Merle Duane Seeley

SEELEY, Merle Duane, 16, late of Helix and Pendleton, son of Virgil Seeley, Pendleton, and Thelma Seeley, Helix; brother of Virgil Seeley, Helix, grandson of Mrs. Mable Seeley, Pendleton, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Richart, Vancouver, Wash. Funeral services will be Tuesday, July 24, 10 A.M. in the Burns Mortuary Chapel, with Dr. Myron Nichols of the Presbyterian Church officiating. Bearers: Tim Dyer, Dennie Krouts, Gary Jackson, Bruce Hendricks, Bob Lindstrom, Larry Hodges. Interment will be in Olney Cemetery.

Published in the East Oregonian, (Pendleton, Oregon), Monday, July 23, 1962 page 4

Helix Boy, 16, Killed Here

Merle Duane Seeley, 16, Helix, died shortly after 8 p.m. on U.S. 395 north less than a mile north of U.S. 30 junction Saturday. State police said that Seeley’s car hit the rear of another and rolled over, throwing Seeley to the pavement. Seeley’s brother, Virgil, 15, a passenger, was injured and taken to St. Anthony Hospital.

Seeley is reported to have died of head injuries. State police said that the Helix boy was southbound when he attempted to pass a car driven by Norman Francis Adams, 16, Pendleton. A northbound car caused Seeley to drop back into the southbound lane where he skidded and hit the rear of Adams’ car and rolled over.

Besides his brother, Seeley, a member of the Methodist Church, is survived also by his father, Virgil Seeley; his mother, Thelma Seeley, Helix, grandparents, Mabel Seeley, Pendleton, and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Richart, Vancouver, Wash. Seeley was born in The Dalles and had lived in Pendleton nine years before he moved to Helix.

Funeral notice appears in today’s paper.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Two teen-aged boys were killed in separate traffic accidents Saturday night, bringing the weekend death toll in Oregon to five and the total for the year to 230.

The other youth killed was Merle Duane Seeley, 16, Helix, in an accident on Highway 395 near Pendleton. State police said he lost control of his car, which struck the rear of another and rolled down the highway.

Published in the East Oregonian (Pendleton, Oregon), Monday, July 23, 1962