Text and photo are from the June 19, 1953, Tri-County News. As the result of a fishing accident, Lloyd (Tookie) Robinson and Don Brown drowned at Day Lake Friday evening, June 19. Funeral services were held at the Kimball school auditorium on Tuesday afternoon. The auditorium was packed with relatives and friends who came to pay tribute to the memory of two young men who had spent their entire life, with the exception of the time they were in the service, in Kimball and its vicinity. Tookie, as he was generally known, and Don, accompanied by Melvin (Scout) Blair went out to Day Lake, a small but deep lake about three and a half miles north of Kimball, early in the evening to fish, using a duck boat. Fred Thiede had also driven out to watch them. He called out to those in the boat a number of times to tell them that he was going back to town but each time he was persuaded to stay a little longer. Sometime probably between 7 and 7:30 p.m., cramped from sitting in one position, the men started to change places in the boat. The boat tipped and Scout was thrown in the water. In an effort to assist him back in the boat, it overturned. None were able to grasp the round bottom of the boat. Scout managed to nearly reach the shore when he collapsed and Fred pulled him ashore and revived him and then went for help. He drove to the nearest farm, that of Helen Petty, to place a call for help. The fire department, both of Kimball and of St. Cloud, responded to the call as well as many others from Kimball. A considerable period of time elapsed, approximately a half hour, before Don’s body was recovered, and another hour was required to locate that of Tookie. Efforts to revive them proved futile. Brown-Robinson Funeral Funeral services were conducted on Tuesday afternoon, June 23, 1953, at the Kimball high school auditorium for Donald Brown and Lloyd Robinson. Mrs. Oscar Wilson of Kingston sang “The Way of the Cross Leads Home,” “Beyond the Sunset” and “God Will Take Care of You” accompanied at the piano by Mrs. Reuben Eckman who also provided music before and following the service. Rev. George Wilson of the Apostolic Lutheran Church at New York Mills offered prayer and offered words of condolence to the bereaved. Clayton Kent, minister of the Church of Christ at Kimball, delivered the funeral sermon. Pallbearers for Donald Brown were Loren Spaulding, Donald McKenzie, Milton Yule, Marvin Bowatz, Jim Vannurden and Fillmore Hewitt. Pallbearers for Lloyd Robinson were Ray Hennen, Darrel Curtis, Donald Petty, Jack Borman, Donald Borman and Melvin Blair. A military funeral with graveside services were under the auspices of the Frederick A. Metcalf Post 261 of the American Legion of Kimball. Arrangements were made by the Dingmann Funeral Home of Kimball and the Dokken Funeral Service of Cokato. Burial was made at the Kimball Cemetery. Editor’s note: Some of those who helped with the funeral are still with us, Mrs. Reuben (Ardis) Eckman, for instance. Pastor Clayton Kent died just this past March. This week’s story came courtesy of our own Historical Society charter member Mary Lou (Brown, Robinson) Erickson. It was 50 years ago that Mary Lou’s husband and brother drowned while fishing on Day Lake, north of Kimball. Mary Lou is a descendent of the Hod & Mary Van Vleet-Brown family who pioneered here in the mid-1800s. If you have something to share about this week’s column, let us know. If you have something of your own to share in this column, we always welcome items of Kimball historical interest that everyone enjoys reading about. Please consider loaning or donating stories and photos. The next meeting, featuring a special and unique program, will be June 24 at Kimball’s historic City Hall. Please renew your existing membership; if you’re not already a member, now is the right time! Preserving the world we live in, and the world we leave to our children and grandchildren, the Kimball Area Historical Society invites you to join us. For further information, call (320) 398-5250 or 398-5743, or toll-free (800) 252-2521 from out of the area.
