Joe Loucks, 1926.

The Death of A Young Cousin

By John P. Keillor Sr.

One tragedy that happened to us as we were growing up occurred when I was 13 years old in the summer of 1927. It happened to one of our cousins, Joe Loucks.

After a hard day’s work in the field, plowing, harrowing or hoeing, it was always good to cool off in the creek or river and wash off the daily grime. We liked to take a dip in Trott Brook at the end of the day, or better yet, we would get in the car and drive 2 or 3 miles to the Rum River for an even better swim.

This particular evening in June 1927, after the work was done – cows milked, horses fed, etc. – a group of us headed for the Rum River. This included my two older brothers, Bob and Jim, several cousins and me. We took the old Model T. This was strictly a male gathering as we were unacquainted with bathing suits. It was evening and the shades of night were slowly falling. The place we chose was far from any farmhouse and very secluded. The current in the river was quite swift and it was necessary to swim to the middle of the river where we could stand and rest a bit on a sandbar. All was going well and we were enjoying the swim. The cool water after a day of work was refreshing.

Suddenly, our cousin Joe Loucks, who was just learning to swim, stepped off the sandbar and into deep water. He called for help and my two older brothers and some of the others went to his aid. I was told to go ashore and get help. I raced to the car with some of the younger cousins and headed for the nearest telephone. I don’t remember just where we went, but we were a scared bunch of kids.

When we returned to the river, the place was dark. The older boys were still trying to rescue cousin Joe, but he had disappeared. They had tried valiantly to find and save him. Help finally arrived but it was too late and it wasn’t until the next day that Joe’s body was recovered from the river. He was only 17 years old.

Joe was the only one in that gang who, at that time, had professed to be saved by trusting in Christ. This incident was the event that within a couple of years saw all the boys at that tragic accident receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. That included the writer of this account. -- JPK