RAMBO, Rex Vale: Died 1939

RAMBO, CAMBLIN, WOODY, MORROW, THOMPSON

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 8/30/2013 at 03:55:52

Rambo Died After Crash
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Spotted Fever First Believed Cause of Death; Not Now Considered Responsible

Rex Rambo, Keosauqua trucker and dairyman, died at the Fairfield hospital at 4:30 o'clock Saturday morning. He had been ill only a short time and was taken to the hospital when his illness became know following a highway collision Friday afternoon

Mr. Rambo apparently suffered no injury in the accident, but his illness is believed to have been responsible for his seeming difficulty in handling his truck. He had complained of illness before leaving Keosauqua Friday morning. At Birmingham he stopped for a rest, and again at Ottumwa he told acquaintances he was ill but thought he could complete the trip to his home.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Mr. Rambo was found to be critically ill. It was reported at first that Mr. Rambo died from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a disease carried by ticks around livestock.

However, doctors and members of Mr. Rambo's family do not believe that he had the disease.

A group of physicians attended him but were unable to check the fever. Mr. Rambo was said to have had a temperature of 106 degrees when examined shortly after he was admitted to the hospital.

Mr. Rambo, who was 51 years old, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Rambo and was born at Leando. He was left motherless when less than a year old and was reared by a stepmother.

He was married to Bertha Camblin of Douds in 1909. To this union were born seven children. Surviving are his wife, their children, Vinton of Shippensburg, Pa., Mrs. T.H. Woody of St. Louis, Mo., and Monte, Aileen, Lucile, Lawrence and Alice Jean at home; two sisters, Mrs. Alma Thompson and Mrs. Mary Morrow of West Des Moines; three brothers, J.H. Rambo of Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Cleve Rambo of Creston and Argus Rambo of Fairfield and his stepmother, Mrs. C.C. Rambo of Wes Des Moines.

Funeral services were conducted from the Keosauqua Methodist church Monday afternoon by the Rev. C.H. Orf. Singers at the final rites were Raymond Forbes, Walter Beer, William Davidson and O.C. Williams, with Mrs. James A. Craig as accompanist
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Rex Rambo Is Stricken On Highway
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Death At Fairfield Hospital Follows Accident Due To Trucker's Illness; First Victim in Iowa?
**Handwritten: May 26 - 39

Fairfield.-Rex Rambo, 53, of Keosauqua, died at 4:30 a.m. today at the Jefferson County hospital of what Supt. Marie Murray said was Rocky Mountain Spotted fever after being overcome while driving his truck from Keosauqua to Ottumwa.

Mr. Rambo appeared dazed after his truck collided with a horse on federal highway 34 about eight miles west of Fairfield at 1:30 p.m. Friday and he was removed to the hospital where doctors diagnosed his case as Rocky Mountain fever.

His is believed to be the first Iowa death from this malady in 1939 and the first ever recorded as caused by this disease in the Fairfield and Keosauqua community. The disease first appeared in the Rocky mountains and is transmitted through the bite of wood ticks.

Car Strikes Horse.

Mr. Rambo had complained of not felling well but believed he was well enough to drive his truck from Keosauqua to Ottumwa. He was making this trip when, in attempting to pass a team hitched to a cultivator on the highway, he cut in too soon and struck one of the horses.

After the accident Mr. Rambo was forced to lie down by the side of the road, but it was thought at the time he might have been dazed by the impact. Doctors said today, however, that Mr. Rambo's illness may have caused him to lose control of the truck.

The horse owned by John Mickels of Batavia, route 2 and driven by Mickels son, Joe, suffered a broken leg and had to be killed.

Nephew of Dr. D.T. Rambo.

Mr. Rambo, who was found to have a temperature of more than 106 degrees shortly after his arrival at the hospital was taken there by a highway patrolman, and four doctors consulted in an effort to check the disease. Mr. Rambo was a dairy farmer and trucker between Fairfield and Ottumwa. He was a nephew of Dr. D.T. Rambo of Ottumwa.

He is survived by his wife Bertha; seven children, Vinton of Pennsylvania; Mrs. T.H. Woody of St. Louis, Aileen, Lucille, Lawrence, Alice Jean and Mont at home; his stepmother, Mrs. C.C. Rambo of Des Moines; three brothers, Dr. Cleve Rambo of Creston, Argus of Douds and Tell of Missouri, and two sisters, Mrs. Mary Morrow of West Des Moines and Mrs. Alma Thompson, also of West Des Miones.

The body was taken to the Burnett funeral home at Keosauqua.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Keosauqua Methodist church in charge of the Rev. C.H. ????, burial will be in the Purdom cemetery.
**Handwritten: REX RAMBO

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book C, Page 207, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA