BRITTON, Jon Rodney
Source: "Obituaries - Year - 1950 Volume B" from the Covington Public Library. 29 July 1960
Two Crawfordsville boys, James Daniel Duke, 15, and Jon Rodney Britton, 14, neither of them legally of age to drive, were dead Sunday morning because of a shattering single-car crash three and one half miles southeast of Crawfordsville on the Ladoga Road. The car a 1959 Nash station wagon owned by Britton's father, left a curve, hurtled 60 feet through the air and smashed broadside into a catalpa tree.
Rodney Britton, son of John Britton and Mrs. Howard Cook, both of Crawfordsville was killed instantly. Danny Duke, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Duke of Crawfordsville, died of injuries in, Culver Hospital six hours after the accident.
It was not determined who was driving the car at the time of the accident. The two were, headed
south about 3:45 a.m. at what
Sheriff Merle Remiey said had to have been excessive speed and did not negotiate the turn on a sharp curve near the Cayton Ward farm.
Leaving the pavement the station wagon ran into a ditch, then lurched into the air apparently with a half-turn to the right, the sheriff said, hurtled approximately 60 feet in the air and struck the tree broadside. It was nearly wrapped about the tree, which was jarred from the ground by the, impact, and the top sheared off. The motor torn completely
out of the car and the battery was found about 60 feet from the station wagon which was reduced to a pile of junk.
The Britton boy's body remained in the car. He died of multiple injuries including a crash fracture of the head. The Duke boy
was thrown from the car and was found lying a few feet to the left of the wreckage. He had multiple fractures and lacerations and probably internal injuries, the sheriff's office stated and he died at 9:47 a.m. at the hospital.
The Britton boy's father said he had kept the car keys from his son, but he must have obtained another set.
James Daniel Duke was born Feb. 28, 1945, the son of Harold B. and Eleanor June Tinsley Duke, the family having formerly resided in Hillsboro. He was a member of the Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church and would have been a sophomore in Crawfordsville High School this fall. He was also a member of the Crawfordsville chapter of De Molay.
Surviving besides the parents are a sister, Linda Ann, at home; maternal grandmother, Mrs. Grace Tinsley, Hillsboro and paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Duke of Waynetown.
Funeral service was held at the Hunt and Son Funeral Home in Crawfordsville at 2 p.m. Wednesday with Rev. Paul E, Million of
officiating and burial in the Masonic Cemetery in Waynetown. - jz