Albert S. Koehler (1949)

KOEHLER, HOWARD, HOLLIDAY

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler (email)
Date: 2/25/2007 at 14:55:52

Winterset Madisonian - September 7, 1949
Winterset, Iowa

MURRAY BANKS CRITICALLY HURT

Crash Near Bevington Causes Second Highway Fatality of Year in County

Albert S. Koehler, aged 24, of Winterset, was instantly killed early last Thursday morning when the car he was driving crashed with a large semi-trailer truck.

Murray Banks, also of Winterset was critically injured in the crash. Latest word this week from the Methodist hospital in Des Moines, where he is a patient, is that he is considerably improved, and hope is growing for his recovery. He received a severe head injury and possible skull fracture.

It was the second highway fatality of 1949 in Madison county. The first was the death of Larry Garmon, Lorimor, last May in a crash on No. 92 east of Winterset.

The accident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. at the Kelleher curve on No. 92, west of Bevington. The truck, driven by Kenneth Hineline of Blair, Nebr., was loaded with grain elevators. It was rounding the curve, going east. Koehler and Banks were driving west.

Just what happened as the two vehicles met has not been definitely established. Hineline said that two sets of headlights flashed in front of him just before the crash. This would indicate the possibility that one car was attempting to pass another at that point. Banks was asleep in the front seat at the time, and does not know what occurred.

The Winterset car and the truck met with terrific impact. The left side of the car was crushed. On the truck, the front wheels and axle were torn away, and the dual wheels on the left side were sheared off.

The truck came to a halt on the pavement; and the car plunged into the grader ditch. Both occupants of the car were thrown out onto the shoulder of the road.

The truck driver and his father, Forrest Hineline of Blair, Nebr., who was riding with him, were not injured.

Koehler was a well known and popular young man in Winterset. He was a veteran of the recent war, and was wounded in action at the Salerno landing in Italy.

He was a son of George and Lois Koehler, and was born in Madison county, November 10, 1924. His entire life was spent in this community except for his military service.

He was a member of the Veterans of Foreighn Wars and the American Legion.

He was married July 8, 1945, to Jeanne Howard of Winterset, who survives him. He also leaves his parents; two brothers, Charles and Richard Koehler, a sister, Mrs. Alberta Holliday; and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Selwyn -----

(Burial was made in the Winterset cemetery)