James & Jeffrey Havill (died 1969)

HAVILL, OLSON, AHLGREN, PAASKE

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 4/13/2022 at 07:06:52

1 January 1970 - The Tipton Conservative

Funeral services for James Havill Jr., 16, and his brother, Jeffrey, 8, will be held at 1 p.m. today (Dec. 31) in the McGinnis chapel at Bettendorf. Burial will be in Pleasant Valley cemetery.

James Roger Havill was born in Davenport Dec. 30, 1953 and was a sophomore at Bennett community high school. Jeffrey Alan Havill was born in Davenport Nov. 3, 1961 and was in the second grade in the Bennett school.

They are survived by their parents, 2 sisters, Judy, 14, a freshman in the Bennett school, Joni, 11, in the sixth grade at the Bennett school and Jerry Robert, 2; their maternal grandmother, Mrs. Vernell Olson, Davenport; their paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Havill, Bettendorf; their maternal great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Axel Ahlgren, LeClaire and their paternal great-grandmother, Mrs. Frank (Emma) Paaske, Bettendorf.

James Roger Havill Jr., 16, and his brother, Jeffrey 8, sons of Mr. and Mrs. James Havill, lost their lives when a fire swept through the Havill farm home 3 miles north of New Liberty shortly before midnight Dec. 27.

Mr. and Mrs. Havill and the 3 other Havill children, Judy, 14; Joni, 11 and Jerry 2, escaped from the burning home. Havill smashed the glass in a bedroom window to rescue a daughter after he had led his wife and 2 other children from the home.

The Havill boys apparently became lost in the intense smoke. Their bodies were found close together, only a few feet from the front door.

The fire, which is believed to have started from an over-heated oil burner in the kitchen, spread rapidly through the Havill home and gave the family only a few moments in which to escape. Havill was driven back by the intense heat and smoke in his efforts to rescue his sons.

The Havill family is being sheltered in a 45-foot house trailer provided by a family friend, Lyle Winslow of Rural LeClaire. Donations of food, clothing and cash for the Havill family may be left at the New Liberty fire station.

Five fire trucks were at the scene of the fire. They came from New Liberty, Maysville and Dixon.