Troyer, Melvin Ray (1947-1964)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 Nov 12 p. 3

Birth date: 1947

text of obituary:

Three Crossing Accidents, One-Car Crash Claim Lives of Five

Four separate accidents in as many states, three of them at railroad crossings, have claimed the lives of five persons according to reports reaching the Review during the past week.

Early last Sunday morning a car driven by Douglas Paul Stucky, 18 of Wichita crashed into a Rock Island freight train at a fog-shrouded crossing on a K-15 detour south of Lehigh, Kan. He died a short time later.

The youth, a freshman at Wichita State University, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mose Stucky. His father is a teacher at Wichita Heights High School. Memorial services were held Tuesday forenoon at the Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church in Wichita.

Sisters Die in Oregon

Canby, Ore. — Double funeral services were held at the Zion Mennonite Church, Hubbard, on Oct. 24 for Carolyn Irene Kauffman, 25, and her sister Karen Joan, 22, who lost their lives Oct. 21, when a logging train hit their light auto at a crossing south of Rickreall.

The young women, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Kauffman, were living and working in Salem while also attending the Oregon College of Education, Monmouth. They were employed at the Salem General Hospital.

Surviving in addition to the parents are five brothers and three sisters.

Farmer Killed

Mt. Lake, Minn. — Funeral services were held at the First Mennonite Church north of Butterfield on Nov. 2 for Harry Sawatzky, 44, farmer of the St. James community who was killed when his car crashed into a Northwestern Railway engine in St. James.

Mr. Sawatzky, who was unmarried, operated the home farm where he was born and raised. He is survived by his father, Jacob Sawazky of St. Jams, two sisters and three brothers.

Fog blamed for Crash

Goshen, Ind. — Dense fog was blamed in the one-car crash claimed the life of Melvin Ray Troyer, 17, early last Friday morning northeast of Middlebury..

The young man was enroute to work at Shipshewana and was only a few miles from home when his car left the road and hit an embankment at the county line where there is a sharp “jog” in the road.

Funeral services were to be held Monday at the Pleasant Grove Conservative Church, of which he was a member. Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Susie Troyer Helmuth, and step-father, Isaac Helmuth, and a number of brothers and sisters.