Agnes Gonciasz's Story

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When you look at this picture, the first thing that comes to my mind is "It is absolutely amazing that anyone could have lived through this car accident!" This car was certainly built alot better than they are today........

Photo Contributed by Joanne Gonciasz Ball

When I first saw this photo years ago, the one thing that I remember, was that my mouth just fell open. I had heard that she was in a terrible car accident, but when you actually see the picture of the aftermath, you can really appreciate how thankful we all are that she survived this, and can better understand why she has such terrible problems with her legs to this very day.

I asked my Aunt Agnes to give me a story to go along with this photo. And this is her story.

This accident occured on July 26, 1945 in Providence, Rhode Island, at about 8:00 p.m. Agnes was the middle passenger in the front seat, on a four lane highway when they were hit head-on. Jimmie Knox was driving, Agnes in the middle, and next to the passenger side window, next to Agnes, was Johnnie Knox. In the back seat was a friend of their's, Joe Woznak, and Agnes's girlfriend, Corky (Corrine). Agnes received a letter from her "then" boyfriend, Reuben Nettleton, stating that he was going to be stationed outside of Rhode Island, and would be shipping out overseas soon. So the 5 of them thought that they would go see him before he was to ship out, but they never made it. Agnes recalls that they were all driving along and just listening to the radio, she turned around to the back seat and saw that Corky and Joe had fallen asleep. Then noticed that Johnnie had fallen asleep, then soon after, Agnes fell asleep also. That was the last thing she remembered.

They were hit head-on by another car that had 4 people in it, coming home from a Polish Christening. In her own words, she was knocked unconcious and she says she "never knew what hit her". The next thing she remembered was that she was laying on the road and a Marine was taking care of her.

The weather was fine, and there was no drinking of any kind. It is beleived that Jimmie may have just fallen asleep like the rest of them. 9 people were hurt, the 5 in their car, and the 4 in the other car. The only one that didn't get seriously hurt, was their driver, Jimmie Knox. It is thought that possibly he woke up just before they crashed, and jumped out of the car, because he only suffered bruised knees, and the first one's on the scene found Agnes behind the wheel.

The "Marine" mentioned earlier in Agnes's story, was home on leave from the service on a rotation leave, and had just gone to the store for his mother. And although she remembers he was quite Handsome, she recalls that he was the one that pulled her from the car before she passed out again. In her state of shock, she recalls asking him to take the gum out of her mouth before going out again, then the ambulance came and took her to the hospital.

A few days later, laying there helpless in the hospital, she was watching the nurses and the other people in the ward. Suddenly, this "Georgous Marine" enters the ward, (and she was saying to herself, "Man, I wonder who he is here to see"). She then notices the nurse pointing to her, when there was 21 other beds in the ward.) As he approached, he asked her if she remembered him, her reply was "no". Then he refreshed her memory about "Do you remember that you asked me to take the gum out of your mouth?" her answer was "not really". But she did remember that when he bent over to her, she recognized his Marine hat.

The next day, he sent Agnes the biggest, most beautiful bouque of flowers that she has ever gotten, and he continued to visit her in the hospital for two weeks, and then she never saw him again. His name was Walter Dowling and she had heard that he later married his high school sweetheart in Rhode Island. But she does remember that "Boy, he was Damn Good Looking!!" and will remember him forever.

Agnes Gonciasz, later to become Agnes Nettleton, was in the hospital for 5 months, and in bed for 14 months following this devastating accident. The bill for this (in 1945) was $1000.00, and a lein was put on Stefan and Bertha's farm house in Whitney Point, NY until the bill was paid off. Can you imagine what that bill would be today???????????? And unfortunately for Agnes, her parents (Stefan and Bertha) thought until the day they each passed away, that it was Agnes's fault. Again, this is another instance where the language barrier seized the communication in the cultures and the generations.

Below- Agnes (Gonciasz) Nettleton

Photo Contributed by Phyllis Finn (Nettleton).