SDC Member Involved in Fatal Crash

[BobPalma]

Terrible news; just terrible. [V] All condolences to Jim on his loss, and all good wishes and prayers for his speedy recovery. Nice folks indeed. [^]BP

[lstude]

More news.


http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9422082

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2...NEWS/510451137

And this on the Studebaker/Erskine AACA forum.

http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.ph...284#Post513284


So sorry to hear this news. My best wishes to Jim.




Leonard Shepherd
http://leonardshepherd.com/

[New Kid In Town]

Very sorry to hear this, my condolenses to the families involved.

I also own a 62 Studebaker, and it doesn't have seat belts. I don't even know if they were an option in 62?
I just bought the car for my wife and I to tool around in and attend some car shows with my two children(ages 6 & 2) It's kind of ironic to read about this, as I just got some seatbelts earlier this week to install in our car.

Sad news for sure.

[Green 53]

What a shame. I have known Jim & Chris for many years and they are fine hard working folks. I'm sure this will have a real impact on their finances as the summer season for them is just begining. It will be a long and painful recovery.
Denny L

[StudeRich]

I wish Jim and his family all the best in this difficult time. I am familiar with the Calhouns, because I have some of their recordings.

For goodness sakes, the Denver paper says this was not your average Travelall, but a large moving van with a trailer that hit them while passing, and according to a friend of Jims' speed was involved! No wonder they were hit so hard!

The driver got charged with 2 misdemeanors, causing an injury and causing a Death!

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[JRoberts]

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

I wish Jim and his family all the best in this difficult time. I am familiar with the Calhouns, because I have some of their recordings.

For goodness sakes, the Denver paper says this was not your average Travelall, but a large moving van with a trailer that hit them while passing, and according to a friend of Jims' speed was involved! No wonder they were hit so hard!

The driver got charged with 2 misdemeanors, causing an injury and causing a Death!

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

Interesting that the reports from the links posted say speed was not a cause, yet one person quoted someone saying the International was going 80+. I wonder what really happened.

I met the Calhohns when they performed at the International Meet in Omaha. Nice folks.

Joe Roberts
'61 R1 Champ
'65 Cruiser
Editor of "The Down Easterner"
Eastern North Carolina Chapter

[Lark289]

Very sad news indeed. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved in this terrible accident.

Jeff



Ready for a trip to the beach!

[barnlark]

Again, from the Ohio Region, many heartfelt prayers to all involved in this tragedy. For those of you not familar with the Calhouns, here is a photo from our Wink's Meet last August during better times.. quality SDC members and class acts. Jim, we wish you a speedy recovery.

[img][/img]

[fstst56]

I enjoyed the Omaha meet as much or more than any I've been to.
The Calhouns were a big part of that. Very entertaining.
I bought some of their CDs and enjoyed listening to them on the way home. I'll be praying for Jim's recovery.
Thanks for the picture, Barnlark.
I wonder if that's the car they were in. Looks like a '62.
Thanks for the info Christof, and yes, please keep us posted.

[torker]

Great Photo, Barnlark. This car wreck is very, very unfortunate, to say the least. Life is too short as it is, for tragedies like this to occur. They seem to happen exactly when you least expect, or are prepared for them. That said, how best can I be the MOST annoyingly sanctimonious on this thread?---should I take the "shoulda worn their darn seatbelts" tack; or the bixchy: "This is so, so, so Inappropriate of you to criticize someone at a time like this......." approach? Or, should I go with the "None Of The Above" mode, and let the reasonably intelligent and sensitive people here recognize for themselves that, hey--there is risk of injury in driving, to even the most prudent of us, so it is wise do your best to minimize the possibility of harm? As to the OT, I also wish the survivors a speedy recovery.

[studesnbldr]

Greetings once again to everyone.

I attempted contacting St. Anthony's Central Hospital in Denver to check on Jim's condition, but due to "confidentiality" and the fact I am not a blood relative, they would not release any new information to me. Does anyone know their family in order to get an update on Jim and to also confirm if, indeed, it was Chris who was killed?

Glad to see there are many fine folks on this forum who've experienced and appreciate the Calhoun's talent. Seat belts worn or not, two very talented and wonderful people who are part of the SDC family have been involved in a tragic and unnecessary accident. I do, admittedly, find it hard to believe that such an incident resulting in at least one death only results in misdemeanor charges. Somehow there simply doesn't seem to be much fairness in that.

Does SDC have any way of expressing thoughts, prayers & get well wishes directly to Jim as well as condolences on their loss??

Christof Kheim
---studesnbldr
christof@rockymountainstudebaker.net

[Hippie]

My prayers go out to everyone involved.

Analog man in a digital world.

[61hawk]

quote:Originally posted by studesnbldr

Greetings once again to everyone.

I attempted contacting St. Anthony's Central Hospital in Denver to check on Jim's condition, but due to "confidentiality" and the fact I am not a blood relative, they would not release any new information to me. Does anyone know their family in order to get an update on Jim and to also confirm if, indeed, it was Chris who was killed?

One of the links above stated it was a family friend that was killed.

I do, admittedly, find it hard to believe that such an incident resulting in at least one death only results in misdemeanor charges. Somehow there simply doesn't seem to be much fairness in that.

Why is that? Where do you see grounds for felony charges? Did the driver of the truck purposely cause the accident? Was he on drugs or drunk? Nope... this was an accident. There was talk of speed involved, but so far this comes from one friend of Jim's and we've seen no proof of excessive speed. How many moving vans towing a vehicle have you seen that will do 80-90 mph as stated? Having lived in that area and driven that strip of interstate I'd be surprised if one of these trucks could go that fast and secondly if they could, why they wouldn't be governed down by the leasing company for insurance purposes. Had they been west of Denver in the mountains I could see it happening on the downward side of a mountain section of the road.

Does SDC have any way of expressing thoughts, prayers & get well wishes directly to Jim as well as condolences on their loss??

Christof Kheim
---studesnbldr
christof@rockymountainstudebaker.net

[barnlark]

Everyone.. Please read the original link to the article. It was a family friend that passed away. Jim's wife was NOT in the car and is fine. We hope Chris and their children can get Jim back soon and concentrate on just walking, let alone the emotional toll.

I would also caution against theories for this unfortunate accident and allow the actual witnesses and police to sort out the facts. A real police report is eventually public information for those interested in the complete facts. Right now the loss of life to their friend Anita Barnett is weighing heavily on all of our hearts.

JDP started a great post/thread elsewhere on the subject of seat belts, thank you.

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by New Kid In Town

Very sorry to hear this, my condolenses to the families involved.

I also own a 62 Studebaker, and it doesn't have seat belts. I don't even know if they were an option in 62?
I just bought the car for my wife and I to tool around in and attend some car shows with my two children(ages 6 & 2) It's kind of ironic to read about this, as I just got some seatbelts earlier this week to install in our car.

Sad news for sure.

The earliest factory seat belts in Studebakers, that I can remember, was for the 1956 model. I installed belts in all of the Studebakers that I drove, including '53-'54 C/K models.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer