MERRIAM, Virginia (1926-1972)

MERRIAM, THOMPSON, ACKERMAN, KRAMER, WAGNER

Posted By: Hancock Co Genealogical Society (email)
Date: 8/26/2014 at 17:57:29

Mrs. Merriam
of Corwith
crash victim

Mrs. Virginia Marriam, 46, a prominent Corwith resident and member of the Corwith Wesley School Board, died at Bethesda General Hospital in Fort Dodge Sunday after she was critically injured in a two car crash on Highway 3 East of Humboldt Thursday, Dec. 28.

Mrs. Merriam was one of five women who were injured in the accident which happened shortly after 10 p.m. on an ice covered portion of the highway during a heavy rain.

FUNERAL SERVICES were held Wednesday morning at the Corwith Wesley School gymnasium with the Rev. Fr. Joseph Murphy, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Corwith, officiating. A parish prayer service and Guild Rosary were held the preceding evening at the Blake Funeral Home at Corwith, and burial was at St. Mary's Cemetery there.

Mrs. Merriam was born at Sandwich, Ill. July 13, 1926, the daughter of LuVerne and Agnes Thompson. The family moved to the Corwith area when she was 14 years of age, and she married Wilbur Merriam Aug. 10, 1947.

She graduated from Corwith High School in 1944 and attended Hamilton Business College in Mason City the following year.

Mrs. Merriam was active in St. Mary's Guild, Royal Neighbors, Thursday Club, and was a member of the school board, American Cancer Society, and Corwith Community Club.

Survivors include her husband; five daughters and one son, including Mrs. Bruce (Kathy) Ackerman of Forest City; Mrs. Robert (Christine) Kramer of Fort Dodge, and Thomas, Marie, Connie and Paulette, at home. Two grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. Kenneth Wagner of Corwith, also survive.

OFFICERS REPORTED that the crash in which Mrs. Merriam was fatally injured happened when the driver of the car in which she was riding, Connie, 17, lost control of her vehicle and it slid broadside into another car driven by Ann Fish, 19, of Humboldt. Mrs. Merriam was taken to the Fort Dodge with two broken legs, broken ribs, and other injuries.

She was pinned in her car by the grinding collision, and emergency officers at the scene used a tractor from a farm nearby to pull the Merriam car apart and free her. Another passenger in the Merriam auto, Paulette, 15, was taken to Humboldt County Memorial Hospital for x-rays and observation.

Julie Law, 19, of Humboldt, a passenger in the Fish automobile, was treated and released for head cuts and lacerations.

source: Garner Leader & Signal