Cockerton, Edward – 1913-1976

BOYD, BUCKLEY, COCKERTON, MCCOMBS, VERNON, YOUNG

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 7/13/2021 at 21:35:28

Two Persons Killed Friday In Near Head on Collision
A near head on crash east of Newton Friday night killed two persons and sent a third to the hospital with multiple injuries.
Dead are Edward Cockerton, 62, of 611 E. 8th St. N., driver of one car, and Mrs. Raymond (Lynn Ann Meyer) Modlin, 19, of 1229 N. 4th Ave. W., passenger in a car driven by Vicky Lynn (Landgrebe) Phipps, 23, of Grinnell.
Mrs. Phipps was taken to Skiff Memorial Hospital and later transferred to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines. She was listed in “fair” condition in Younker's Rehabilitation Center, this morning by a hospital spokesman. Mrs. Phipps sustained a broken right leg, broken jaw, and facial lacerations, hospital officials said.
Iowa State Trooper John Ponsetto said the accident occurred at 10:08 p.m. Friday, seven-tenths of a miles east of Skiles Supply Co. on U.S. 6. The Cockerton car, a 1974 model, was westbound on 6 on the wrong side of the road. Ponsetto said when he collided with the eastbound Phipps car. Both Cockerton and Modlin were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Cockerton vehicle caught fire, Ponsetto said, and Cockerton's body had to be pulled from the wreckage.
Mrs. Modlin's husband, Raymond, stationed with the U.S. Army in Korea, arrived home this morning.

Funeral services for Mr. Cockerton were held this morning at the Toland-Wallace Funeral Home.
Elder Norman Rasmussen, pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, conducted services. Burial was in the Newton Memorial Park Cemetery.
Survivors are three sons, Robert and William, both of Newton, and David of Des Moines; a daughter, Mrs. Dennis (Mary) McCombs of Newton; eight grandchildren; and two sisters, Mrs. Ray (Elizabeth) Young of Newton and Mrs. James (Winifred) Boyd of Roseville, Calif.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Wanda, June 8, 1976.
Mr. Cockerton, a member of the First Christian Church and the Maytag 25-Year Club, had retired from the Maytag Co. after 31 years of service.
The son of Robert B. and Emily Vernon Cockerton, he was born Aug. 21, 1913 at Ulverston, England.
He was married to Wanda B. Buckley April 18, 1936 in Pleasantville.
Source: Newton Daily News; July 6, 1976