Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday afternoon in Mt. Vernon
for Robert L. Collins, 42, R. R. 1, Newburgh, In., a native of Mt. Vernon who
was instantly killed in an auto-truck crash at the intersection of State Roads
68 and 75 three miles west of Rockport last Saturday (5 Feb 1955) night.
Collins a dehydration mechanic employed in refrigerator
manufacture at the International Harvester Co., plant in Evansville, suffered a
crushed chest and broken neck when his auto hit a truck operated by Arthur H.
Olive, 35, Waverly, Ohio, when the truck swung from a filling station onto the
highway in the path of the east -bound Collins auto.
The collision occurred during a dense fog. Collins and his
wife and Mr. and Mrs. Pitts Blackburn, Mt. Vernon, were attending a dance at a
rural club and Collins had left the group to go to Rockport during the dancing
intermission and was alone at the time of the fatal accident. Mrs.
Blackburn is a half-sister of Mrs. Collins.
Truck Driver Oliver was arrested on a charge of failure to grant
right-of-way and lodged in the Spencer county jail at Rockport until late
Sunday when he posted $200 cash appearance bond.
The body of the accident victim was brought to the Short-Niehaus Funeral Home in
A native of Mt. Vernon, son of George Ed Collins and Florence
Collins and a graduate of Mt. Vernon High school in 1933, the deceased left Mt.
Vernon about 10 years ago and had resided at the rural Newburgh address for the
last eight years.
His wife is the former Valeda Rowe of
Surviving in addition to the wife are the father; a son, Wayne
Collins, at home, and a brother, Joseph P. Collins,
--------------------------------------------
Originally submitted by Betty Sellers