Fearer, Clifford (d. 1955)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1955 Oct 27 p. 1

Birth date:

text of obituary:

Young Contractor One of Five Killed by Runaway Truck

HEAVY LOAD OF STEEL CRASHES INTO CAR AND TRUCK IN MARYLAND

Springs, Penn. — Tragedy struck the Springs community early Wednesday morning, Oct. 19, when Samuel J. Brenneman, 29, and four other persons were killed by a runaway tractor-trailer on U.S. 40 in LaVale, a suburb of Cumberland, Md.

Mr. Brenneman, widely known as a successful excavating contractor, had left home early in the morning hauling a bull dozer to an excavation job near Cumberland.

Some miles away, the brakes of a heavily loaded tractor-trailer driven by Paul S. Meyers of Dover, Penn. Failed on the mountain about one mile west of Frostburg. Gaining momentum, the runaway truck careened wildly down Savage Mountain into Frostburg at estimated speeds up to 100 miles an hour.

For a distance of about eight miles the driver maneuvered the truck through Frostburg, Eckhart, Clarysville and into LaVale. There, in attempting to pass a car driven by Clifford Fearer of Frostburg, he apparently blew a tire, causing the load of steel to shift, which with the trailer flattened the Fearer car, killing the four occupants. The trailer then het the Brenneman truck, pushing it a distance of about 100 feet. Mr. Brenneman was instantly killed, but Meyers escaped with minor scratches.

Mr. Brenneman is survived by his wife, the former Virginia Ash; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Brenneman, Accident, Md.; and a number of brothers and sisters. He had donated all of the excavation and back filling work during the construction of the new Springs Mennonite Church.

Funeral services were held at the Springs church Oct. 22, in charge of his pastor, Rev. Walter Otto.