Edmunds, Rodney 1954-1960

EDMUNDS, HENDRICKSM, VANDERHAMM

Posted By: Janet Schuldt, Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/17/2009 at 14:45:06

Hawarden Independent, Hawarden, Sioux, Iowa, USA Thursday, July 14, 1960

6 Year Old Boy Killed in Car Accident Here

A two car accident here at 8:45 Saturday night snuffed out the life of a six-year old boy, Rodney Edmunds who died at the hospital at 1:30 Sunday (July 10, 1960), never having regained consciousness.

The boy was crushed between the rear seat and the back of the front seat when a car driven by Skip Clark, 20, of rural Akron rammed into the rear of the car driven by the boy's father, Milo Edmunds.
Mr. Edmunds, 32, suffered a neck whiplash injury and his wife Lois, 29, suffered abrasions contusions and shock. Pamela, 8, suffered a broken right wrist, back injury contusions and abrasions. They were dismissed from the hospital Monday Morning.

Another passenger of the Edmunds car, Mrs. Florence Pharr of Roseville, Calif. was uninjured.

Near Otis Plant

The accident occurred on Highway 12, two blocks within the Hawarden city limits near the Otis Radio plant. Officers said both cars were headed south in the right lane when the car driven by Clark, a 1953 Mercury hardtop smashed into the Edmunds 1953 Chevrolet sedan, telescoping the trunk of the frame into the rear pushing the back seat up to the front. The steering wheel was cracked in two, the left back door bent with the window of the door and the rear window shattered.

Clark received minor injuries, but was not hospitalized following treatment. The car he was driving was not badly damaged.

The accident is being investigated by Chief of Police Milo Hartman, Patrolman Dale Smith of Sheldon and Sheriff Harry Dykstra of Orange City, who reported that the Edmunds car bolted 450 feel following the impact before coming to a standstill. They pried the little boy out of the wreckage, and took him to the hospital. He was bleeding profusely from severe lacerations. chest injuries and a fractured skull

Funeral services for Rodney Lynn were conducted at 2 o'clock Tuesday at the Methodist church, Rev C. E. Custer officiating.

Mrs. D. J. Lewis sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "That Sweet Story" with Mrs. Hal Shoemaker as organist.

Born in Hawarden

Casket bearers included Ronald Treiber, Kenneth Janvrin, Marlo Green and Bob Larson. Interment was in Grace Hill Cemetery under the direction of the Barnard Funeral Home.

Rodney was born February 28, 1954 in Hawarden, and completed his kindergarten year in West Sioux Community School.

He is survived by is parents, a sister, Pamela, his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Hendricks, and Mrs. Roy Edmunds; a great grandmother Mrs. William Edmunds and great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry VanderHamm all of Hawarden.