Person:Henry Townsend (27)

From the June 27, 1989, edition of the Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette

C.R. man dies in car-truck crash

From Gazette staff reports

TOLEDO -- A Cedar Rapids insurance agent was killed when his car and a semi-trailer truck collided after the truck attempted to pass another vehicle at 11:50 am Monday.

Dr. Dennis Mallory, Tama County medical examiner, identified the victim as Henry Edward Townsend, 60, of 1833 D St. SW, Cedar Rapids.

Mallory said Townsend was dead at the scene from head and chest injuries.

The Tama and Belle Plaine fire departments were called to help free Townsend's body from the wreck. Townsend was wearing a seat belt.

Townsend's eastbound car was struck on the driver's side by a westbound truck driven by Franklin Charles Fink, 71, of Colo. Fink had only minor injuries. Each driver was alone. It had rained shortly before the accident, but wasn't raining at the time, officials said.

Iowa State Patrol Trooper Jerry Jones said the trucker was westbound on Highway 30 and started to pass a pickup with a trailer when the eastbound car driven by Townsend came over the crest of the hill.

Fink hit the truck's brakes to slow down, but the truck jackknifed and slid, colliding with the Townsend car, the trooper said.

The investigation is continuing.

From the June 28, 1989, edition of the Dubuque (IA) Telegraph Herald

Henry E. Townsend

MONTICELLO, Iowa -- Henry E. Townsend, 60, of Cedar Rapids, formerly of Monticello, died Monday, June 26, 1989, as the result of an automobile accident.

Services will be at 11 am Thursday at St. Peter's Catholic Church, Temple Hill, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call after noon today at the Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello, where a rosary service will be said at 7:30 pm.

Mr. Townsend was an insurance agent for Standard Life Insurance, Cedar Rapids. He also had worked at Clinton Engines, Maquoketa.

He was born on Oct. 9, 1928, near Anamosa, son of Harvey James and Alida (Balster) Townsend. He married Mary Finn on Nov. 30, 1951, in Temple Hill; she survives.

He graduated from Onslow High School in 1946. He lived in the Cascade and Center Junction areas until moving to Cedar Rapids in 1972.

Also surviving are three daughters, Karen Kiburz of Scotch Grove, Linda Boots of Ely and Laura of Dubuque; three sons, Gary of Mechanicsville, Joseph of Reno, Nev., and Galen of Cedar Rapids; six grandchildren and one step-grandchild; three brothers, John of Clinton, Harvey J. of Marion, Ohio, and Martin P. of Monroe, Mich., and a sister, Gertrude White of Harrison, Ark.