William F. Aberle

William F. Aberle, 48, clerk, died attempting to save Bonnie Jean Edgell, 16, from drowning, Rainier, Oregon, March 19, 1950. A sailboat in which Bonnie, Aberle, David L. Ammons, Rita S. Doughty, 17, and eleven other persons were riding on the Columbia River overturned in choppy water 27 feet deep 2,100 feet from the bank. All were thrown into the water, four of the occupants clinging to the hull and seven others swimming to a cabin cruiser that had been towing the sailboat. Aberle rose and took hold of Bonnie, who was unconscious, and Ammons swam five feet to Rita and obtained a hold on her. In waves two feet high, the two men drifted supporting the girls in a current of 2 m.p.h., being 15 feet from each other. Aberle’s son, followed by another man, dived from the cabin cruiser, each holding two life preservers. The son swam to within a short distance of Ammons and Rita, who had drifted 120 feet, and throwing a life preserver to them continued toward his father and Bonnie. When he was five feet from them, Aberle and Bonnie sank. Bonnie immediately rose, but Aberle, who had supported her for four minutes and had drifted 190 feet, did not reappear. Aided by the life preserver, the son towed Bonnie to another boat that arrived. Ammons and Rita drifted with the life preserver to within four feet of the boat. As Rita grasped a rope thrown from the boat, Ammons released the life preserver and was not seen again. Rita was pulled to the boat. Bonnie was revived and recovered. The body of Ammons was recovered two days later, and Aberle’s body was found five months later.