John C. Nettleton

John C. Nettleton

The following unidentified newspaper article was found in a scrapbook owned by Town Historian Richard Schmal. The photo that is mentioned in the article was of too poor of quality to be included here.

Two Killed in Car Crash Near Lowell

Sunday night at 10:30 two persons were killed and five injured in an accident at the dangerous intersection of State Road 2 and U.S. 41, two miles west of Lowell.

Dead are the driver of the Ford pictured on the left, John C. Nettleton, age 35, and his wife Marjorie, 29. Their two children, John, 7 and Gary, 1, were both seriously injured. Gary is at St. Margaret's hospital in Hammond with a possible skull fractured, injured jaw, and fractured right leg. The Nettleton family is from Millersburg, Indiana.

All three occupants of the car pictured on the right, a 1954 Oldsmobile, were also hospitalized at St. Margaret's. The driver Clarence Reanely, 32, of 4631 So. Drexel Blvd., Chicago, has lacerations, cuts, and bruises. Quincy Stephen, 509 E. 60th, Chicago, and Barbara Bledsoe, age 26, of 6524 Ingleside, Chicago, also suffered lacerations and abrasions.

The Nettleton vehicle, going west on route 2, stopped at the intersection, then proceeded to cross 41, when it was hit in the northbound lane by the car driven by Reanely.

This is one of the few really dangerous intersections of the area, but it has been left virtually unprotected by the state. The amount of traffic on route 2 has increased considerably since the rebuilding of 41, and the junction should be guarded by a caution light on 41, such as the one at 41 and route 8, a few miles to the north. Several local people have been involved in serious accidents on the same intersection in the past few years but the state has not seen fit to properly guard it. Perhaps this latest tragedy will awaken officials to the need for adequate safety measures.

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Last updated on January 30, 2007.

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