Obituary Record

Tjarbe Rand
Died on 12/29/1979
Buried in Blair Cemetery

This long obituary is taken from the collection in the Notebook of Long Obituaries. The original newspaper article can be found in the Blair Library, Genealogy Room.

Published in Pilot-Tribune, December 31, 1979

ACCIDENT PROVES FATAL FOR SON OF FORMER BLAIR FAMILY

(picture of Tjarbe Rand)

One of Missouri Valley’s most active students has died from injuries he suffered in a traffic accident, which occurred near Scranton, Iowa, last Wednesday morning.

Dead is 16-year-old Tjarbe Rand, of Missouri Valley. Tjarbe and three other high school students were on their way to a baseball camp at Iowa State University, in Ames, when the car they were in hit a patch of ice on U.S. 30, about three miles west of Scranton and tumbled into a nearby cornfield.

State Patrol reports say the car had just left a blacktop section and was entering concrete paving, which was icy, when it lost control and rolled at least once, possibly several times, and came to rest upright. Rand had been thrown from the vehicle, and suffered massive head injuries. He was taken by ambulance to the St. Anthony Hospital, and was then transferred by helicopter to St. Joseph Hospital, in Omaha. He died of head injuries at that hospital on Thursday.

Also in the car were 15-year-old Fritz Noren, 16-year-old Jon Allmon, and 15-year-old Richard Coberly, all of Missouri Valley. All three suffered bumps and bruises, and were treated and released from the St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll.

“We were just driving along, when we hit a patch of ice and started swerving across the road,” recalled Richard Coberly. “That’s all that I can remember.”

Funeral services for Tjarbe Rand will be held on Monday, December 31, at 10:30 a.m., at the Methodist Church in Missouri Valley. Interment will be in Blair.

Tjarbe was born on June 21, 1963 in Denver, Colorado, the son of John (Bob) R. and Patricia Rand, who are originally from Blair. The family moved to Missouri Valley in 1971.

He was active in a variety of activities in school, including all kinds of sports: football, track, baseball, basketball, swimming and was a member of the Letter Club. He was also active in dramatics, as a member of the Thespian Club; he was an honor student, a member of the Science club, FFA, Boys Glee, Swing Singers, the all-state chorus, Key Club and participated in the state Spanish contest. Tjarbe was also very active in the Methodist Church.

Tjarbe is survived by his parents, John R. (Bob) and Patricia Rand; brothers, Robert and James; sister Melinda; nephew Jason; and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Pat McCormick of Westminister, Colorado; and Mrs. Fannie Rand of Missouri Valley.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested all memorials be sent to the Missouri Valley High School.

Hennessey, Van Cleave and Hurley handled the funeral arrangements.

(picture) caption: The four teens were heading for basketball camp in Ames when their car hit a patch of ice and landed in a cornfield, a few miles west of Scranton.

~~~obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

FindaGrave #117993457

Printed in the Washington County Pilot-Tribune on 12/31/1979


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