Dale, Dean – d. 1940

DALE

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 3/3/2024 at 11:55:49

Man Killed In Fall From Freight Train
A transient believed to have been Dean Dale, 38, one-time employe of the Des Moines Salvation Army hotel, was killed Tuesday morning about 10 o’clock when he fell under the wheels of an eastbound Great Western railroad freight train about a half-mile southwest of Valeria.
The mangled body was found about 2 o’clock in the afternoon by C. H. Erickson of Mingo, railroad maintenance man.
An eye-witness account of the tragedy was being prepared by another transient, George Bockman, and was to be sent to County Coroner Ralph E. Toland as a sworn statement, Mr. Toland said Thursday morning.
Bockman, who boarded the freight train at Des Moines and rode to Marshalltown on a tank car, notified railroad officials at Marshalltown of the accident, Coroner Toland said. Bockman related that an unidentified man was riding on the same tank car as he was, but on the opposite side, and had fallen between the car and a box car head when he slipped while attempting to climb to the top of the box car. Bockman was en route to the old soldiers’ home at Marshalltown.
Two Colfax youth found a booklet near the scene of the accident while hunting Wednesday, aiding in identification of the boy. Coroner Toland talked to a Salvation Army officer in Des Moines by telephone and today notified Jay P. Dale of Hedrick, Okla., brother of the transient, of the accident. Another brother and a sister are believed to survive.
Source: Jasper County Record (Newton, IA); Thursday, January 2, 1941, page 1

The body of Dean Dale, 38-year-old transient who was killed when he fell from a Great Western railroad freight train near Valeria Tuesday morning, will probably be sent to Clinton, Okla., for burial. County Coroner Ralph V. Toland said early Friday.
Jay P. Dale of Hedrick, Okal., brother of the man who died when he slipped and fell between two freight cars, notified the coroner by telegram that funeral arrangements probably would be completed soon.
Source: Jasper County Record (Newton, IA); Thursday, January 2, 1941, page 2