The Daily Gate City
Keokuk, Iowa
Tuesday
August 2, 1955
Page 1
Column 1
A CHILD WAS KILLED and six other persons injured in a head-on collision between two automobiles Monday evening on the Argyle road about eight miles north of Keokuk. Carroll Gene Burdette, 5-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Burdette of 1908 William, died Monday night in St. Joseph hospital with a crushed skull. He was riding with his parents and two brothers and a sister in a car driven by his father, which collided with another driven by Glen Leazer, 19, of Argyle. The Leazer car is shown above. Pictures of the other car and story on page 10.
--Daily Gate City Photo. Autos, Drowning
Claim 5 LivesBy The Associated Press
Four persons died as a result of motor vehicle accidents and a fifth drowned in Iowa Monday.
The dead:
Carroll Gene Burdette, 5, son of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Burdette of Keokuk.
Rebeka Burleson, 20-month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marion Burleson of near Baldwin.
Ervin E. Tiecky, 36, of Cedar Rapids.
Vincent Mohatt, 40, of Vail.
Nicola Russo, 27, of Quincy, Ill.
The Burdette boy was killed and six other persons were injured Monday night in a two-car collision near Keokuk.
Rebeka Burleson was killed Monday afternoon when she apparently fell from the family car and was run over as her mother backed out of their farm driveway.
Tiecky, a house moving contractor, fell from the trailer carrying a house and was crushed by its wheels near Victor.
Mohatt died Monday of injuries he received last Thursday when his car struck the rear of a fire truck on a Crawford County road north of Vail.
Russo, a minister of the Church of Christ, drowned in Union Grove Lake near Gladbrook. He and another minister, Charles Hess, also of Quincy, had swum across the half-mile wide lake and were returning when Russo called for help.
Hess, who had made it back, swam to Russo's aid but was too exhausted to get him the remainder of the way to shore.
It was the 48th drowning in Iowa this year.
The Daily Gate City
Keokuk, Iowa
Tuesday
August 2, 1955
Page 10
Column 2
THEIR FRONT ENDS TELESCOPED (picture at the left) these two automobiles collided head-on on the Argyle road at 6:30 Monday, causing fatal injuries to five-year Carroll Gene Burdette and injuring six others. The picture at the right shows the Oldsmobile driven by Darrell Burdette, 1908 William, father of the child who was said to have been standing in the back of the car and was thrown forward, crushing his skull. The other car, at the right in the picture at the left, a 1955 Chevrolet, was driven by Glenn Leazer, 19, of Argyle. -- Sheriff H. R. Delahoyde Photo.
Five-Year-Old Boy Killed in
Head-on Car Collision MondayA head-on collision which claimed the life of a five year old boy, Carroll Gene Burdette, 1908 William street, also injured five other members of the Darrell Burdette family and the driver of the other car involved. Four remain in St. Joseph hospital this morning.
The little boy was riding with his parents, a sister and two brothers in a car driven by the father. He is said to have been standing in the back and was thrown up against the windshield when the cars came together.
Road Dusty.
He died shortly after arriving in the hospital as a result of a skull fracture.
The accident occurred on the Argyle road about eight miles out last night about 6:30 p. m. Sheriff H. R. Delahoyde reported drivers of both cars said the accident was probably caused by heavy dust due to the dry gravel road.
Four in Hospital.
Injured are:
Mrs. Eva Burdette, 28, a severely bruised head and cuts on the eye. She is reported to be in fair condition today.
Rose Marie Burdette, age 7, cuts and bruises, still in the hospital at noon today.
Steven Burdette, 10 months old, also in the hospital receiving treatment for cuts and bruises.
Injured but released were Darrell Burdette and Darrell Junior, age 9. Both were taken to the hospital after the crash but were released a few hours later.
Glenn Leazer, 19, Argyle, sustained a broken right leg and broken arm. He is reported to be in fair condition in St. Joseph hospital this morning.
Cars Demolished.
Darrell Burdette, driving a 1947 Oldsmobile was traveling west and Glenn Leazer, 19, Argyle, driver of the other car, was traveling east when the crash occurred. Leazer's 1955 Chevrolet had only 797 miles on it. Both cars were demolished.
Leazer was in an auto accident on highway 218 about three years ago when a passenger and received a broken right leg in that crash also.
Funeral Thursday.
Funeral service for Carroll Gene will be held Thursday at 2:30 p. m. in DeJong's Funeral Home with burial in the Hickory Grove cemetery.
The son of Darrell and Eve Bryant Burdette he was born here July 31, 1950, and was baptized in the Second Presbyterian church.
Surviving in addition to the parents are two brothers, Darrell Dean, Jr., and Steven Michael; a sister, Rose Marie; grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives.
