STEVENSON

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Wednesday, November 09, 2011 at 05:58:10 :

Independent Journal
Monday, August 8, 1955
Page 1

Final Rites Set For Storyteller

A beloved Marin storyteller who was killed Saturday when a bridge guardrail collapsed at Camp Duncan near Muir Woods will be buried tomorrow in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno. He was George Washington Stevenson, caretaker at Camp Duncan, for 20 years.

Stevenson, 77, was killed and three Stockton children injured when a guardrail collapsed and tossed them and two other youngsters into a dry creekbed. Stevenson struck his head and was apparently killed instantly.

One of the injured youngsters, 12-year-old Susan Tucker, was reported in good condition this morning at Marin General Hospital. It was unknown whether she had a skull fracture, but tests were being continued. John Harrison, 15, was released from the hospital Saturday. He suffered a bruised back in the 10-foot fall. The third injured youngster, 14-year-old Billy Hoaglun, was bruised but did not require hospitalization. Uninjured in the fall were Mary Ellen Archer, 14, and Raymond Korman, 12.

The accident occurred as the children, departing camp, rushed onto the bridge to say goodbye to the elderly man, who not only was camp storyteller but assisted children with handicraft and made all the soap used in the camp.

Officials of the San Francisco Presbytery of the Presbyterian church, which runs the camp, were unable to explain why the railing collapsed.

Stevenson, affectionately called “Stevie” by the thousands of children who visited the camp, was a native of Philadelphia. He had come to the Bay Area 56 years ago after being discharged from the Army at the close of the Spanish-American Way. He had been a cabinet maker in San Francisco for 25 years before retiring to the post at Camp Duncan.

Stevenson’s wife, Ethel, who survives him, said they had celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary last Dec. 7. Stevenson was 77 last July 2. Other survivors are two brothers, William of Philadelphia and Rev. Raymond Stevenson of Belmont, Calif.

Funeral services will be conducted tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. at the Memorial Chapels of Russell and Gooch, 270 Miller avenue, Mill Valley.

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A Death Notice on page 5 adds that he was a member of John H. Harris Camp #18 of San Rafael.