COOPER, Joseph Earl - WWII & Korean - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

For the second Saturday in a row a man has been killed by a Wabash Railroad train near Attica.  A week ago, Frank Wagner of Williamsport was killed.  Last Saturday, Joseph Earl Cooper, 23 of Attica was killed near his home at Riverside when struck by a Westbound freight train.  Engineer of the 87-car freight train Earl Kurtz of Decatur, Ill reported to authorities that Mr. Cooper was sitting on the south rail of the track and that when he hard the whistle of the locomotive he arose and started to cross the north rail. The front of the engine struck Mr. Cooper on his right side. Fountain County Coroner Charles E. Fishero reported that Mr. Cooper had a compression injury in his chest and his right pelvis was fracture.  The impact threw the body approximately 50’ into the ditch on the north side of the tracks. Warren J. Browning of Danville, special investigation agent for the Wabash Railroad was aboard a westbound passenger train which arrived on the scene shortly after the accident.  He was detailed to stay with the body until Deputy Sheriff George Cruea and Coroner Fishero arrived.  In preliminary investigation it was determined that Mr. Cooper was en route to the nearby home of an aunt.  Joseph Earl Cooper was born Jan 1, 1931 (note tombstone has Jan 1, 1930 Kramer, Warren County died 12 June 1954 Fountain County) son of Thomas and Mary Jane Bufford Cooper.  He married Lois Hollis and she survives. Mr. Cooper was a veteran of World War II and was recently released from service after serving in the Korean War.  Also surviving are two brothers, Thomas of Rantoul, Ill; William of Attica; a sister, Mrs. Harold Glaze of Riverside.  He was preceded in death by his parents. Funeral services were held Monday with burial in Riverside Cemetery. – kbz