BROWNELL, RALPH H.

A 54-year-old Guerneville man died Monday [October 13, 1980] when the car he was servicing at a Santa Rosa shop slipped off a jack and crushed him.

Ralph Hugh Brownell, a mechanic at Cantarutti Frame and Alignment on Maxwell Court in Santa Rosa, was pronounced dead shortly after 9:45 a.m. at Memorial Hospital.

Police said Brownell was aligning the wheels of a car and had elevated the rear of the vehicle with a floor jack. He reportedly went into a pit below the car and pulled on the bumper to settle the shock absorbers.

When he tugged the bumper, police said, the car rolled off the jack and fell on him, pinning him to the wall of the pit. A truck with a winch was used to pull the car off.

Brownell’s 55th birthday would have been today.

Brownell was a native of Wisconsin, a veteran of World War II, and had retired after 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Brownell, Guernesville; by two sisters, Janice James, Phoenix, Ariz., and Joyce Lundeen, Eau Claire, Wis.; and by a brother, Richard Brownell, Eau Claire.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Guerneville Redwood Chapel, Guerneville.