ANGSTEAD, Homer Edward 1939 - 1958

ANGSTEAD, CLINE, HOSKINS, LITTON, SIMONS

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/25/2021 at 20:22:54

"The Mt. Pleasant News"
Tuesday Evening, May 13, 1958
Front Page, Columns 2 and 3

Recreation Trip of Fairfield Group To Skunk River At Oakland Mills Ends In Youth's Drowning

A recreation trip on a beautiful spring day in honor of a young Fairfield man home on leave from the Air Force ended in tragedy at Oakland Mills Monday afternoon.

Five Fairfielders had come to the river area, primarily on a fishing expedition for Larry Rhoads of the U. S. Air Force. Some of them had come a year ago when he was home and decided to do the same thing again this year.

As three of the men began fishing below the dam, two others, the younger members of the party, entered the water under the bridge above the dam.

One of the two, Homer ANGSTEAD, 18, drowned. His companion was Ronnie Cook, 16, a friend. The drowning occurred at 3:30 and the body was recovered two hours later, at 5:30.

They had decided to swim across the river, young Cook said as he sat on the river bank, not taking his eyes off the boats from which attempts were made to find the body. Starry-eyed and apparently dazed by the shock of what had happened, he told in short sentences what had taken place.

Less than half way across the river, he said, ANGSTEAD called out that he didn't believe he could make it. They turned back. ANGSTEAD was having trouble. He grasped Cook's trunks and they moved along a short distance, then ANGSTEAD's hand slipped away.

Cook swam on to shore, a distance of about 35 feet, to a green boat. He was nearly exhausted, he said, but he thought he might take the boat out to save his pal. He saw him go down, come up once and then disappear again, he said. The boat was tied and there were no oars.

Cook ran along the river eastward about 500 feet to below the dam where the other three were fishing and told them that ANGSTEAD had drowned. The three fishing, Rhoads, Dale CLINE, a brother-in-law of ANGSTEAD, and Roy Hutton, rushed to the scene and CLINE then drove across the bridge to the Oakland Mills store to report the drowning to the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Russell Van Tuyl, Deputy Robert Nicholson, Highway Patrolman Don Platt and city officer Harold Dovenspike were soon at the scene and with the assistance of volunteers began dragging the river.

About five o'clock, Dr. Dean Frish, who is experienced in skin diving, arrived, put on his rubber suit and oxygen tanks and went into the river at 5:15. Because of the mud bottom, he had trouble moving along the bottom of the river. He was gradually working upstream and likely would have been in the immediate area where the body was found, within a few minutes.

Officers and volunteers used two drag lines and several poles and lines with weighted hooks. It was one of the latter being used by Carrol Spence, 18, Mt. Pleasant, that attached to ANGSTEAD's trunks and brought him to the surface. Spence was working from a boat with Ernest McDowell, Roger Ford and Walter Gray.

A boat operated by Dovenspike and from which Patrolman Platt was pulling a drag line moved alongside and they assisted in getting the body into their boat. The body was taken to shore, just below the bridge, and wrapped in a blanket by Dovenspike, Platt and Patrolman Pete Hall of Fairfield. After the arrival of Coroner Hugh Dallner, who was called after the victim had been removed from the water, the body was taken to the Crane Funeral Home here and later to the Hoskins Funeral Home at Fairfield.

The spot where the body was found was about 35 feet from shore and a similar distance above the bridge. The location was almost exactly the same distance from shore that Cook had estimated, but was upstream farther than he realized. He had thought the location was under the bridge. The depth of the water was about 10 feet.

The drowning victim is survived by his mother, who resides in California, his father, Edward A. ANGSTEAD of Fairfield and a brother and sisters: Delmar ANGSTEAD in California, Mrs. Dale CLINE, Mrs. James HOKSINS, Mrs. Maurice LITTON, Mrs. Donald SIMONS and Jessie ANGSTEAD, all of Fairfield.

As word spread of the drowning, a large crowd including relatives from Fairfield gathered along the river bank to watch the search.

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"The Mt. Pleasant News"
Saturday, May 17, 1958
Page 4, Column 4

CARD OF THANKS

We would like to thank all in the Mt. Pleasant community who helped recover the body of Homer ANGSTEAD of Fairfield, last Monday especially the Mt. Pleasant City Police and the Iowa Highway Patrol. We greatly appreciate your services.

The ANGSTEAD family.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot 2nd.285 at Evergreen Cemetery, Fairfield.