Advertisement

Robert Michael “Mike” Enlow

Advertisement

Robert Michael “Mike” Enlow

Birth
Lee County, Illinois, USA
Death
20 Sep 1966 (aged 14)
Eldena, Lee County, Illinois, USA
Burial
Dixon, Lee County, Illinois, USA GPS-Latitude: 41.841284, Longitude: -89.474118
Memorial ID
View Source
CLASSMATES MOURN LOSS

Eldena-- Tragedy struck here Tuesdaywhen five of the seven in the eighth grade class at the Eldena school and the school janitor were killed in a pickup wreckat a railroad crossing across the street from the school.

Deputy Coroner Jhn Krieder said toay there is a possibility that the 73-year old janitor suffered a heart attack when he saw the train bearing down on the pickup.

The victims were all riding in a ranchero pickup truck when a northbound Illinois Central freight train rammed into its side at the crossing.

The dead are Everett Mullins, 73, Eldena, the janitor: William A. Bothe, 13, Robert Michael Enlow, 14, Reid Miller, 12, all of Rt. 2 Amboy; James Shoemaker, 12, Eldena and Martin A. Cruse, 14, Rt. 4, Dixon.

All were killed instantly except Cruse, who died enroute to KSB Hospital, Dixon.

Moments after classes were dismissed, the eighth grade class which had 12 students, seven boys and five girls was reduced to two boys and five girls.

Richard Bumba, Amboy, principal of the of 85 students, said he had asked Mullins to take a "grader" from the school grounds and haul it across the tracks.

"I didn't want the grader left on the grounds because I thought it was too dangerous to have near the children." the principal said, as he walked frantically from one body to another.

Bumba said Mullens and the boys chained the grader to the rear of the truck and the boys climbed aboard. The grader never crossed the tracks, as it snapped from the chain when the train and truck collided. "How are we going to tell their parents." Bumba said shaking his head.

An eyewitness to the accident Mrs. Steven (Mabel) Berei, Eldena, wife of the Community Unit District board president, of which the Eldena School is an attendance center, gave this account:

"I was on my way to pick up my daughter Lynn and I was on the East side of the tracks when I saw the train approaching the crossing, the truck was just crossing the track and I could hear the whistle blowing and I could see the trains light shining."

"I couldn't understand why the truck was moving so slowly." Mrs. Berei continues, nervously.

"Finally I saw the train crash into the left side of the truck and bodies went flying all over the placefrom the open back of the truck."

one of the boys was riding up front with Mullens, who was thrown from the drivers seat and pinned beneath the truck.

As Mrs. Berei began screaming and crying, Ray Stasiak, Peru, a teacher at the school who said he heard the crash and screaming, came running from the school to the scene.

"I ran from body to body, Mullens was crushed under the truck and everyone looked dead to me." the teacher said. He said he went toward each body looking for signs of life, then "As I approached the Cruse boy I heard heavy breathing."

An Allen Buckley ambulance was summoned to take Cruse to Ksb hospital, Dixon, but the boy died on the way to the hospital authorities said. A Preston ambulance also responded to the scene to recover the bodies. The dead were transported to Preston Funeral Home, Dixon, where a temporary morgue was set up.

Unaware of what happened Bill Schaneberg of Franklin Grove, an employee of the Eldena-Dixon Co-op, was sitting at his desk in a building some 500 feet from the crossing.

"I was writing something in my books, when I heard the train go by. I thought I heard a dull thud, but I wasn't sure." Schaneberg said. He said he went to the window and saw a large billow of dust, but nothing else.

He said he didn't hear anything until he heard the ambulance siren. "I went to the window to look out then, and that's when I saw the bodies all over the place. That's when I just knew what had happened."

As the bodies lay limp along the tracks, one parent, a mother of one of the dead boys who was coming to tke her child home from school, on seeing the crowd, put her hand up to her mouth as she walked, first slowly, then more quickly towards the tracks.

"Oh my God, don't let it be my boy." the woman began yelling and sobbing. A State Police Trooper, tried to calm the almost hysterical mother.

A short while later, most of the parents, now notified, were in the hallway of the school, sitting staringand shaking their heads trying hard to believe it really happened.

State Police said there are no lights at the crossing, but there are two "cross bow" railroad crossing signs.

