Keith Heather, 18, a 1972 graduate of Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School, became Otoe County's first traffic victim of 1973 when the pickup truck he was driving plunged into Muddy Creek southwest of Syracuse.
He was found pinned in the truck, with death apparently caused by downing, according to Bill Zastera, assistant county attorney and acting coroner. The accident ocurred when Heather apparently failed to see that the center span of a steel and wooden bridge on a county road had been torn away, apparently by debris from high water.
The accident happened between 7:30PM Saturday, when the bridge was last seen intact, and 12:30AM Sunday, when Dennis Wendeln discovered the center span was gone. The bridge is a half mile south of HWY 129(Lorton Road), three miles west of HWY 50.
Otoe County Sheriff Russell Seals said Wendeln drove onto the north approach of the bridge and discovered the damage. He contacted Virgil Windhorst, who put barricades on the road, then with his father, Ray Wendeln, went to put up barricades for the bridge from the south.
Seals said just as they were leaving that task, Dennis Wendeln saw the tires of the pickup truck in the water. The sheriff's office received a call on the accident about 2:30AM.
According to Seals, Heather was apparently heading home to the nearby farm where he lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Heather, when he drove south onto the bridge and into the water.
The Syracuse and Nebraska City rescue units were called to the scene and by about 8AM the pickup had been turned over and Zastera made the official pronouncement of death of the victim. The body was recovered by rescue unit volunteers about 9:45AM and the truck was pulled from the water Sunday afternoon.
Recovery of the body by Charles Pickering of Syracuse and Don Chapin and Gerry Gilliland of Nebraska City and of the truck, was handicapped by the steep, sheer banks of the creek.
Funeral services for Keith Lee Heather, 18, of Syracuse were held Wednesday, March 14 at 2PM at the United Methodist Church, Syracuse. Rev. Warren Spellman officiated.
Mrs. Howard Sautter was organist. George Fannon also provided music.
Pallbearers were Donald Harms, Ronald Zahn, Allen Minderman, Dennis Kreifels, Tom Kreifels, and Dennis Warner. Burial was in Park Hill Cemetery, Syracuse, with Tonsing Fusselman Perry Funeral Home in charge.
Keith was born Nov 16, 1954 at Syracuse to Delbert & Marie (Halvorsen) Heather. He died Sunday, March 11 in an auto accident.
He lived and attended school in the Syracuse area and graduated frm SDA High School in 1972. He was employed in construction work in Lincoln. He was a member of the UMC of Syracuse.
He is survived by his parents; brother, Wayne of Lincoln; four sisters, Mrs. Stuart(Lucille) Kitt, Wichita, KS; Mrs. Walter (Judith) Pohlman, Dunbar, and Jane & Sandra of Syracuse. Also, grandparents, Mr & Mrs. Harry Heather, Syracuse and Mrs. Minnie Halvorsen of Palmyra; two nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by two infant brothers.
PRINTED IN THE SYRACUSE DEMOCRAT PAPER - MARCH 1973
He was found pinned in the truck, with death apparently caused by downing, according to Bill Zastera, assistant county attorney and acting coroner. The accident ocurred when Heather apparently failed to see that the center span of a steel and wooden bridge on a county road had been torn away, apparently by debris from high water.
The accident happened between 7:30PM Saturday, when the bridge was last seen intact, and 12:30AM Sunday, when Dennis Wendeln discovered the center span was gone. The bridge is a half mile south of HWY 129(Lorton Road), three miles west of HWY 50.
Otoe County Sheriff Russell Seals said Wendeln drove onto the north approach of the bridge and discovered the damage. He contacted Virgil Windhorst, who put barricades on the road, then with his father, Ray Wendeln, went to put up barricades for the bridge from the south.
Seals said just as they were leaving that task, Dennis Wendeln saw the tires of the pickup truck in the water. The sheriff's office received a call on the accident about 2:30AM.
According to Seals, Heather was apparently heading home to the nearby farm where he lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Heather, when he drove south onto the bridge and into the water.
The Syracuse and Nebraska City rescue units were called to the scene and by about 8AM the pickup had been turned over and Zastera made the official pronouncement of death of the victim. The body was recovered by rescue unit volunteers about 9:45AM and the truck was pulled from the water Sunday afternoon.
Recovery of the body by Charles Pickering of Syracuse and Don Chapin and Gerry Gilliland of Nebraska City and of the truck, was handicapped by the steep, sheer banks of the creek.
Funeral services for Keith Lee Heather, 18, of Syracuse were held Wednesday, March 14 at 2PM at the United Methodist Church, Syracuse. Rev. Warren Spellman officiated.
Mrs. Howard Sautter was organist. George Fannon also provided music.
Pallbearers were Donald Harms, Ronald Zahn, Allen Minderman, Dennis Kreifels, Tom Kreifels, and Dennis Warner. Burial was in Park Hill Cemetery, Syracuse, with Tonsing Fusselman Perry Funeral Home in charge.
Keith was born Nov 16, 1954 at Syracuse to Delbert & Marie (Halvorsen) Heather. He died Sunday, March 11 in an auto accident.
He lived and attended school in the Syracuse area and graduated frm SDA High School in 1972. He was employed in construction work in Lincoln. He was a member of the UMC of Syracuse.
He is survived by his parents; brother, Wayne of Lincoln; four sisters, Mrs. Stuart(Lucille) Kitt, Wichita, KS; Mrs. Walter (Judith) Pohlman, Dunbar, and Jane & Sandra of Syracuse. Also, grandparents, Mr & Mrs. Harry Heather, Syracuse and Mrs. Minnie Halvorsen of Palmyra; two nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by two infant brothers.
PRINTED IN THE SYRACUSE DEMOCRAT PAPER - MARCH 1973
Keith Heather, 18, a 1972 graduate of Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School, became Otoe County's first traffic victim of 1973 when the pickup truck he was driving plunged into Muddy Creek southwest of Syracuse.
He was found pinned in the truck, with death apparently caused by downing, according to Bill Zastera, assistant county attorney and acting coroner. The accident ocurred when Heather apparently failed to see that the center span of a steel and wooden bridge on a county road had been torn away, apparently by debris from high water.
The accident happened between 7:30PM Saturday, when the bridge was last seen intact, and 12:30AM Sunday, when Dennis Wendeln discovered the center span was gone. The bridge is a half mile south of HWY 129(Lorton Road), three miles west of HWY 50.
Otoe County Sheriff Russell Seals said Wendeln drove onto the north approach of the bridge and discovered the damage. He contacted Virgil Windhorst, who put barricades on the road, then with his father, Ray Wendeln, went to put up barricades for the bridge from the south.
Seals said just as they were leaving that task, Dennis Wendeln saw the tires of the pickup truck in the water. The sheriff's office received a call on the accident about 2:30AM.
According to Seals, Heather was apparently heading home to the nearby farm where he lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Heather, when he drove south onto the bridge and into the water.
The Syracuse and Nebraska City rescue units were called to the scene and by about 8AM the pickup had been turned over and Zastera made the official pronouncement of death of the victim. The body was recovered by rescue unit volunteers about 9:45AM and the truck was pulled from the water Sunday afternoon.
Recovery of the body by Charles Pickering of Syracuse and Don Chapin and Gerry Gilliland of Nebraska City and of the truck, was handicapped by the steep, sheer banks of the creek.
Funeral services for Keith Lee Heather, 18, of Syracuse were held Wednesday, March 14 at 2PM at the United Methodist Church, Syracuse. Rev. Warren Spellman officiated.
Mrs. Howard Sautter was organist. George Fannon also provided music.
Pallbearers were Donald Harms, Ronald Zahn, Allen Minderman, Dennis Kreifels, Tom Kreifels, and Dennis Warner. Burial was in Park Hill Cemetery, Syracuse, with Tonsing Fusselman Perry Funeral Home in charge.
Keith was born Nov 16, 1954 at Syracuse to Delbert & Marie (Halvorsen) Heather. He died Sunday, March 11 in an auto accident.
He lived and attended school in the Syracuse area and graduated frm SDA High School in 1972. He was employed in construction work in Lincoln. He was a member of the UMC of Syracuse.
He is survived by his parents; brother, Wayne of Lincoln; four sisters, Mrs. Stuart(Lucille) Kitt, Wichita, KS; Mrs. Walter (Judith) Pohlman, Dunbar, and Jane & Sandra of Syracuse. Also, grandparents, Mr & Mrs. Harry Heather, Syracuse and Mrs. Minnie Halvorsen of Palmyra; two nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by two infant brothers.
PRINTED IN THE SYRACUSE DEMOCRAT PAPER - MARCH 1973
He was found pinned in the truck, with death apparently caused by downing, according to Bill Zastera, assistant county attorney and acting coroner. The accident ocurred when Heather apparently failed to see that the center span of a steel and wooden bridge on a county road had been torn away, apparently by debris from high water.
The accident happened between 7:30PM Saturday, when the bridge was last seen intact, and 12:30AM Sunday, when Dennis Wendeln discovered the center span was gone. The bridge is a half mile south of HWY 129(Lorton Road), three miles west of HWY 50.
Otoe County Sheriff Russell Seals said Wendeln drove onto the north approach of the bridge and discovered the damage. He contacted Virgil Windhorst, who put barricades on the road, then with his father, Ray Wendeln, went to put up barricades for the bridge from the south.
Seals said just as they were leaving that task, Dennis Wendeln saw the tires of the pickup truck in the water. The sheriff's office received a call on the accident about 2:30AM.
According to Seals, Heather was apparently heading home to the nearby farm where he lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Heather, when he drove south onto the bridge and into the water.
The Syracuse and Nebraska City rescue units were called to the scene and by about 8AM the pickup had been turned over and Zastera made the official pronouncement of death of the victim. The body was recovered by rescue unit volunteers about 9:45AM and the truck was pulled from the water Sunday afternoon.
Recovery of the body by Charles Pickering of Syracuse and Don Chapin and Gerry Gilliland of Nebraska City and of the truck, was handicapped by the steep, sheer banks of the creek.
Funeral services for Keith Lee Heather, 18, of Syracuse were held Wednesday, March 14 at 2PM at the United Methodist Church, Syracuse. Rev. Warren Spellman officiated.
Mrs. Howard Sautter was organist. George Fannon also provided music.
Pallbearers were Donald Harms, Ronald Zahn, Allen Minderman, Dennis Kreifels, Tom Kreifels, and Dennis Warner. Burial was in Park Hill Cemetery, Syracuse, with Tonsing Fusselman Perry Funeral Home in charge.
Keith was born Nov 16, 1954 at Syracuse to Delbert & Marie (Halvorsen) Heather. He died Sunday, March 11 in an auto accident.
He lived and attended school in the Syracuse area and graduated frm SDA High School in 1972. He was employed in construction work in Lincoln. He was a member of the UMC of Syracuse.
He is survived by his parents; brother, Wayne of Lincoln; four sisters, Mrs. Stuart(Lucille) Kitt, Wichita, KS; Mrs. Walter (Judith) Pohlman, Dunbar, and Jane & Sandra of Syracuse. Also, grandparents, Mr & Mrs. Harry Heather, Syracuse and Mrs. Minnie Halvorsen of Palmyra; two nephews and one niece. He was preceded in death by two infant brothers.
PRINTED IN THE SYRACUSE DEMOCRAT PAPER - MARCH 1973
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