Van Dyke, Gerald Keith 1915-1956

DEREUS, MESSENGER, ROBERTS, VAN DYKE

Posted By: Gayle Van Dyke (email)
Date: 4/30/2014 at 23:39:59

Gerald Van Dyke 1915-1956

Funeral services for Gerald K. Van Dyke, 41 of 946 Everett Pl., are expected to be held in Newton on Monday.

The body will be sent today from Hankins-Whittington Funeral Home to Johnson Murdoch Funeral Home in Newton.

The deceased was drowned Wednesday (June 13, 1956) near Ocean Isle Beach while attempting to save his son, Bill, 8.

First reports gave the cause of death as a heart attack. An autopsy was said to have revealed that the cause was drowning.

He was born in Pella, Ia., Feb. 7, 1915, son of Mrs. Barbara (DeReus) Van Dyke of Newton, Iowa, and the late Jacob Arie Van Dyke.

Educated in the schools of Kellogg, Ia., he was a World War II veteran (AMM2, Pacific Theater, USS Kadashan Bay) and had lived here for 18 months.

Until June he was district sales manager of Studebaker-Packard Corp. and since that time had been with the Nance Motor Co.

He was a member of Belmont Park Methodist Church and a member of the Fort Dodge, Ia. Masonic Lodge.

Survivors, in addition to the mother, are the wife, formerly Miss Helen Messenger; children, Janet, Gayle and William; sister and brothers, Mrs. Frances (Wayne) Roberts of Newton; Merwyn D. Van Dyke of Melbourne, Ia., and Edward Van Dyke of Des Moines.

Published in a Charlotte, NC newspaper approximately June 14, 1956.

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Gerald Van Dyke's Rites Held Today

Services for Gerald Keith Van Dyke, 41, who drowned in the ocean near Myrtle Beach, S.C., were today at the Johnson Funeral home conducted by the Rev. R. T. White.

Mr. Van Dyke drowned Wednesday while swimming in the Atlantic ocean. He was a former resident of Newton and Kellogg.

Pallbearers for Mr. Van Dyke were O. W. Owens, Robert L. Smith, Lyle DeMoss, Everett Shives, Kenneth Winn and Clair Sparks.

In charge of flowers were Mrs. Everett Shives and Mrs. O.W. Owens.

Burial was in Newton Union Cemetery.

From Newton Daily News, Monday, June 18, 1956