Four Killed In Auto Crash, Three Are From One Family –

Four persons were killed, three from one family, in a grinding, near head-on crash early Saturday night on Cooperstown Road west of Oneida.

Killed in the crash were Mrs. Lena Burke, 34, and two of her sons, Jeffrey, 5 and Michael, 3. Also killed in the collision was the driver of the second car, Charles Lee Rogers, 22, Cherry Ford community, who was traveling alone.

Injured were Howard Burke, 40, and the other two children in the car, Paul 13 and Dale, 9. Mr. Burke was driving.

The two youngsters are in University Hospital at Knoxville, Dale suffering from massive head injuries and listed as critical in the intensive care unit. In intermediate care, where he was moved from ICU, is Paul. The father is listed as "improved" at Scott County Hospital where he was taken following the accident.

Rescue Squad members and other emergency helpers worked for more than one hour to free the Burke family from the wreckage of their car. Traffic at the scene was backed up in both directions for about a mile, and for more than two hours, witnesses said.

THP Trooper Earl Carson, who headed up the investigation which included every available officer from the Sheriff's Department, said the Burke car apparently was traveling east on Cooperstown Road. He said Rogers was traveling west. The two cars collided in a slight curve, which was in a long straight stretch of road. The accident was near the road's intersection with Pistol Lane, and about three miles out of Oneida. Mrs. Burke was in the front seat, and apparently one of the dead children, Michael, was with her. The other children were believed to be in the back seat of the automobile.

Pinned in the car were Mrs. Burke, Michael and Dale. Chains and crowbars were employed to free them from the wreckage. The impact of the crash demolished both vehicles, bucking the floorboards of the cars. The front wheel of the Rogers car was driven back to near the front seat area of the car. Officers said it was difficult to tell exactly how the accident occurred.

The Burke Family home is in the Williams Creek community west of Oneida. Mr. Burke is employed by BOSS Manufacturing Co. at Oneida. Mr. Rogers was unemployed.

Funerals for the victims were held Tuesday, a joint-service for Mrs. Burke and the two children at Black Oak Baptist Church and services in the chapel of Oneida Funeral Home for Mr. Rogers, Rev. Mike Pennington officiating.

Mr. Rogers is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe S. Rogers of Helenwood, four brothers, Harold, Oneida; Bobby, Jimmie and Roy Lee Rogers, all of Helenwood; three sisters, Mrs. Louise Newport, Helenwood; Mrs. Bessie Stephens, Winfield; and Mrs. Shirley Stephens, Oneida. Burial for Mr. Rogers was in Sexton Cemetery.

The joint service for Mrs. Burke and her children, Jeffrey Wayne, 10, and Michael Eugene, 3, was at 10 a.m. at the Black Oak Church with Revs. Lloyd King and Phillip Kazee officiating.

Mrs. Burke is survived by her husband and the two injured sons. Also surviving are her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby S. King of Oneida; a sister, Mrs. Georgia Ellen Walker, Muncie, Ind.; two brothers, Williams Milford King, Winfield, and Robert Sherman King, Oneida. The two children are survived by their father and two brothers, grandparents, Mrs. W. H. Burke, and Mr. and Mrs. Kirby King, all of Oneida.

(Source: The Scott County News, 22 Nov 1973, p1-2)