Lytle - Clyde
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review, October 14, 1965
Funeral services for Clyde I. Lytle were held Saturday afternoon in the Hunt & Son Funeral Home with Rev. Albert Amos officiating. Burial was in the Harshbarger Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers and assisting with the floral tributes were Gerald Blaydes, William A. Brooks, Freddie Joe Walls, Phillip Walls, Danny Gene Walls and Freddie James Walls. Selections were played on the organ by Mrs. O. C. Edwards. Mr. Lytle died Thursday morning in an automobile accident at the east edge of Mace. – jlr
An auto slammed into the rear of a big truck carrying a loaded asphalt tank and distributor Thursday morning killing the auto’s driver and critically injuring his small daughter. Killed outright was 23-year-old Clyde I. Lytle, whose driver’s license listed his home address as 1506 E. College St. His daughter, Annette Ann, who was 2 years old last February, was brought to Culver Hospital for emergency treatment and then rushed on to Riley Hospital at Indianapolis. Her injuries included a severe head injury. The child’s condition was reported critical at the hospital Thursday night. She was in surgery several hours. The mishap occurred about 7:30 at the east edge of Mace Both vehicles were traveling east on U.S. 136 when the car, a 1959 Ford convertible, plowed into the rear of the loaded truck, owned by Frank E. Rose & Son of Crawfordsville. Bernard L. Pickett, 56, of 407 Meadow Ave., driver of the truck, was not injured but the operator of the asphalt applicator, who was riding beside Pickett in the cab, was hurt, slightly when he was knocked into the dash and windshield. However, the workman, Robert Conkright, did not require medical attention. The crash occurred a few feet west of County Road 625 East. The truck, according to the driver, had slowed to make a left turn at the county road but had not left the righthand lane when the car slammed into the rear of the heavy vehicle. The crew was en route to the county road to put a covering of asphalt on it. Wreckage was scattered over a wide area. The force of the impact knocked parts of the truck 100 feet up the highway and sprayed the area with hot asphalt. The car, which had a “for sale” sign in the window immediately behind the driver, was wedged beneath the big truck and the wreckage smoked for half an hour before the two vehicles were pulled apart. Dr. Samuel C. Millis pronounced Lytle dead at the scene. He said Lytle apparently died, instantly from multiple injuries, including a broken neck. The injured girl was not found in the wreckage for several minutes. She was wedged beneath the dash and was unconscious. Pry bars were used to open the right side of the auto and extricate the little girl. Pickett said he saw the Lytle auto approaching in his rearview mirror. “I saw him coming as far back as the filling station (about a quarter of a mile away) and he was flying,” Pickett said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t do a thing.” he added. Pickett said he had applied the brakes to his slow-moving vehicle and the turn signal was operating. “I can’t understand it,” said Frank Rose, owner of the truck. “That thing (the truck ) lights up like a Christmas tree when the brake lights and turn signals are operating.” Rose was following the truck some distance back. The sheriff’s department, which investigated the accident, said there was at least one witness to the crash. An Indianapolis truck driver, Jim Bradley, told authorities he was meeting the vehicle just as the collision occurred. He said the Lytle car “was really traveling.” The collision occurred in a posted 30 miles-per-hour zone. Members of the family said the victim was apparently en route to the Walter Griffin residence at New Ross. Mrs. Griffin cares for the Lytle girl during the day while both parents work, they said. Melvin Birdsong, in front of whose home the crash occurred, said he and other members of his family were inside the house at the time of the collision. “There was a teriffic crash,” Birdsong said. “We ran to the Window to look out and about that time someone ran onto the front porch and yelled to us to call for help.” The car, its entire front demolished, was a total loss. The truck, a 1965 Chevrolet, and the asphalt applicator sustained about $4,000 damage. Lytle’s death brought to nine the number of traffic fatalities in Montgomery County in 1965. There were 10 traffic deaths in the county in all of 1964. Clyde I. Lytle was born Feb. 11, 1942, at New Ross, son of Clarence R. and Blanche Hardesty Lytle. His father died in 1952. He was married Aug. 6, 1961, to Sandra Walls, who survives. A 1960 graduate of Bloomington High School and a member of the Whitesville Christian Church, he was formerly employed at R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. For the last several weeks he had worked part-time and the last 10 days full-time at the Grab-It-Here supermarket. Survivors include the wife and daughter, his mother, Mrs. Blanche Lehiy of Kingsford Heights; two brothers, Robert E. of Rt. 6 and Leonard L. of Rt. 1, West Lebanon; and four nephews and two nieces. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by a brother and a sister. Funeral services are announced for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Hunt and Son Funeral Home, where friends may call after 4 p.m. Friday. Burial will be in Harshbarger Cemetery north of Ladoga. – jlr