Three Killed On Slab Near Sumner

Three Olney men were almost instantly killed Friday night, March 13, 1942 about 7:15, between Bridgeport and Sumner, when a west bound driver struck the three victims and killed them while they were engaged in changing a flat tire on their car parked on the left side of the slab.

The dead are Clifford W. Underhill, 47; his son, Everett L. Underhill, 17 and Clarence Sprague, 41. They were enroute to attend the Bridgeport Sectional basketball tournament when the accident happened. This is the most tragic accident in this vicinity in a long period. Lyman Richey, a young man of near Sumner, was the driver of the car which fatally injured the three men.

The three Olney residents were going to the tournament in a car owned by Mr. Sprague. Almost midway between Sumner and Bridgeport on Route 50, a tire on the right side went flat and the occupants drove the car to the north side of the slab in order to get a base to jack up the car. The shoulders were too soft to try to lift the car so as to change the tire. A large amount of traffic was on the slab at the time with most of the East bound cars being Olney people enroute to the tourney at Bridgeport. Mr. Richey was West bound at the time of the accident. It was raining and as there was a steady string of cars coming from the West, he was temporarily blinded by the headlights.

Occupants of the Sprague car attempted to flag down cars from the East, but the Sprague car had no lights and Mr. Richey stated he did not see them in time. The three persons killed were standing near the car changing the tire, and as Richey swerved to miss the Sprague car, he struck the three men, killing the Underhills almost instantaneously and Mr. Sprague was taken to a doctor at Bridgeport by a passersby in another car, but was declared dead upon arrival there. He had a fractured skull.

The bodies of the three men were strewn along the pavement for some distance. Five cars crashed into each other at the scene of the accident and some received extensive damage. State police were soon on the scene and cleaned the highway.

A coroner’s jury heard the evidence of persons witnessing the accident at Sumner Saturday morning, which was in charge of Dr. C.G. Stoll. A verdict of accidental death was returned for each of the three victims, and Richey was absolved from all blame.

Four other persons, Olney high school students, were in the car with the Underhills and Sprague at the time of the accident. The other occupants were Carl Tarwater, George Robert Harper, Misses Mary Alice Harmon and Jean Evans. Carl Tarwater was outside the car standing in front of the vehicle to steady it while it was being lifted on the jack. H stated that when he saw the Richey car approaching, he jumped out of the path to avoid being struck. The other three persons remained in the car and were not injured. The Sprague car was only slightly damaged in the accident.

Everett Underhill was drummer in the Olney high school band, which was to play at the tournament, and Donald Sprague, a son of one of the victims is a substitute player on the Olney basketball squad. He was riding in another conveyance with other players.

Funeral services for Mr. Underhill and his son were held at the Porter-Schaub Funeral Home. Pallbearers for Everett were high school students. Burial was at Haven Hill.

Everett Leroy Underhill, 17, was born in Fairbralt, Minnesota on November 16, 1924, and was a Senior in the Olney high school. He was a member of the high school band and was to become a member of Cummins Municipal Band. He was a member of the Baptist church and had served as president of the Young People’s Society at the church.

He is survived by his mother, Mabel Underhill; two brothers, Sgt. Harold Underhill of Chandler, Arizona and Private F C Clifford O. Underhill in the armed forces in the Far East; and his grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Jenkins of Olney.

The Olney Advocate – Thursday, March 19, 1942

In Memoriam (dedicated page from the 1942 Olnean)

We dedicate this page to our classmate, Everett L. Underhill, who was killed in an automobile accident on his way to the Basketball Sectional Finals at Bridgeport on March 13, 1942.

Everett was a member of the Rifle Club and rated as an Expert Marksman. He was very successful in the Magazine Sales Contest, and took part in the Club Program given in the Assembly in October. The band was another big interest for Everett. Here too, he was dependable and conscientious. Mr. Sliva says that in his three years in Olney, no band member has been more faithful than Everett.