The train consisted of four freight cars and an engine, was headed for Freeport. One of the firemen, Bob Landen, Freeport, said he saw the truck crossing the tracks and began yelling "we're going to hit them, we're going to hit them."

Howard Camp, 25, Freeport, operating the engine of the trainwhich makes a routine run from Mendota to Freeportestimated his speed at 40 mph. The trains engineer was George Warren, 47, Freeport.

A memorial fund has been established for the school in memory of the five pupils and Mullens. There will be no school in Eldena today, Thursday and Friday.

Krieder said a selection of coroners jury began at noon today, but added the inquest date has not yet been scheduled.

The dead youths were the sons of Mr. & Mrs. Howard Bothe; Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow; Mr. & Mrs. Frank Shoemaker; Mr. & Mrs. Howard Miller and Mr. & Mrs. Donald Cruse.

Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon IL 21 Sept. 1966

ROBERT MICHAEL "MIKE" ENLOW

Funeral services for Robert Michael Enlow, son of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow Rt. 2, will be held at 10 am Friday in the Preston Funeral Home. with the Rev. Thomas Oakes, pastor of the Eldena Evangelical United Brethern Church, officiating. Burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery, Dixon.

Friends may call after 7 pm today at the funeral home. A memorial has been estblished for the Eldena Grade School.

He was born June 3, 1952.

Surviving are his parents, a brother Kerry, a sister Debra, at home: his paternal grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow, Taylorville: a maternal grandmother of Chicago.

Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon IL.

TRAIN AND TRUCK COLLIDE; 6 DEAD.
Eldena, Ill. (AP) -- A tragic train-truck accident in the northwestern Illinois community of Eldena has taken the lives of five schoolboys and the elderly man drving them home.
The victims were killed Tuesday in a collision of an Illinois Central freight train and an open pickup truck driven by EVERETT MULLINS, 73, the school janitor. One of the boys was riding in the cab of the truck, the others were riding in the open bed.
The boys helped MULLINS load a grader on the truck and then jumped on the rear to steady the equipment. The grader was being hauled across the tracks which are approximately 75 feet from the elementary school. All the boys were students at the school.
The victims were: JAMES SHOEMAKER, 12, Eldena; WILLIAM BOTHE, 13, Amboy; REID MILLER, 12, Amboy; ROBERT MICHAEL ENLOW, 14, Amboy, and MARTIN A CRUZE, 13, Dixon.
Muscatine Journal Iowa 1966-09-21
__________________
CLASSMATES MOURN LOSS

Eldena-- Tragedy struck here Tuesdaywhen five of the seven in the eighth grade class at the Eldena school and the school janitor were killed in a pickup wreckat a railroad crossing across the street from the school.

Deputy Coroner Jhn Krieder said toay there is a possibility that the 73-year old janitor suffered a heart attack when he saw the train bearing down on the pickup.

The victims were all riding in a ranchero pickup truck when a northbound Illinois Central freight train rammed into its side at the crossing.

The dead are Everett Mullins, 73, Eldena, the janitor: William A. Bothe, 13, Robert Michael Enlow, 14, Reid Miller, 12, all of Rt. 2 Amboy; James Shoemaker, 12, Eldena and Martin A. Cruse, 14, Rt. 4, Dixon.

All were killed instantly except Cruse, who died enroute to KSB Hospital, Dixon.

Moments after classes were dismissed, the eighth grade class which had 12 students, seven boys and five girls was reduced to two boys and five girls.

Richard Bumba, Amboy, principal of the of 85 students, said he had asked Mullins to take a "grader" from the school grounds and haul it across the tracks.

"I didn't want the grader left on the grounds because I thought it was too dangerous to have near the children." the principal said, as he walked frantically from one body to another.

Bumba said Mullens and the boys chained the grader to the rear of the truck and the boys climbed aboard. The grader never crossed the tracks, as it snapped from the chain when the train and truck collided. "How are we going to tell their parents." Bumba said shaking his head.

An eyewitness to the accident Mrs. Steven (Mabel) Berei, Eldena, wife of the Community Unit District board president, of which the Eldena School is an attendance center, gave this account:

"I was on my way to pick up my daughter Lynn and I was on the East side of the tracks when I saw the train approaching the crossing, the truck was just crossing the track and I could hear the whistle blowing and I could see the trains light shining."

"I couldn't understand why the truck was moving so slowly." Mrs. Berei continues, nervously.

