John Gunnarson (1859-1942)

GUNNARSON, JOHNSON

Posted By: John Davis (email)
Date: 10/20/2019 at 12:59:16

Obit posted in Ottumwa Courier January 17, 1942
Munterville Man First Car Fatality
John Gunnarson Struck, Killed Saturday
Funeral services will be held Tuesday for John Gunnarson, 82, of Munterville, first auto fatality for Wapello county in 1942. Resident of Polk township for nearly 75 years, Gunnarson a native of Halland, Sweden, was killed about 6:45 p.m. Saturday, crossing federal highway No. 34 in Munterville, when struck by a car driven by Harry A. Spooner, Jr. 21 of Oskaloosa. Coroner Traul of Ottumwa said there would be no inquest. Sheriff's officer and Iowa highway patrolmen who investigated the accident said they could establish no negligence of blame on the part of Spooner; reported his car brakes in good condition and said that he had brought the car to a halt within 15 or 16 feet of the point at which the old gentleman had been struck. The paving was slippery and wet and the shoulders muddy at the scene of the accident. Spooner was, however, charged with operating a car without a driver's license, according to Sheriff Mike Mier. The Oskaloosa youth was to be in Des Moines today to take examinations for entrance into the U.S. Army. The Gunnarson death was also the first 1942 auto fatality in the 12 counties of the southeastern Iowa highway patrol district. Gunnarman had been a county road supervisor for various terms; had been a member and deacon of the Munterville Lutheran church for many years. Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Augusta Johnson, a brother Alfred Gunnarson, both of Munterville. Funeral services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson funeral chapel here and at 1:30 p.m. at the Munterville Lutheran church, conducted by the Rev. J. G. Swedberg. Burial will be in the Munterville Lutheran cemetery. Pallbearers will be Alfred E. Anderson, Frank Larson, Clarence Johnson, Alfred Anderson, Wilford Johnson and Charley Nelson.