REED, Lurena Fern 1919-1984

REED, BONNETT, TURNBULL, MCCRACKEN

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 8/16/2016 at 04:57:12

The Fairfield Ledger
Monday, June 25, 1984

Local woman killed in auto accident

LIBERTYVILLE - Retired nurse Lurena Fern REED, 65, of 501 W. Hempstead Ave., died of smoke inhalation in her car Saturday afternoon about three miles southwest of Libertyville. The car was destroyed by fire, but investigators are uncertain of the cause of the blaze or the reason Mrs. REED remained in the vehicle.

Highway Patrolman Jeff Miller of Washington said Mrs. REED was northbound in a 1981 Chevrolet Citation on what is known as Turkey Scratch Road. The auto went into a short, shallow ditch, stopping 17 feet off the gravel road, he said.

"It didn't plunge into the ditch," Miller said. "It looks like she just drove off the road."

Miller, who still is investigating the mishap, speculated that Mrs. REED blacked out. Somehow, when she was apparently unconscious behind the wheel, the car caught fire and was consumed by flames.

Dr. T.J. Sutton, Jefferson County Medical Examiner, pronounced Mrs. REED dead at the scene. He said an autopsy showed she died of smoke inhalation.

"There's no reason to think she had a heart attack or stroke," Sutton said. "There was a high carbon dioxide level in her system, but I don't know if the car had a faulty exhaust."

Those who were the first to arrive at the scene thought the car's catalytic converter may have caused the fire.

Guerdon Lee, whose farm field is adjacent to the accident site, discovered the blazing car at about 1:15 p.m. He was baling hay in a field about 1/4 of a mile away when he saw "a lot of black smoke" and drove to the scene. He called the Libertyville Fire Department from the Warren Manning house, 1/2 mile to the west.

"By the time I got there it was just a big fireball," Lee said.

Libertyville Fire Chief Eugene Stump said the auto was "an inferno" when seven volunteer firemen arrived. When they left the scene three hours later the car was only a shell.

Lee and Stump both said the car apparently pulled into the grader ditch gradually without losing control. They speculated the heat from the car's running catalytic converter may have ignited the tall reed-type dry grass in the ditch.

Miller and Sutton said a state fir marshal is examining the vehicle today to try and determine the cause of the fire.

Obituary Information

Mrs. REED was born March 10, 1919, in Van Buren County, the daughter of Edgar J. and Effie TURNBULL BONNETT. She married Charles Elvin REED April 1, 1939, at Le Grand.

Mrs. REED lived most of her life in Jefferson County. She was a member of the Keep Young Club, Business and Professional Women and the First United Methodist Church.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by five sons: Larry of Dixon, Ill.; Donald, Plano, Texas; Dick, Fairfield; Leland, Alexandria, La.; and Dean, Newburg, N.Y. Ten grandchildren and a sister, Marjorie McCRACKEN, rural Fairfield, and a brother, Merlwyn BONNETT, Oskaloosa, also are living. Two brothers preceded her in death.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Behner Funeral Home with the Rev. Clair Odell officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery.

Family visitation will be from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorials may be given to Parkview Care Center or the American Cancer Fund.

(Transcribed as published and for genealogical purposes only.)

Admin. note: Buried in Lot 4th.062; husband Charles died in 1992 and is buried with her.