Gathering remembers Don Stangle

Four days before Christmas 1987, Paramedic Chief Don Stangle participated in a rescue that put him and several of his colleagues in the national spotlight.

Twenty-month-old Stephen Edwards was trapped upside down in a Ford Bronco that spun out on Toler Lane and ended up in the Upper Allerman Canal.

Deputy Greg Curtis was the first to arrive at the scene of the accident where bystanders told him Stephen was trapped 5 feet below the surface. According to R-C writer Lisa Wixon, writing in the Christmas Eve edition, Curtis stripped to his underwear and dove in to get Stephen, but couldn’t get to him.

Stangle and Bobby Wartgow followed Curtis into the water, but they couldn’t get to Stephen.  Douglas County Engine Co. Assistant Chief Steve Morgan tried his breathing apparatus, but it didn’t work in the freezing water.

Using the rescue truck to hoist the Bronco onto its side, Stangle broke the glass and pulled Stephen out.

“He was pulseless and unbreathing and completely blue and stiff,” Stangle told Wixon, the entire rescue took less than 11 minutes.

As important as the effort was, the front page news that day was that Stephen, who spent 24 minutes in the extremely cold water, would survive and thrive.

“After all the excitement was over and (Stephen) was on his way to Reno, I went around the corner of the clinic and cried,” Stangle said in his autobiography.

On Saturday, at least 60 people turned out for a memorial to Stangle, who died March 18, 2024.

Stangle was described as “self-driven, self-motiviated, and always self improving,” by his friend Tom Springmeyer during Saturday’s service.

He was one of four who received a presidential citation from President Reagan for his role in saving Stephen’s life.

“The rescue made national news, but Don downplayed it saying he was just doing his job as a paramedic,” said Trinity Lutheran Church Elder Richard Thomas who read memories from Springmeyer and Stangle’s sister, Julie Hoffman.

“From an early age, Don loved classic cars with the first car he bought a Chevy Impala SS, Thomas said. “His first restoration project was a 1969 Camaro that he restored from the frame up. He would often say he touched every nut and bold in the car. After it was finished after three years, he displayed it and the car won 19 trophies. He was very proud of that car.”