VanVoorst, Jaylon Roy, 1965-1982

VANVOORST, VANRAVENSWAAY

Posted By: Lydia Lucas-Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/23/2011 at 19:51:31

Services were at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Netherlands Reformed Church of Sioux Center for Jaylon Roy Van Voorst, 16, of rural Maurice. The Rev. A. M. Den Boer officiated. Burial was in Memory Gardens at Sioux Center under the direction of the Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center.

Jaylon was killed Wednesday night, August 11, in a motorcycle accident on a blacktop road at the edge of Sioux Center.

He was born Nov. 11, 1965, in Sioux Center. He was raised on the family farm in the rural Maurice area. He would have been a high school junior this fall.

Survivors are the parents, Mr. and Mrs. John J. Van Voorst of rural Maurice; four sisters, Mrs. Phil (Rhonda) Bonnema of Akron, and Judy, Rachel and Janelle, all at home; his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Jennie Van Voorst of Rock Valley, and his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Gerdena Van Ravenswaay of Sioux Center.

Source: Sioux Center News, August 18, 1982.

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Collision Kills Motorcycle Rider

A 16-year-old Maurice youth became the county's third traffic fatality of the year following an accident Wednesday evening on the east edge of Sioux Center. It was the first road fatality this year in the county involving a motorcycle.

Jaylon Van Voorst, son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Van Voorst, Maurice, was killed immediately when the 1978 Suzuki motorcycle he was driving pulled out in front of a Ford van being driven by Randall Roos, 31, Sioux Center, according to the Sioux Center Police Department. The department said they understood Van Voorst had purchased the motorcycle the Friday before the accident.

The accident happened approximately 9:30 p.m. near the Faith Christian Reformed Church on County Blacktop B-40, according to the Sioux Center Police Department. Van Voorst and Kevin TeSlaa were traveling together on motorcycles and both were eastbound on the blacktop. The two were following a car and a pick-up, according to authorities.

Sioux Center police explained that Van Voorst and TeSlaa apparently had just cleared a no passing zone when TeSlaa, who was riding inside, pulled in front to pass the pick-up. TeSlaa apparently saw the approaching van and determined he could not pass it and dropped back into his lane of traffic, according to the Sioux Center police department. Authorities stated that a second after TeSlaa started attempting to pass, Van Voorst began to pull out. Van Voorst apparently did not see the van until it was too late and was unable to pull back in quick enough, authorities reported.

Sioux Center Police Department stated that the motorcycle and van collided head-on. From the point of impact, the van skidded across the blacktop for approximately 125 feet, then went into the ditch and traveled another 120 feet, according to the department. The police department reported that Roos' van went into a soybean field. Some beans were flattened by the van. There were no reported injuries to any of the passengers inside the Roos van, according to the Sioux Center police department.

Sioux County coroner Dr. L. G. Willekes, Sioux Center, pronounced Van Voorst dead at the scene of the accident, according to the department.

Authorities estimated there was an estimated $1,600 damage to Roos' 1979 van. Van Voorst's motorcycle was considered totalled by the department. No charges will be filed by the department.

Source: Sioux County Capital, August 16, 1982.

The accident was also given coverage in other area newspapers.