Sad News

My Nephew
Driver in critical condition after being ejected from truck By Lou Grieco Saturday, October 18, 2008
GREENVILLE — A Darke County man was flown to Miami Valley Hospital after an early morning crash Saturday, Oct. 18.

Michael L. Custer, Jr., 43, of Greenville, was in critical condition late Saturday afternoon.

According to the Darke County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched at 3:56 a.m. to the 6000 block of U.S. 36 East. The accident occurred at a curve in the road near a country club, deputies said.

A westbound tractor trailer, owned by Chambers Leasing Company in Toledo and driven by Rexal M. Horne, Jr., collided with the pickup truck Custer was driving, deputies said.

Custer was ejected from his truck. Horne was treated at Wayne Hospital for minor injuries, deputies said.

My note, we don't know how he was ejected from his pick up truck, apparently not through the windshield, he had no cuts on his face, head or body. He was just a few miles from his home when it happened. His wife said she heard a knock at the door and thought he had forgotten something, but she knew he would let himself in through the garage. But then when she heard another knock she put on her robe and went to the door. There was a sheriff's deputy standing there and asked to come in, he told her there had been a serious accident and Michael was being care flighted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. He told her to call someone to drive her down to Dayton. Rita asked if the deputy would have prayer with her which he did.

My Mother, sister's daughter Debbie and my other brother Harold Jr ( we call him Sonny) and myself all went down to the hospital later in the day. First phone call my Mother got from my brother Mike, Michael's Father sounded bad and my Mother didn't want to go down. Then my niece, Michael's sister Sherry called and she made everything sound better. So the four of us went down to see him.

I'm glad we did, I hope it made my Mother feel better. Around 4:00 they told us they were going to run some test, and it would take about 20 mins. About an hour and 20 mins later they came and got us and told us we could all go back to his room, and then they put us into a conference room. Two doctors and three nurses came in and it was about 6:10pm, they said he was declared legally dead at 6:00 pm and they would remove all the machines once the family saw him again. Mom said she didn't want to go back again, she had seen him twice and thought his wife, boys, parents and sister should be the ones to go back and see him one last time.

This summer Michael painted my Mother's house for her. Mom bought the paint and supplies needed to repair her front porch. He would come down on Saturdays after he got off work and also on Sundays to do the job. Mom wasn't too happy about him having to work on her house on Sundays, she doesn't like work to be done on the house on Sundays, but with Michael working full time that was about the only time he could do it. Mom always made sure she feed him something she knew he would like. He loved her homemade pot pie, which was dough cut into squares and dropped into either beef or chicken broth. Several days both of my brother's and Michael's wife also helped to paint. Mom said she felt guilty about taking up so much of his time. I've tried telling her it was something he wanted to do. And to look at it this way, she was able to have some time alone with him when he we there alone and they had their meals together.

Michael had given my Mother an estimate to do the house and Mom told him to go ahead. He finished it just a few weeks ago. When she asked for the bill to pay him, he gave her a blank invoice and she said well that doesn't tell me how much I owe you, he said well read the back. Michael was never a talker. He had written Mom a thank you note for all the care her and Dad had given him in his growing up years. And how much he appreciated that. You see Mom and Dad practically raised both him and his sister. Mom and Dad were always there when something was needed. Michael's Father was the youngest of us four kids.

It's going to be really hard on Rita his wife and my Mom. He has two sons from his first marriage, and he was a wonderful Father. But the boys lived with their Mother and her second husband and I think in the last few years they had grown farther apart as teenagers due sometimes even when living with both parents.

I don't know any of the funeral arrangements yet.