Car-Train Smashup Kills Two

Two young Olney men died instantly at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, May 29, 1973 when the car in which they were riding was smashed broadside by a freight train.

Authorities identified the dead men as Danny L. Leaf, 19 and Jimmy Dale Parker, 22. Bodies of both men were taken to the Summers-Marshall Funeral Home, Olney, where arrangements were incomplete.

Richland County Coroner, William Wirt said the westbound B & O Railroad freight train was traveling at 55 to 58 miles an hour. The two engineers, William Dunn and Robert E. Tharpe, both of Washington, Ind. said the auto pulled onto the tracks and was hit broadside. The car had been traveling south on Whittle Ave, in the city.

“The car”, Wirt said, “veered north and hit the electric signal pole and then hit and sheared off the corner of the Olney Depot.” The demolished vehicle then careened back into the side of the moving train. All signals at the crossing were working, Wirt reported. Witnesses said a truck had preceded the youths across the tracks.

The B & O station agent was inside the depot at the time of the accident, Wirt said, but was unhurt.

The Decatur Herald (Decatur, IL) – Wednesday, May 30, 1973

Danny Lee Leaf, 19 of 819 E. North Ave., Olney was killed in a car accident May 29, 1973.

He is survived by his father, Frederick Eugene Leaf of Olney; mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Clow of Olney; four brothers, Tommy Allen of Kankakee, Larry Eugene, Anthony Joel and Jeffrey Henry, all of Olney; two sisters, Judith Kay and Julie Ann, both of Olney.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Jonathan Paul.

Services at Summers-Marshall Funeral Home with Bro. Lyle Berry officiating. Burial in Crest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery.

Danny attended East Richland High School.

Published in Olney Daily Mail (IL) ~ May 1973