Corn Picker Kills Olney Farmer, 29

Julian R. Royse, 29, was crushed to death inside a corn picking machine Monday evening on his father’s farm west of Olney.

Royse’s father, Ernest, was waiting for him to finish work about 7 p.m. when he noticed the picker had stopped.

He examined the picker and concluded his son was caught inside. Workers with torches supplied by the Richland County Ambulance Service finally cut young Royse out of the machine, said Richland County Coroner, Susan Landis.

The man apparently was either pulled into the machine or fell in, the Coroner said. A coroner’s jury Tuesday night ruled the death accidental.

The Royse farm is abut one mile north and one-quarter mile west of Ill. 250.

The Coroner said there were no eyewitnesses to the incident. The elder Royse was in a truck about 50 feet away from the corn picker and his son was on the other side of the machine.

She said the son probably was removing corn stalks that had clogged the picker.

The Decatur Herald (Decatur, IL) – Wednesday, November 17, 1976

Julian Rozell Royse of Rt. 6, Olney, Ill. was called by his maker from his earthly life at an untimely age in a farm accident Nov. 15, 1976 at the age of 29 years, 7 months and 25 days. Funeral services in Summers Funeral Home, Olney. Burial in Crest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery, Claremont.

Julian was born March 21, 1947 in Richland County, Olney, Illinois, the son of Ernest B. and Alma (Jenkins) Royse. He was raised to adulthood on the same homestead on which his father was raised and at the time of his death was a full time employee of his father and also was a student at the Olney Central College.

At the age of ten years, he confessed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour and was baptized into the Christian Faith July 24, 1955 at the Cong. Christian Church in Olney and attended there until the year 1957 when he went with his parents to Mt. Gilead Cong. Christian Church and placed his membership there in Dec. 1957 where he regularly attended until his death and was assisting his wife, Wynona as Junior Youth Sponsor and Asst. S.S. Chorister.

On August 15, 1965 he joined the U.S. Navy and was in active duty of his country until Nov. 6, 1968 and then was transferred to the Naval Reserve until April 15, 1971.

He was united in marriage to Wynona Weidner Dec. 31, 1965 at Passport, Ill. To this union four children were born.

Surviving are his wife, Wynona (Weidner) Royse, the following children all at home, two daughters, LaDana and Doborah and two sons, Donald and Duane; his parents, Ernest and Alma Royse; three brothers Merle Lee of Noble, Neil of Champaign and Ivan of Olney; six sisters, Mrs. George (Anita) Westall of Noble, Mrs James (Wilma) Pefffer of Pawnee, Ill.; Miss Marilyn Royse, Tulsa, Okla.; Mrs. Raymond (Paula) Bock, Deerfield, Ill.; Joanne and Carolyn Royse, both of Olney, Ill.

Also two grandmothers survive: Mrs. Ada Royse and Mrs. Stella Jenkins both of Olney, Ill. and two nephews, one niece and many uncles, aunts, cousins and many friends.

Published in Olney Daily Mail (IL)