Pottawatomie County News Items 1950-1959

Pottawatomie County
News Items
Extracts from 1950-1959

1953 The OKLAHOMAN, June 12, 1953
Account of the wedding at Capitol Hill Baptist church in Okla City of Miss Margaret Ann Smith and Reuell Jamieson Kirk. Bride's parents: Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bert Smith of Okla City; groom's parents: Mr. & Mrs. R.G. Kirk of Shawnee.
Other people mentioned: Miss Sue Akard of Antlers, maid of honor; bridesmaids: Miss Norma Shelton of Chickasha, Miss Phyllis Schroeder and Miss Jane Rea. Brother of the groom, Wendell Kirk of Shawnee was the bestman. Ushers: James Robinson, Russell Thompson and Dolorin Thomas all of Shawnee. Reception assistants: Mrs. Jack Gooding, Mrs. Thurston Land and Miss Daisy Bain, Miss Mary Dolores Kirk.

1954 The OKLAHOMAN, Thursday, January 14, 1954
Jennie McDivitt obit
Miss McDivitt died at age 84; burial in Fairview cemetery which she donated the land for. She homesteaded near Shawnee in the 1890s, staking a farm where the cemetery is now located. She also gave the city 40 acres to help bring the Rock Island railroad to town. Survived by a sister, Mary McDivitt.

1955 THE SHAWNEE (Okla.) NEWS-STAR, Sunday, June 12, 1955, pg. 2A:
G.G. Truscott dies, services set Monday
   Final rites for George G. Truscott, 59, route 1, Maud, will be conducted Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the First Methodist church, Maud, with Rev. Archie Hill, Wellston, officiating. Burial will be in Fairview cemetery.
   Truscott died at his home Saturday. He was employed by Shawnee garment company and had lived in the Maud community 36 years. He was a member of St. Paul's Methodist church, Shawnee.
   Survivors include his wife, Mrs. George Truscott of the home; one daughter, Mrs. Ted Jones, Florida; a brother, James J. Truscott, Shawnee, a sister, Mrs. A.A. McAllister, Oklahoma City and two grandchildren.
   Bearers will be Austin Rice, Volly Stacy, Henry Scott, Ellis Mood, Burnice Espey and Russell Goforth.
   Knights of Maud is in charge of arrangements.
(Used by permission of the SHAWNEE NEW-STAR)

1956 The OKLAHOMAN, August 15, 1956
MOTORCYCLE, AUTO CRASH AT SHAWNEE HOSPITALIZES TWO
Those involved were Joe Frank Hazen age 37 of Meeker and Don Blakley age 26 of Shawnee. Blakley suffered a broken leg and cuts and bruises. Driver of the car was Garland B. Wright of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The OKLAHOMAN, August 31, 1956
NOTED SHAWNEE ENGINEER DIES
F.D. Brown served Shawnee's city engineer for 26 years and county engineer for 16 years. He was born in Troy, Missouri and came to Shawnee in 1906. Survivors: wife, Annie D. Brown; 1 son: Frank D. jr. of Shawnee; 2 daughters: Mrs. Alice McGee of Fresno, Calif. and Mrs. Wilson Head of Shawnee; 1 brother, Judge Andy J. Brown and 1 sister: Mrs. Will Gibson, both of Troy, Missouri.

1957 The OKLAHOMAN, February 10, 1957
TRIPLE FUNERAL HELD FOR ROAD CRASH VICTIMS
Harris family killed in auto accident north of Meeker: Herman Harris jr., 18, his wife Doris Pearl, 19 and their son Keith Alan, 5 months old. Burial in Fairview cemetery Shawnee. Survivors of Herman Harris: mother, Mrs. R. M. Cooper of Shawnee; grandmother, Mrs. Nannie Harris of El Centro, Calif; grandfather, B. H. Ross of Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
Survivors of Doris: mother, Mrs. Helen Jackson of Shawnee; father C.H. Jackson of Shawnee; 3 brothers: Charles H. Jackson of Snider, Texas, Phillip T. Jackson of Casper, Wyo., and Robert L Jackson of Winston-Salem, N.C.; 2 sisters: Mrs. James E. Smith of Shawnee, and Mrs. Charles Couch of Ponca City; grandmother, Mrs. Cora Skinner of Shawnee.

The OKLAHOMAN, March 31, 1957
EARLY SHAWNEE MERCHANT DIES
Obit of Clarence W. Kerfoot, age 90. Born Sept 9, 1866 in Kentucky, he moved to Oklahoma in 1889 and settled near El Reno. He and George Kerfoot constructed the Kerfoot hotel in El Reno. Kerfoot moved to Shawnee in Dec 1899 and bought the Mammoth department store which he later sold his interest in the store and entered the grocery buisness. Other business interests he had at one time were the Shawnee city water system and a real estate business.
Mrs. Annie R. Kerfoot, his wife, died Jan 1, 1946. Survivors: 1 son: Clarence W. Kerfoot, jr. of Tulsa; 1 daughter: Mrs. J.T. Daves of Chattahoochee, Florida.

The OKLAHOMAN, September 6, 1957
Obit of Mrs. Eleanor May Lowell who died at age 85 in Oklahoma City at the home of her daughter Mrs. Walter J. Burnett. Born in Kansas and had lived in Shawnee since 1915. Other survivors: 1 son: Warren A. of Muskogee; 1 sister; 2 brothers: Milan Clugston and Edson Clugston both of Claremore.

The OKLAHOMAN, December 11, 1957
Obit for Norman Calvin who died in Shawnee at the age of 67. Native of Wynnewood. Moved near Shawnee with his parents in 1893 and 11 years later moved to Shawnee. Survivors: wife, Myrtle; 1 daughter and 1 son (unnamed); 2 stepdaughters ( one is named: Mrs. Anne Glamser of Tulsa); 1 stepsons; 1 brother, