THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, January 29, 1953

 

Jobe Brown, 57, a Florida East Coast railroad foreman and former resident of Bunnell, was killed Monday at 1:15 P. M. in an effort to avert what might have been a disastrous crackup of a Florida East Coast Railway passenger train just north of Ft. Lauderdale.

Mr. Brown, supervising a gang, which had jacked up the rails in order to repair the roadbed, was struck by the train as he attempted to pull a jack from under the tracks. He was struggling to remove the jack, police said, when the engine struck him, hurling the body 14 feet. The jack was found 48 feet away.

Police at the scene credited Mr. Brown with giving his life in a frantic effort to remove the jack and avert a possible crackup. "He could have jumped clear and left the jack," Detective James A. Hughes said.

Mr. Brown was a resident of Bunnell for about ten years, during which time he was active in the local American Legion Post, the Methodist Church and civic affairs.

Survivors are his wife, Mary Brown of Ft. Lauderdale; two sons, Van and Jobe, Jr., of California; one daughter; formerly Marjorie Brown, now residing in Washington State; one stepson, Louis Simpson, Miami.

Funeral services are being held today at 2 P. M. at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Ft. Lauderdale. Blackburn Funeral Home of that city is in charge of arrangement.