SPEES, Bruce E.: Died 1978

SPEES, WIKOFF, JONES

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 2/7/2018 at 19:06:20

**Handwritten: 1978

Car-motorcycle crash -
Birmingham man killed

BIRMINGHAM - Bruce E. Spees, 33, rural Birmingham, was killed Saturday evening in a car-motorcycle collision.

The fatal crash took place at 6:30 p.m. at the junction of Highway 1 and Main Street in Birmingham.

Spees was taken by ambulance to the Jefferson County Hospital in Fairfield where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. Officers said he died of head injuries.

Van Buren Count authorities, said Spees was driving a motorcycle, northbound on Highway 1, and a car driven by Jeanette M. Buchanan, 67, Fairfield, was traveling south. They said the car attempted a left turn into the path of the motorcycle.

It was further reported Spees was thrown fifty feet through the air following the impact. Neighter Mrs. Buchana, nor her husband, H.E. Buchanan, a passenger in the car were injured in the collision.

A charge of making an improper left turn was filed against the driver of the car.

Van Buren county officers who assisted a state trooper during the investigation said it was the eighth traffic fatality in Van Buren County so far this year, and the second involving a motorcycle.

Services

Services will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Birmingham United Methodist Church with the Rev. David Kennedy and Father Karl Holtkamp officiating. Interment will be in Maple Hill Cemetery.

The family will meet friends at the Burch Funeral Home at 8 p.m. Tuesday evening. Memorials may be left at the funeral home.

Bruce E. Spees was born July 8, 1944, at Fairfield, the son of Coyner and Evelyn Wikoff Spees. He was married Aug. 29, 1965, to Jennabelle Jones. She survives.

Spees graduated from the Stockport High School in 1963. He was a longtime employee at the American Chain and Cable Co. in Fairfield, had served in the National Guard and was baptized in the Birmingham Presbyterian Church.

In addition to his widow, Spees is survived by two sons, Rick and Jason, both at home; also his parents and a brother, David, all of Birmingham.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book J, Page 109, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA