Darrell Van Etten, Sr., saved Marlin E. Morgan, Jr., from burning, Hamburg, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1986. Morgan, 46, was rendered unconscious in a highway accident during which his car caught fire. Van Etten, 45, production foreman, who was nearby, ran to the car and, with the help of his daughter, opened the driver’s door. Despite intense heat and flames which were filling the car’s interior, Van Etten extended his upper body into the car, grasped Morgan, and pulled him out. As Van Etten dragged Morgan away, the car was completely engulfed in flames. Morgan was treated at a hospital for minor burns and injuries; he recovered. Van Etten also recovered from minor burns.
61610 – 7110
61610-7110Obituary
Darrell L. Van Etten, Sr., 68, of Reading, Pa., formerly of Tilden Township in Berks County, Pa., died on Feb. 21, 2009. Born in Corning, N.Y., he was the son of Eleanor M. Davies Van Etten and Maynard L. Van Etten.
He was a 1959 graduate of Corning Free Academy. Van Etten worked as a production supervisor for 13 years for Mid-Atlantic Canners, Hamburg, Pa., until February 1988. He attended church at the Salvation Army in Reading, where he did volunteer work. He was a former member and second vice president of the Hamburg Jaycees, a former member of Hamburg Lions Club, and a past president of Hamburg Band Boosters.
Van Etten was a recipient of the Carnegie Medal for rescuing a man from a burning automobile at the former Schmeck’s Diner in Hamburg in 1986.
(Edited from an obituary in the Reading, Pa., Eagle, Feb. 24, 2009.)