DEADLY 1958 CRASH CLAIMED GRAVENHURST DRIVER, OPP OFFICER

The Hwy. 11 carash and deaths of Stan Simpson and OPP Const. Willis J. Jacob was big news with extensive coverage in the Toronto Star, Oct. 4 1958.

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

ORILLIA — Every time Rusty Draper drives south from Orillia, heading down the hill on Hwy. 11 under the old Barrie Road bypass, he “rubs his wrist.”

And thinks about his “Uncle Stan.”

“Just to keep his memory alive.”

Stan Simpson, 27, died Oct. 3, 1958 after his southbound car hit a road sign and caromed head-on into a northbound OPP cruiser, killing Const. Willis J. Jacob, 34.

Earlier this month, on Sept. 10, the provincial police dedicated a bridge in his memory, with an approaching sign at the Hwy. 12 Casino Rama exit.

Stan Simpson, 27, was a young Gravenhurst contractor who died when his “lime-coloured” car hit a sign and veered into the oncoming lanes 61 years ago this week.

Draper — a retired Baptist minister in Orillia and a once popular morning man on the old CFOR radio station — “would like to have been at the ceremony” at held at the nearby police headquarters.

Simpson was his mother Eileen’s young brother. And the hard-working Gravenhurst contractor lived with the Draper family — Eileen, her husband Roy (a deputy fire chief) and their two sons, Ross (“Rusty”) and Jeff.

Draper was 12 and says “it was a big day, I will never forget it.”

His mother gave him the watch his Uncle Stan was wearing when he died after his southbound car hit a sign and veered into the northbound lanes, striking Jacob’s cruiser, killing both instantly, in a crash witnesses described as looking like a “train crash.”

Draper says “even after all these years, I can’t think of a time — or very few times — I haven’t done that (tap his wrist as he passes the horrific crash scene).”

He said he still has the watch — a cheap old Timex or something,” he told MuskokaTODAY.com.

But it’s a treasured family keepsake he kept locked away.

“You want to know something very interesting to me?

“About a year ago, I was in a restaurant waiting for dinner, when I looked through my phone I saw a photo of him on the Orillia Matters website.

“It took my breath away — I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

“What was a picture of my uncle doing online?

“It was a shock. I couldn’t believe it.”

The OPP was looking for Jacob’s relatives, to invite them to the dedication. They had lost contact with the family and wanted the public’s help locating them.

Barrie OPP traffic Const. Willis J. Jacob was 34 and his wife was expecting their first child.

“We have exhausted every avenue available to us to track down his relatives,” Sgt. Peter Leon, the OPP’s media relations coordinator for Central Region said at the time. “The veterans’ association is really the driving force behind this initiative, but the OPP fully supports it.

“We’d love to be able to involve the family and to have them present when we do the tribute,” said Leon. “That would make it even more meaningful.”

That was the last that Draper heard.

Till this month, when the sign went up: “Const. Willis J. Jacob Memorial Bridge.”

“It was very sad, he was like a big brother to me,” said Draper of his uncle. “He lived at our place a long time.”

He had a dump truck (“he’d fill it by hand”) and a bull dozer, and some property across from the family farm at the north end intersection of Gravenhurst at Hwy. 11 going out to Doe Lake.

The old Simpson farm barn still stands prominently at the intersection of Bethune Drive and Simpson Road.

Stan Simpson was the youngest of five kids, a brother (Gord) and three sisters, including Eileen and Cora.

“Everybody liked him. He was very popular in the family,” said his nephew. “He was the baby of the family. They really cheered him on.”

The day of the accident, Draper was at his Aunt Cora’s home in Huntsville (where he would later start his long radio career at CKAR).

He said his mother called them about 5 p.m.

“So the accident must have happened some time before 5 p.m.”

The accident was huge news in Gravenhurst and Orillia, even hitting the big city papers in Toronto, which ran with large headlines and photos of the victims and crumpled cars splashed across the pages.

Draper remembers his uncle’s car, not the exact year, but “1940s — lime-coloured.”

“He wouldn’t have had a new car.”