"Finally I saw the train crash into the left side of the truck and bodies went flying all over the placefrom the open back of the truck."

one of the boys was riding up front with Mullens, who was thrown from the drivers seat and pinned beneath the truck.

As Mrs. Berei began screaming and crying, Ray Stasiak, Peru, a teacher at the school who said he heard the crash and screaming, came running from the school to the scene.

"I ran from body to body, Mullens was crushed under the truck and everyone looked dead to me." the teacher said. He said he went toward each body looking for signs of life, then "As I approached the Cruse boy I heard heavy breathing."

An Allen Buckley ambulance was summoned to take Cruse to Ksb hospital, Dixon, but the boy died on the way to the hospital authorities said. A Preston ambulance also responded to the scene to recover the bodies. The dead were transported to Preston Funeral Home, Dixon, where a temporary morgue was set up.

Unaware of what happened Bill Schaneberg of Franklin Grove, an employee of the Eldena-Dixon Co-op, was sitting at his desk in a building some 500 feet from the crossing.

"I was writing something in my books, when I heard the train go by. I thought I heard a dull thud, but I wasn't sure." Schaneberg said. He said he went to the window and saw a large billow of dust, but nothing else.

He said he didn't hear anything until he heard the ambulance siren. "I went to the window to look out then, and that's when I saw the bodies all over the place. That's when I just knew what had happened."

As the bodies lay limp along the tracks, one parent, a mother of one of the dead boys who was coming to tke her child home from school, on seeing the crowd, put her hand up to her mouth as she walked, first slowly, then more quickly towards the tracks.

"Oh my God, don't let it be my boy." the woman began yelling and sobbing. A State Police Trooper, tried to calm the almost hysterical mother.

A short while later, most of the parents, now notified, were in the hallway of the school, sitting staringand shaking their heads trying hard to believe it really happened.

State Police said there are no lights at the crossing, but there are two "cross bow" railroad crossing signs.

The train consisted of four freight cars and an engine, was headed for Freeport. One of the firemen, Bob Landen, Freeport, said he saw the truck crossing the tracks and began yelling "we're going to hit them, we're going to hit them."

Howard Camp, 25, Freeport, operating the engine of the trainwhich makes a routine run from Mendota to Freeportestimated his speed at 40 mph. The trains engineer was George Warren, 47, Freeport.

A memorial fund has been established for the school in memory of the five pupils and Mullens. There will be no school in Eldena today, Thursday and Friday.

Krieder said a selection of coroners jury began at noon today, but added the inquest date has not yet been scheduled.

The dead youths were the sons of Mr. & Mrs. Howard Bothe; Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow; Mr. & Mrs. Frank Shoemaker; Mr. & Mrs. Howard Miller and Mr. & Mrs. Donald Cruse.

Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon IL 21 Sept. 1966

ROBERT MICHAEL "MIKE" ENLOW

Funeral services for Robert Michael Enlow, son of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow Rt. 2, will be held at 10 am Friday in the Preston Funeral Home. with the Rev. Thomas Oakes, pastor of the Eldena Evangelical United Brethern Church, officiating. Burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery, Dixon.

Friends may call after 7 pm today at the funeral home. A memorial has been estblished for the Eldena Grade School.

He was born June 3, 1952.

Surviving are his parents, a brother Kerry, a sister Debra, at home: his paternal grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Enlow, Taylorville: a maternal grandmother of Chicago.

Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon IL.

TRAIN AND TRUCK COLLIDE; 6 DEAD.
Eldena, Ill. (AP) -- A tragic train-truck accident in the northwestern Illinois community of Eldena has taken the lives of five schoolboys and the elderly man drving them home.
The victims were killed Tuesday in a collision of an Illinois Central freight train and an open pickup truck driven by EVERETT MULLINS, 73, the school janitor. One of the boys was riding in the cab of the truck, the others were riding in the open bed.
The boys helped MULLINS load a grader on the truck and then jumped on the rear to steady the equipment. The grader was being hauled across the tracks which are approximately 75 feet from the elementary school. All the boys were students at the school.
The victims were: JAMES SHOEMAKER, 12, Eldena; WILLIAM BOTHE, 13, Amboy; REID MILLER, 12, Amboy; ROBERT MICHAEL ENLOW, 14, Amboy, and MARTIN A CRUZE, 13, Dixon.
Muscatine Journal Iowa 1966-09-21
__________________


Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement