Obituary Record

Edward Leader Raver
Died on 6/6/1966

None
None

The year of his death was not listed. 1876 + 90 = 1966

Date and place of publication of this newspaper article was not recorded.

ED RAVER, 90, KILLED WHEN HIS CAR COLLIDES WITH TRUCK

ED RAVER, 90, BURIED TODAY

Edward Leander Raver died suddenly on June 6th following an automobile accident on Highway 30.

He was born in Craig, Nebraska on January 13, 1876, and observed his 90th birthday this year.

He was married to Mattie Gregg and they lived in Craig, Blair and Herman before her death in 1958.

Mr. Raver farmed near Craig ……(some of the article is cut off)……….. and also operated a produce station in Blair before retiring.

He is survived by seven children: Mrs. Lucille Lowe of Mesa, Arizona; Mrs. Leone Dickinson of Winston, Oregon; Mrs. Wallace Skeoch (Edith) of Englewood, California; Mrs. Robert Weeks (Nadine) of Lynnwood, California; Donald Raver of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Vangyle Rave of Le Mesa, California; and William Raver of Omaha. There are also ten grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren who survive.

Funeral services will be held at the Campbell Mortuary at ___ P.M. (today) Thursday. The Rev. ODale 2 P.M. (today) Thursday. The Rev. Dale Westadt will officiate. Burial will be in the cemetery at Craig, Nebraska.

(The final paragraph above had once been torn, and then pasted together in a crooked condition.)

# 2 - - Date and place of publication of the following newspaper article was not recorded.

Ed Raver, well known and long time Blair resident, was killed instantly Sunday forenoon when his car struck a large livestock truck head on. The accident occurred shortly after 9:00 A.M., almost in front of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Pence on Highway 30. The location is less than a half mile south of the Blair city limits. Raver, who was 90 years of age, was alone in his car and was traveling south. The stock truck, loaded with cattle, was moving north toward Blair. The cattle were enroute to a packing plant in Iowa.

The impact appeared to have taken place in the truck’s lane of traffic and those who were first at the scene were unable to determine whether Mr. Raver was attempting to make a turn into the Pence driveway or had, in some manner, allowed his car to drift out of his traffic lane.

The collision was sudden and destruction complete.

The Raver car was crushed when it struck the heavy truck. The entire front of the car was pushed back into the driver’s compartment and the engine was knocked completely out of the car. It was found lying on the pavement some distance from the car. Death to the driver was instant.

The truck, after the impact, went out of control. Its steering mechanism was apparently knocked out when it struck the car. The loaded truck careened along the highway shoulder for several hundred feet and finally went into the ditch where it traveled for a distance and rammed into the end of a concrete culvert.

When the truck struck the culvert, the cab was torn loose from the machine, the rest of the front end supports were knocked out and even the motor was ripped from the frame. The truck tractor was a heavy duty diesel outfit.

Driver of the truck was Robert Lee Braasch, 29, from Rising City, Nebraska. Fortunately for Braasch, the truck he was driving was a cab over-engine model and he was above the actual point of impact. He was, however, slammed about in the cab and seriously injured. He sustained a broken leg and numerous cuts and bruises. He was taken to Memorial Community Hospital in Blair for treatment. His condition is reported to be satisfactory.

When the truck struck the culvert, the cattle pressed forward in the truck and broke out the front end of the stock rack. They poured out on the wrecked cab and engine. Four head of stock were killed outright and several others injured. The remainder, thoroughly frightened, broke out of the truck and scattered over the area. Trucks from the Bauer truck line were called and after an hour or more the cattle were rounded up and re-loaded.

The truck, when it struck the culvert, narrowly missed a pole carrying a high tension radial electric line which circles the entire city. Had the pole been broken off, the danger of fire and electrocution of bystanders would have been highly possible.

On Monday, auto wreckers were still at work on the truck. It was necessary to cut the tractor up in pieces with torches. The cab was transported from the scene by a wrecker and the motor made a second load. The frame and rear wheel assembly required a third trip. The stock rack and tandem wheel assembly was pulled away later.

Traffic was closed on the highway for a short time during the roundup of the cattle and clearing of the debris from the highway.

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