Carwell, Robert C. 1931-1951

CARWELL

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 3/23/2009 at 13:27:40

BOB CARWELL, 20, ONE OF SIX VICTIMS IN CALIFORNIA CRASH; WAS ON WAY HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

The tragic death of Robert C. Carwell, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carwell of LeMars, in an auto crash 12 miles west of Needles, Calif., early Saturday shattered Christmas plans at one LeMars home and brought a touch of sadness to countless others whose occupants remembered the youth.

He died in the headon collision of two cars about 3:30 or 4 a.m. while en route for Christmas.

He had been attending a naval electronics school at Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, having enlisted in the Navy March 19 this year.

Prior to his enlistment, he had worked as a clerk in the Hansen hardware store following his graduation from high school here and while attending Westmar College.

News of the youth’s death first reached LeMars on a 2 p.m. radio broadcast, heard by a neighbor who called Mrs. Carwell.

Meanwhile, another station, KICD of Spencer, had sought to avoid possible shocking the youth’s parents by calling the Sentinel to see if they had been informed of the accident, before that station put the news on the air at 4 p.m.

A telegram from the Navy confirming the news, arrived about 5 p.m.

Funeral arrangements were still indefinite Monday, pending word from California as to when the body would leave there with its military escort.

The family has requested that Larry Bertram of Ireton, with whom Bob had worked at the Navy’s Treasure Island office while waiting to attend school, be named the escort.

Bob was born Feb. 10, 1931, and graduated from LeMars High School in 1949. He attended Westmar for three semesters before entering the Navy.

He is survived by his parents and one older brother, Roy E. Carwell, Mason City. His father, who suffers from arthritis, has been a patient in a Sioux City nursing home.

Five other persons died in the crash with Bob, including another Iowa sailor, Durwood Holmseth of Floyd, Iowa, near Charles City.

The two sailors were riding with Richard Wayne Hartness, also killed, of Los Angeles in his car, and it was not clear whether he had been driving, or Bob was at the wheel at the time of the collision, California authorities reported.

Three students at Dana College, Blair, Neb., also died in the collision. There was one survivor.

The survivor is Janet Justesen, 20, Fresno, Cal., formerly of Cedar Falls, hospitalized with a possible skull fracture, head lacerations and fractures of the left arm and collar bone.

Patrolmen said that apparently Hartness was on his way east and probably picked up the sailors en route. There was no indication that he knew them.

It was not definitely determined whether Hartness was driving his car or whether one of the sailors may have been alternating with him, according to an Associated Press dispatch.

Patrol Capt. H.W. Null said it appeared that the eastbound Hartness car veered into the westbound lane. The crash occurred 12 miles west of Needles at 4 a.m. on a straight stretch of Highway 66.

~Source: The LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, Dec. 25, 1951
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[His graduation photo accompanies this next article]
No further word has been received Thursday by Mauer’s funeral home from the Navy department concerning the arrival from Needles, Calif., of the body of Robert C. Carwell, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carwell of LeMars. Funeral arrangements for the young sailor, who died in an auto crash near Needles Saturday, en route to LeMars for a holiday furlough, are still indefinite.
~Source: LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, Dec. 28, 1951
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FUNERAL RITES MONDAY
FOR ROBERT C. CARWELL
CALIFORNIA CRASH VICTIM

Funeral services for Robert C. Carwell, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carwell of LeMars, were held at 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31, at the First Methodist church. Rev. H.V. Bartz officiated and burial was made in the city cemetery under the direction of the Mauer funeral home.

Larry Bertram, of Ireton, who had worked in a naval office at Treasure Island with young Carwell, was military escort for the body from Needles, Calif., where the LeMars boy was killed in a headon collision Dec. 22.

The tragic accident occurred while Carwell, a passenger in an eastbound car, was on his way home for the holidays from the Naval Electronics School at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. He enlisted in the navy March 19.

Bob was a graduate of LeMars High School and a former student at Westmar College. A brother, Roy E., of Mason City, survives, besides the parents.
~Source: The LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel, January 1, 1952

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