University of Virginia Library

Crispell Boy Dies
In Auto Collision

John Kenneth Crispell, the
twelve-year-old son of Dean
Kenneth R. Crispell of the
University medical school, and
Robert E. Russell, 32, a research
scientist in chemical engineering at
the University, were killed Sunday
in a traffic crash near Unionville in
Orange County.

The car was driven by Mr.
Russell. Both the driver and
passenger reportedly died instantly
in an intersection collision between
their car and a truck.

Truck driver Joseph Louis
Lawson, 31, of Fairfax Station in
Fairfax County, has been charged
with two counts of manslaughter,
according to a story in yesterday
afternoon's Daily Progress.

State Trooper C.C. Moss told
Progress reporters that Mr. Russell,
of 135 Madison Lane, and Johnny,
who lived with his parents at
Pavilion I on the West Lawn, were
going west toward Orange on
Virginia Highway 20 when their car
and Mr. Lawson's truck, traveling
north from Mineral on U.S. 522,
collided at the intersection of those
two highways.

Both passengers in the car were
wearing seat belts at the time, it
was reported.

The crash victims were returning
from a fishing trip. Johnny, a
student at Jack Jouett Junior High
School, was the youngest of six
children and the only boy.

In addition to his parents and
grandparents, he is survived by five
sisters, Mrs. Robert Ross of New
Fairfield, Connecticut; Mrs. Charles
Blackmer of Ann Arbor, Michigan;
and Barbara Jean, Marjorie K. and
Constance Louise Crispell of
Charlottesville.

A graveside service will be held
at 2 p.m. today at the
University Cemetery.

The family has requested that in
of flowers, contributions be
made to the John Crispell Memorial
Fund for the endowment of a room
on the Lawn at the University.

Mr. Russell took his
undergraduate degree at the
University as well as his masters
degree, both from the School of
Engineering. For the past eight
years he has served as a research
scientist in the engineering school.
His most recent work was for the
National Aeronautic and Space
Administration. He developed a
magnetically levitated gyroscope
and a satellite orientation device.

He was the first electrical
engineering student at the
University ever to receive a
graduate fellowship. He had several
patents and was well-published.
Eugene S. McVey, professor of
electrical engineering, under whom
Mr. Russell worked, described him
as an "outstanding researcher."

A bachelor, he is survived by his
parents, who live in Alexandria.

A graveside service for Mr.
Russell will be held tomorrow at
1 p.m. in the Stonewall Memorial
Gardens, in Manassas, Virginia.