Larry Lyle Hager (1980)

AKERS, ESTELL, GARRISON, HAGER, STRANGE

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 2/10/2013 at 07:51:13

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, September 17, 1980

OSHA Investigates…
Ditch Cave-In, Two Die

Friends, relatives and courageous volunteers who toiled unsuccessfully Saturday to rescue two young men from dying beneath tons of wet dirt, are slowly recovering from the tragic accident. Crushed to death Saturday morning when a rain-soaked sewer trench caved in were Randall Scott Lathrum, 19, of R.R. 1, Winterset, and Larry Lyle Hager, 18, of 408 S. Seventh St. in Winterset.

Lathrum and Hager were laying pipe in the nine-foot-deep trench for Drake Construction Co. The tragedy occurred about 10:55 a.m. Saturday at the project site on Highway 92 near Fourth Avenue in north Winterset. Several tons of freshly dug dirt, which was piled about five feet above the north side of the trench, fell into the ditch where the two men were working. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Services for Larry Lyle Hager were held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Collins Funeral Home with Rev. Charles Updike officiating. Burial was at the Peru Cemetery with the following casket bearers: Keith Halderman, John Harper, Pat Harper, Chris Harrison, Rick Houseman and Harry Ross.

The son of Melvin Frank and Lena May Estell Hager, he was born on Oct. 4, 1961 in Winterset and attended Winterset High School. While growing up, he performed numerous odd jobs and learned mechanics. Favorite pastimes were drawing pictures and working on engines.

His brother-in-law, Alan Akers, said Hager was a good artist who enjoyed painting pictures. Akers said Hager kept a close relationship with all family members, including three brothers and two sisters. He was the youngest member of his family.

He enjoyed working outdoors and had been with Drake Construction since 1978. At the time of his death, he was living in Winterset with his sister and her husband, Alan and Patty Akers.

Survivors include his parents, Melvin Hager of Peru and Lena Strange of Green City, Mo.; three brothers, Eddie, Bobby and Ronnie, all of Peru; and two sisters, Phyllis Garrison and Patty Akers, both of Winterset. He was preceded in death by an infant brother.

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