City.

Deputy Sheriff Roger Smith said today that Sanders was driving a car which was being towed by another auto driven by his father-in-law, Harold Biggs of Webster City, when the mishap occurred at about 12:40 p.m.

The deputy sheriff said that apparently the tow chain linking the two cars came loose after they had just come down a hill and crossed a small bridge, heading north. Sanders' auto careened into the ditch, throwing him out and then pinning him underneath it when it came to rest on its side.

Biggs went to a nearby farm to summon help, and volunteers helped roll the car off Sanders, but he apparently had died instantly of a fractured neck, Deputyh Smith said.

Biggs told officials the two men were towing the car out into the country to a site where Sanders planned to pull the motor out of the car to work on it.

In addition to Deputy Sheriff Smith, Police Officer Jerry Olmstead and members of the Webster City rescue truck crew assisted at the site.

Sanders' death marked the third traffic fatality of the year in Hamilton County, according to the sheriff's office.

Funeral services for William R. (Bill) Sanders, 32, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Foster Funeral home with the Rev. S.W. Cunningham officiating and with burial in Graceland cemetery.

William Richard Sanders, son of Harold and Ida Sanders, was born Feb. 28, 1936, at Framingham, Mass. When he was two years old, he moved with his parents to Florida, and he was reared and educated at Miami.

He served in the U.S. armed forces from 1954 to 1957, being stationed in Alaska. Following his discharge from the service, he returned to Miami, later moving to California.

He was united in marriage Nov. 13, 1965 at Phoenix, Ariz., to Penny Biggs, and the couple resided at Phoenix for several years before moving to Texas where Mr. Sanders engaged in construction work. His work later took him to Memphis, Tenn., and to Fort Myers, Fla. Since May 1967, the family had resided in the Webster City vicinity.

He is survived by his wife; one daughter and one son, Anita Jeanette and James Randall; one brother, Robert Sanders of Opahocka, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Mr. Sanders was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith.