ASHER, Harvey Clinton and wife
Harvey Clinton Asher & Edna May Rubeck Asher (wife)
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review Crawfordsville, IN Tuesday, October 10, 1950
A Fincastle couple, Mr. & Mrs. Harvey C. Asher, die instantly in a collision between their automobile & a truck south of here on State Road 43 shortly before noon Tuesday. Locked brakes on a big, ten-wheel army truck driven by Carl Marchum, 25 6169 Maple Road, Lansing, Mich., apparently caused the wreck, according to State Trooper James J. Gilliland. Questioned by Officer Gillialand at Culver hospital, Marchium said he put on his brakes when he saw the vehicles in front of him slowing down. When the brakes locked, his truck swung over into the middle of the road directly in the path of the oncoming Asher car, he told Officer Gilliland. Marchium was not seriously injured but remained a patient at the hospital. Mr. Asher, who was 63 years old, was driving the automobile. His wife, Edna May Rubeck Asher, was a year or two younger. Mr. & Mrs. Asher were enroute to their home on the south edge of Fincastle. They had been at Culver Hospital where Mrs. Asher had undergone an x-ray examination. The truck was the third in a convoy of four being taken from the Army depot at Terre Haute to be turned over to the Michigan National Guard. The four Army trucks, headed north, slowed down when they approached a tractor driven by Elmer Bayless, R. F. D. 3. Mr. Asher driving south was past the tractor and the first two of the trucks when his car collided with the third. Tracks on the pavement showed Marchum slid the right rear wheels of his truck exactly 100 feet before the crash. Both the truck and the car were whirled around and were facing in the directions from which they had come. The front end of the Asher car was demolished. The dash was shoved back against the occupants so tightly that it was difficult to get their bodies out of the wrecked car. Earl Cogswell, 58, was in charge of the convoy of four trucks. He was driving the fourth vehicle in the group. "I didn't see the accident. " he said. "I just suddenly noticed a cloud of dust and saw that the accident had happened." The driver of the first truck was Elwood Haynes, 39, 917 Clare street, Lansing. He said he slowed down his truck when he saw the tractor ahead of him and glanced back through his rear view mirror, noticing that the second truck also slowed down. It was driven by Joe McKeon, 26, 708 west Lenewee Street, Lansing. McKeon and Haynes both said they saw the Asher car coming from the north but that it was on the right side of the road and there was no indication of the pending mishap. Mr. & Mrs. Asher were natives of the Poland community in the southern part of Putnam county. They had, however, lived in and near Fincastle for several years. Mr. Asher had been employed at the Link Belt company in Indianapolis for the past several years, working on a night shift. The survivors include two sons, Virgil, 19 at home, and Clinton, who lives five miles west of Fincastle, and four daughters, Mrs. Nina Minnie (should read Pina May) Wingate, of Colfax, Mrs. Walter (should read Violet) Fairfield, of Thorntown, Mrs. Helen Humphreys, of Indianapolis, and Miss Patricia Asher, a student in Roachdale high school. The bodies were brought to the Bright Funeral home but funeral arrangements have not been made. In addition to Officer Gilliland, others who investigated the accident include State Officer Robert Morgan, Sheriff Roy Hardaker, Deputy Sheriff Barbara Kunert and Coroner Jess Burks.
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review
Wednesday October 11, 1950
Joint Rites For Crash Victims
Services 2 P. M. Friday For Mr. & Mrs. Asher
Joint funeral services will be conducted at 2 o'clock Friday afternoon at the German church near Poland, in Putnam county, for Mr. and Mrs. Harvey C. Asher. They were killed instantly in the collision of their automobile with an army truck just before noon Tuesday. The accident occurred on State Road 43, four miles south of Crawfordsville. Rev. Malcolm Harris, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Roachdale and also pastor of the church at Poland; will be in charge of the services. Burial will be in the cemetery across the highway from the church. Brief services will be conducted at the Asher residence at 10 o'clock Friday morning before the bodies are taken to the church. Friends may call at the residence to pay their respects.
Mr. and Mrs. Asher lived in the first house south of Fincastle on State Road 43. Mr. Asher was born Sept. 8, 1887, in Owen county, near Cataract, the son of Richard & Susannah Bauman Asher.
Mrs. Asher's maiden name was Edna May Rubeck. Mr. and Mrs. Asher were married January 17, 1910. Both were members of the Fincastle Community church. Mr. Asher attended the Owen county schools. After his marriage he farmed until 1928, when he began a grocery store in Beckville, which he operated for three years.
He had his own trucking business until 1940, and for the last seven years had been working on a night shift at the Link Belt company in Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Asher are survived by two sons, Virgil, 19, at home and Clinton, who lives five miles west of Fincastle; four daughters, Mrs. Clayton Wingate, Colfax; Mrs. Ivan Fairfield, Thorntown; Mrs. Norris Humphrey, Indianapolis; and Miss Patricia Asher, a student in Roachdale high school; eight grandchildren, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
In addition, Mr. Asher is survived by four sisters, Mrs. Minnie Hunsicker, and Mrs. Ida Reiter, both of Waveland; Mrs. Robert Langdon, Poland, and Mrs. Alice Brown, Cataract; and one brother Levi Asher, St. John, Kan. He was preceded in death by one daughter, and one brother, and one sister.
His brother, James D. Asher, and his wife, also died in a traffic accident. The automobile in which they were riding was struck by a train at a crossing in St. John, Kan., in December 1935
Mrs. Asher was born in Clay county near Poland May 21, 1893, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Linn Rubeck. She attended the Clay county schools, and was a member of the Fincastle Country club, a ladies' organization. Her surviving relatives include one sister, Mrs. John Nichols, Poland; and three brothers, Herman and Albert Rubeck, both of Poland,and W. P. Rubeck, Spencer. She was preceded in death by one sister.
There were 2 pictures of the wreckage: (pictures were unable to be viewed)
Jumbled Wreckage in Which Two Died Under first picture Shown in the photograph above are the demolished automobile and the badly damaged Army truck involved in a collision south of here in which two persons died Tuesday.
Note that in spite of the twisted, jagged metal on the front end of the auto, the left tire is still inflated.
Under second picture
Above is a close-up view of the automobile in which a Fincastle couple, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey C. Asher, died Tuesday in a collision with an Army truck south of here on State Road 43. The accident occurred, state police said, when brakes an the truck locked and threw it into the path of the southbound automobile.
Source: Waveland Independent, Waveland, Montgomery County, Indiana, Oct 12, 1950
The tragic accident on highway 43 North of New Market in which Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Asher were killed came close to Waveland for Ida Reiter and Mrs. Minnie Hunsicker. Mrs. Asher was the sister of the two well known women of Waveland. It is reported that Mrs. Asher had been ill and was returning home from Crawfordsville where she had consulted a physician, when their car was struck by a large army truck. Mr. and Mrs. Asher were killed instantly. Funeral services will be held Friday at Poland where they were reared.
Source: Waveland Independent, Oct 19, 1950
Mr. Levi ASHER and son, Richard of St. John, Kansas, and Mr. Chester Asher of Stafford, KS, have returned to their homes after attending the funeral of Levi Asher's brother and sister-in-law, Harvey Asher and wife. Their stay in Waveland has been with his sisters, Mrs. Ida Reiter and Mrs. Minnie Hunsicker. Chester and Richard are their nephews.
Harvey & Edna (Rubeck) Asher would have been my grandparents. Submitted by: Shirley Rose.