Arizona Obituary Archive

Search      Post Obituary


Byron S. Dexter

Posted 2008-01-14 by sharon
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ
April 24, 1936, p. 1

Hurles To His Death With A Song On His Lips

Los Angeles Salesman, Father of Eight, Fails to Make Curve at Foot of Overpass at Terrific Rate of Speed

With a song on his lips and his new Dodge sedan humming smoothly at 75 miles per hour, BYRON S. DEXTER, age 36, Los Angeles, father of eight, topped the overpass south of Morristown a little after midnight Monday and zoomed down the incline with the speedometer indicator creeping still higher. The bankless turn at the foot of the ramp was under his wheels before he realized, his hubcap caught a post, and the sedan plunged from the road, turning over six or seven times before it finally came to a stop, far from the road. Dexter was dying as rescuers pulled him from the smashed car, and his passenger, Paul FILING, of Akron, Ohio, was hurt. An unidentified woman tourist tried to give DEXTER first aid while the ambulance was being summoned from Wickenburg and worked heroically to help him, but to no avail. He died, of a crushed chest and abdominal punctures shortly after researching the hospital. The passenger, miraculously, escaped with a few scalp wounds. DEXTER was a salesman of automobile accessories. Witnesses declared he had been traveling the dangerous curves between Wickenburg and Morristown at the same terrific rate of speed with which he tried to cross the overpass.

Body Taken To Los Angeles -

Thursday evening, a brother, Byron DEXTER, and father-in-law, W. M. MAUCK, of Los Angeles, accompanied the body back to the coast, where funeral services will be held. The wife of the slain man, it was said, had undergone an operation the previous Saturday, and was unable to leave her bed. The only consoling fact in the sad tragedy was that DEXTER, three months ago had taken out several insurance policies, which were in effect at the time of his death, it was said and which will protect his large family. The injured passenger, FILING, was a rubber worker, from the Ohio city who had gone to Los Angeles to look for work, and had been unable to find it. DEXTER picked him up there to give him a lift on his way back home.

The accident was investigated by Highway Patrolman Jack PETERSON who interviewed a motorist who stated that DEXTER had passed him “as though he was standing still", although the motorist was traveling at a rate of 50 miles per hour. No inquest was held.




Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.

Questions About This Project?