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Submitted: 4/13/09 • Approved: 9/30/14 • Last Updated: 10/3/14 • R178554-G0-S3
September 16, 1938 Norfork, Arkansas
December 24, 1955 Mountain Home, Arkansas
Daughter of Thomas Edward "Ed" & Mary Elizabeth Small Simpson
The Baxter Bulletin
December 29, 1955
NORFORK GIRL IS KILLED IN CRASH ON HIGHWAY 5
Christmas eve brought Baxter County's first traffic fatality of 1955.
A Norfork girl was killed and two teenage boys were seriously injured when the 1952 Ford in which they were riding left State Highway 5 on a curve about one mile north of Mt. Home, plunged over an embankment and clipped off a utility pole.
Killed instantly was Loretta June Simpson, 17, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Simpson of Norfork. She was thrown around 75 feet from the car by the impact of the crash, according to attendants of Roller Funeral Home.
She was a senior at Norfork high school and a member of the Church of Christ. Funeral services are scheduled for 2PM today at the Norfork Church of Christ, with Evangelist Pierce Adams of Harrison officiating.
Other occupants of the car were Evan Hager, 17, of Norfork and Carroll 'Chip' Casteel, 19, of Route 2, Mt. Home, both of whom suffered cerebral concussions and severe lacerations. Their condition was termed serious early this week by attendants of Saltzman Hospital, but they were reported to be progressing satisfactorily.
State Patrolman Kenneth McKee, who investigated the accident, said that Casteel was driving the car, which he stated 'was traveling at a high rate of speed.'
Caststeel, a Navy veteran, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Caststeel and Hager is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Hager of Butte, MT. He has been residing with his grandfather, Henry Hager of Norfork and attending Norfork high school.
Miss Simpson was born Sep 16, 1938, at Norfork. Survivors include her parents, Ed and Mary Small Simpson, of Norfork; four brothers, Andrew of Omaha, NE, and Bobby, O.C. and Earl of Norfork; and five sisters, Mrs. Vivian McCracken of St. Louis, Mrs. Dorothy Gettis of Red River, OR, Mrs. Imajean Stephens of Washington, DC, Mrs. Louise Boyd of Hollister, MO and Mrs. Ida Mae Wilson of Little Rock.
Interment will be in Norfork Cemetery, under the direction of the Roller Funeral Home.
(From the files of Max Parnell.)
(Note: Chip Hager was killed in 1967 along with his four month old daughter in a car crash.)
Contributed on 4/13/09 by maxparnell
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Record #: 178554