In terms of fatalities, the worst automobile accident in the Fairbury area occurred in 1960 when five of the six members of the Dewey family were killed on Route 24 west of Fairbury.
The story of the Dewey family began with the birth of Ellis Laverne Dewey in 1923 in Des Moines, Iowa. His parents were Max Earl Dewey and Nellie O'Connell. Ellis attended local schools and was involved in a car accident in Des Moines when he was 16 years old in 1939. Ellis Dewey was driving a car with the two young daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Zavatsky in the front seat. As Ellis approached the intersection of Fleur Drive and McKinley Avenue, one mile south of Des Moines city limits, he rear-ended a car driven by Floyd Kamber. The vehicle of Kamber was shoved into a ditch. Mr. Kamber suffered a broken leg and internal injuries. Young Ellis Dewey and his two young girl passengers each suffered minor injuries.
Ellis Dewey graduated from North High School in Des Moines. After finishing high school, Ellis attended and graduated from Iowa State University and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Doris Arlene Reeck was also born and raised in the Des Moines area. She also attended and graduated from North High School in Des Moines. Doris married Ellis Dewey in 1945 when he was still finishing his college education at Iowa State University. Ellis got a job in Cincinnati, Ohio, working for the food equipment division of Proctor & Gamble Corporation.
The first of Ellis and Doris Dewey's four children, Daniel D. Dewey, was born in 1950. In 1952, daughter Deborah L. Dewey was born. In 1951, Ellis and Doris Dewey bought a building lot in the Cincinnati area and took possession of a new five-bedroom home in East Covedale Park. In 1955, daughter Laura Dewey was born. Donald D. Dewey was born in 1958. Ellis Dewey was promoted to Associate Director of Engineering for the food equipment division of Proctor & Gamble.
In July 1960, John Sutter Sr. (1873-1964) was an 86-year-old farmer living southwest of Fairbury. His driver's license was restricted because it required that he wear eyeglasses while driving. Paul Zorn (1900-1987) was a 60-year-old truck driver who lived in Forest, Illinois.
The Ellis Dewey family bought a new station wagon and a house trailer or camper. In that era, cars did not have any of the safety features of today's automobiles. For example, today's autos are all crash-tested to improve the probability that occupants can survive a crash. The Dewey's new station wagon had no seat belts and no airbags. It also had no child restraint seats.
The Dewey's decided to take a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. On their return trip home, they stopped in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, July 9th, 1960, to visit their relatives. After spending the weekend in Des Moines, the Dewey family left at 4 PM on Monday, July 11th, to resume their trip home. They spent Monday night in the camper they were towing behind the station wagon.
On Tuesday morning, July 12th, 1960, the family loaded into the station wagon and started driving east on Route 24 towards Cincinnati, Ohio, their final destination. Driving behind the Dewey family was Jerry Gross, a member of the U.S. Navy.
As they approached the McLean and Livingston County Line three miles west of Fairbury, Jerry Gross watched a horrific scene unfold before his eyes. First, Jerry saw the car driven by 86-year-old John Sutter Sr. approaching the Route 24 intersection on a gravel road from the south. Mr. Gross observed that the vehicle did not stop when it reached the intersection. Instead, Mr. Sutter turned right onto Route 24 and headed east towards Fairbury.
Ellis Dewey, driving the station wagon with his wife and four children, had to make a quick decision. His choice was to rear-end the car driven by John Sutter Sr. in front of him or swerve to the left lane. Ellis Dewey decided to veer into the left lane. Unfortunately, in that lane was a two-ton dump truck driven by Paul Zorn heading west on Route 24. A horrific high-speed head-on collision occurred between the station wagon and the dump truck. John Sutter Sr. heard the loud noise from the horrendous crash and stopped his car along Route 24.
Three of the Dewey family were immediately killed in the head-on collision. They were Ellis Dewey, 37; his wife, Arlene, 36, and their son Daniel, 10. Two daughters, Deborah, 8, and Laura, 5, died soon after they arrived at the Fairbury Hospital. The fourth child, Donald, age two, was taken to the Fairbury Hospital and was initially in critical condition. Paul Zorn, the driver of the dump truck, suffered injuries and was taken to the Fairbury Hospital. Mr. Zorn recovered from his injuries. John Sutter Sr. sustained no injuries, and his car had no damage.
A wrecker crew was called to remove the station wagon, the camper, and the dump truck. The station wagon was utterly demolished. The wrecker crew recounted the only other time they had seen a car so mangled was in a train and automobile collision.
The condition of the only survivor of the Dewey family, little two-and-half-year-old Donald Dewey, was touch and go at the Fairbury Hospital. The nursing staff provided around-the-clock monitoring of the little boy. His condition improved within a couple of days. His aunt, Mrs. A. L. Wensel, traveled from Des Moines to the Fairbury Hospital to monitor the progress of Donald Dewey. After his condition had improved, Mrs. Wensel hired an air ambulance plane to fly little Donald Dewey back to Des Moines. The aircraft used the Honegger's airfield in Forrest to land and take off. Mrs. Wensel eventually legally adopted Donald Dewey.
In terms of fatalities, this terrible accident was the worst that ever occurred in Fairbury's history. In the blink of an eye, the lives of five of the six Dewey family members were snuffed out. Several members of the Fairbury Hospital nursing staff that helped little two-year-old Donald Dewey recover still remember that horrible accident.
(Dale Maley's weekly history article is sponsored by Antiques & Uniques of Fairbury and Dr. Charlene Aaron)
Comments