Person:John Finn (17)

From the August 26, 1938, edition of the Dubuque (IA) Telegraph Herald

5-Year-Old Boy Dies In Crash

Mother Mistakes Truck for Auto on Highway

Cascade, Ia. -- Special: Jackie Finn, 5, of Temple Hill, was almost instantly killed about 9 o'clock Thursday night because his mother, Mrs. Louis Finn, thought that a truck approaching her in the opposite direction was an automobile.

The car, driven by Mrs. Finn and occupied by her sons Jackie and Mike and her daughter Bernice, hit the body part of the truck on the left side. Jackie, riding on the right side in the rear seat, suffered a fractured skull, severe lacerations on the face and body injuries.

Truck From Own Farm

Peculiarly enough, the truck, driven by Bill Neyens of Cascade, had just left the Finn farm about half a mile away with a shipment of livestock for the market.

Mrs. Finn suffered a bad cut in her forehead which required several stitches to close, while Mike and Bernice escaped with severe body bruises. Bernice was riding in the front seat.

The Finns were returning to their home from Cascade, where the daughter was taken earlier in the evening for treatment for an infected foot.

The accident occurred about seven miles south of Cascade in Jones county.

Father Hears Crash

Louis Finn, the dead boy's father, and his hired man heard the crash and rushed to the scene to give first aid to the injured and to remove the body of the boy. The automobile was badly damaged.

The boy's body was taken immediately to Cascade and the funeral will be held Saturday morning at 9 o'clock at St. Peter's Church at Temple Hill. The Rev. Eugene Lorenz will officiate. Burial will be in the Temple Hill Cemetery.

Survivors include the parents, three sisters, Bernice, Catherine and Mary Margaret, one brother, Mike, the grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Finn of Cascade and Mrs. Mary Donovan of Garryowen.