Obituary: Dean Urben

Dean Urben, 20, Dies as Auto Somersaults


MADISON, WISCONSIN (March 2, 1968) - Dean R. Urben, 20, a University of Wisconsin freshman and son of Dr. Walter J. Urban, head of Mendota State Hospital, was killed about 5:20 a.m. Friday in a car crash hear the hospital grounds home where he lived with his parents at 301 Troy Dr.

Young Urben’s 1967 Chevrolet Impala convertible crashed through a railroad overpass guardrail on Knutson Dr., just off Northport Dr., and somersaulted - feet unto the North Western Railroad right-of-way below, landing on its top. Police Investigator John T. Randall reported Dean was driving alone.

Deputy Coroner John Stevenson said the death was accidental and no inquest will be held.

It was the 10th traffic fatality in Madison and Dane County this year.
Dean was a member of the United Methodist Church of Christ, the Army’s 44th General Hospital Reserve Unit, and Psi Upsilon fraternity.

Surviving are his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Urben, and three brothers: David, at home, John, Rt. 1 Oregon, and Noel, Milwaukee.

The funeral will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Frautschi Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd., where friends may call from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the University of Wisconsin Medical School.

Note: The above was taken from a news story originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on March 2, 1968. I was unable to find a separate obituary. The number of feet (in the second paragraph) was not included -- apparently a typographical error.