Huntingdon County PA Archives Obituaries.....Yocum, Patricia Ann Harpster October 4, 1959
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The Daily News, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.  Monday, October 5, 1959; pgs 1, 14.
Juniata Twp. Woman Killed In Wreck
Speed Blamed In County's 10th Road Fatality Of Year
Investigators today blamed speed for a one-car accident on the Big Valley 
highway, near Mill Creek, early yesterday morning in which a young Juniata 
Township woman, mother of two children, was instantly killed.
A Huntingdon woman narrowly escaped death in the same accident, and she is 
listed in good condition today at J. C. Blair Memorial Hospital.
The dead woman is Mrs. Patricia Ann (Harpster) Yocum, 29, wife of Ralph S. 
Yocum of Huntingdon, R. D. 1.
The injured woman is Mrs. Betty Powell, 31, of 338 Moore Street, Huntingdon, 
an employe at the G. C. Murphy Company Store in Huntingdon.
It was the 10th fatal traffic accident in Huntingdon County this year.  At a 
one-per-month rate, the county's death toll is rapidly soaring to a record 
high.
Count Coroner E. Blair Shore said that Sunday's fatal crash occurred at 1:50 
a.m., on Route 76, in Brady Township, 1.1 miles north of Mill Creek.  State 
Troopers Peter Migatulski and George Plafcan assisted the county official in 
the investigation.
The dead woman was operating a 1956 Chevrolet four-door sedan owned by Philip 
E. Rinker of 312 Fifth Avenue, Juniata, Altoona, an uncle of Mrs. Yocum's 
husband.  Mrs. Powell was the only passenger in the car as the two women were 
traveling south on Route 76 after taking a ride to Belleville.
As Mrs. Yocum rounded a left curve in the highway north of the Mill Creek 
Valley road intersection her car went off the right (west) side of the highway 
with the two left wheels.  The auto continued for 141 feet with the two left 
wheels on the left berm.  Then it cut diagonally across the road for 62 feet 
to the right side and ran off the road, apparently out of control for 152 feet 
until it crashed into a three-foot deep drainage pit made of rough stone.  
Hitting this pit caused the car to flip end-over-end, tossing the two women 
out as it continued on its mad dash.  As the car flipped, it landed on its 
roof on the highway and skidded foranother 50 
feet, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway, facing south with its 
wheels in the air.  It travelled more than 400 feet from the time it first 
left the road until it stopped.  There was no evidence the brakes had been 
applied at any time after it ran off the road.
The car was demolished.
As the car travelled down the left (east) side of the highway, it crossed the 
front lawn of the Paul dell home where it tore out a stump, a road marker sign 
and a mail box.  At the drainage pit, the car also clipped off a highway 
directional sign at the intersection of Route 76 and the Mill Creek Valley 
Road.
Wreckage from the car was scattered over a wide area.
There were no eye witnesses.  Paul Dell, who lives at the scene, heard the 
crash and rushed to the wrecked car.  Two Huntingdon ambulances were called 
and State Police were summoned.  Coroner Shore was called after it was 
determined that Mrs. Yocum was dead.
Mrs. Yocum's body was found on the east berm of the road, just five feet from 
the drainage pit, while Mrs. Powell's body was also on the east berm, 14 feet 
from the pit or rough stone culvert.
Mrs. Yocum's death was due to a fractured neck.  She also suffered a fractured 
left arm above the elbow, a fractured right leg above the knew, a laceration 
back of the left ear and abrasions and contusions of the body.
Mrs. Powell is being treated for back injuries.  She was admitted to the 
hospital at 2:51 a.m., Sunday.  Her condition today is listed as fair.
Coroner Shore said no inquest will be held.
The dead woman formerly worked at the G. C. Murphy Company Store in 
Huntingdon, but recently had been working for her husband who operates a small 
store at The Point in Juniata Township.  Earlier she had also worked at the 
Palace Confectionery and Art's Diner.
Mr. Rinker was spending the week end at The Point and he loaned his car to 
Mrs. Yocum on Saturday evening.  She left the store alone about 10:30 or 11 
o'clock and picked Mrs. Powell up later.
Patricia Ann Harpster Yocum was born at Union Furnace on December 29, 1929, a 
daughter of Fred L. and Nancy (Croyle) Harpster.  She was united in marriage 
to Ralph S. Yocum at Cumberland, Md., on August 8, 1946.
She was a member of the Columbia Avenue Methodist Church, Tyrone.  She 
attended the EUB Sunday School in Huntingdon.
Mrs. Yocum has been a resident of Huntingdon since 1946.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her mother, Mrs. John J. 
(Nancy) Haverstine of Tyrone, and two children, Ralph Stanley Yocum, 12, and 
Nancy C. Yocum, 10, both at home.  She also is survived by her paternal 
grandmother, Mrs. Hanna Lear of Tyrone; her maternal grandfather, Claude R. 
Croyle of Petersburg, R. D.; two sisters, Mrs. Walter (Irene) Shope, Jr., of 
Huntingdon; Miss Norma L. Harpster of Huntingdon; one brother, Charles 
Harpster of Buffalo, N. Y., and one step-brother, John J. Haverstine, Jr., of 
Tyrone.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock at Brown's 
funeral home.  The Rev. Harry G. Paul will officiate and interment will be 
made in Riverview Cemetery.  Friends will be received at the funeral home 
after 7 p.m., Monday.


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