And that watch, Draper kept it, wearing it for years, before tucking it away his safety deposit box.

After he heard about the sign dedication a few weeks ago, he went the TD Bank in Orillia, but it wasn’t there.

“I must have it somewhere, in one of my boxes around here,” Draper said Saturday, from his home on Laclie Street, which he moved into five years ago, with wife Pat, a retired nurse at Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia.

The accident was 61 years ago this coming Thursday.

And Jacobs’ wife was seven months pregnant at the time, with their first child, Willis J. Jacob Jr., who now lives in Huntsville.

And Draper hopes to meet him soon, possibly this coming week on the anniversary of the crash that changed both their lives.

He called his friend Gerry McMillan, the OPP’s chaplain who spoke at the dedication, and he put him touch with Leon about contacting Jacob Jr.

‘DEATH TRAP’

According to a release from the OPP —who have a police museum at their provincial headquarters in Orillia near the accident location  — Jacob joined the OPP in January of 1955 and worked at General Headquarters in Toronto, being posted to Alliston and Wasaga Beach. In 1957, while working at the Barrie detachment, he joined the OPP’s newly-formed traffic unit.

On the evening of Oct. 3, 1958, he as on routine patrol on Hwy. 11, on the north-bound side. This particular stretch of road was a divided, four-lane highway to the north and an undivided two-lane highway to the south of the Orillia bypass.

After Simpson hit the sign his car was thrown across the road into Jacob’s path, carrying the tangled sign with him.

By all accounts, it was a horrific crash.

A Toronto Star story described it this way: “According to witnesses, Simpson was driving without lights as (his car) swerved out of its lane. The broken highway direction sign was found near where Simpson’s car came to rest. The impact hurled both cars (to) opposite sides of the road.

“So badly demolished were they that rescue workers encountered considerable difficulty extracting the bodies. Police and onlookers said they had (never) seen two vehicles so completely destroyed. ‘They couldn’t have been worse damaged if a train had hit them,’ one onlooker said.”

According to The Star story, the location of the accident was dubbed a “death trap” by police for several months.

“In crossing the Orillia bypass, the Trans-Canada highway is carried on an overhead bridge beneath, which and for some distance to the north, the bypass is a four-lane highway. Just south of the overpass, it narrows in a two-lane highway and at this point of congestion, numerous less-serious accidents have occurred during the summer months.”

Said Leon: “Here was a guy doing his job, on routine traffic patrol, trying to keep other motorists safe and he lost his life. His was the ultimate sacrifice. It’s a tragedy.”

He said naming the bridge in Jacob’s memory is fitting.

“You can plant a tree in someone’s memory and Mother Nature can destroy it,” Leon said.

“But a bridge is a permanent thing – it will likely be in place forever. Even if a bridge is replaced, the hope is a replacement bridge would continue to carry that dedication.”

Each time Rusty Draper passes under this bridge, he taps his wrist to remember his Uncle Stan Simpson.

‘ULTIMATE SACRIFICE’

In a news release for the dedication, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said: “Provincial Constable Willis J. Jacob lost his life in the line of duty nearly 61 years ago, and today he still holds a place of honour in our hearts. With this bridge dedication, we recognize the service of this dedicated officer who made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of protecting our families and loved ones.”

Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said: “Constable Willis Jacob proudly served the people of Ontario and ultimately sacrificed his life while protecting his community. This bridge dedication honours and acknowledges his bravery and commitment to policing.”

“Today, we honour the bravery and service of OPP Constable Willis. His memory lives on not only through the positive impact of his work protecting the lives of many in the community, but also with today’s bridge dedication. I’m honoured that the Ministry of Transportation can play a part in honouring this legacy,” added Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation.

  • Since 2002, Ontario has permitted bridges and other highway structures to be   dedicated in memory of fallen police officers.
  • There are now 61 bridges dedicated to fallen OPP officers in Ontario.
The Hwy. 11 bridge at Hwy. 12 in Orillia is dedicatd to OPP Const. Willis J. Jacob, who died in the horrific 1958 head-on crash with Stan Simpson, of Gravenhust, 61 years ago this week.

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