Whoa.

If you’ve been wondering, the Louie Dragnich who was killed in a traffic accident on Highway 395 is the same Louie Dragnich whose auto dealership was highlighted in our Looking Back feature today. I can’t imagine what the odds are of this happening, but here’s a rough timeline of how things came together to give you an idea.

The “Looking Back” photo was submitted, evidently by Dragnich himself, over a week ago. The photo was scanned electronically by our library staff and returned. Kathryn Stevens, who works in the photo department, selects more or less at random the photos that are used for “Looking Back,” and chose Dragnich’s photo for today’s paper. The features section is assembled by the daytime copy desk and usually is finished by late afternoon.

That evening, after the section was finished, the city desk gets a press release about an accident on Highway 395 and writes it up for the paper. The reporters and editors who deal with the accident story have no idea what is in the features section. They could find out, but it isn’t routine procedure to check the rest of the paper to look for other mentions of people killed in accidents.

If someone had noticed, it’s possible the “Looking Back” feature would have been replaced or removed. That, on the surface of things, would seem like the sensitive thing to do. On the other hand, were it not for this bit of serendipity, Dragnich’s passing would have probably gone unnoticed by many in the larger community.

Look for a news obituary for Louie Dragnich in tomorrow’s paper. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Vivian, who was hospitalized in the wreck, and all those touched by the loss.