Rear-end crash on 44 leads to fatality
Martha Meade, 55 of San Francisco, Calif., was killed in a June 25 crash in Houston County that initially left 18-year-old Pearl Faldet of Decorah, Iowa in critical condition.
Faldet’s condition had been upgraded to fair by June 27. She is being treated at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse.
Meade was a 1979 graduate of Luther College and worked in the college admissions department during the 1980s.
Faldet and Meade were passengers in a car driven by Faldet’s sister, Elizabeth Faldet, 25 of Decorah.
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Faldet was westbound on Highway 44 and stopped in the lane of traffic when her car was rear-ended at about 5:50 p.m. by a westbound pickup truck driven by Alvin Darling, 79 of Decorah.
Pearl Faldet and Meade were in the back seat of Faldet’s vehicle. Pearl Faldet and Meade were transported by Med Link Air and Mayo One helicopters to Gundersen Lutheran.
Elizabeth Faldet and a front seat passenger, Karl Eriksson, 28 of Decorah, were taken by ambulance to Gundersen Lutheran for treatment. Elizabeth Faldet suffered minor injuries, and Erickson sufferered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the patrol.
Darling suffered no apparent injuries, an accident report stated.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Department, the Spring Grove Fire Department, Mabel Fire Department and Spring Grove ambulance assisted. The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating the crash.
– Story reprinted with permission from The Decorah Journal.
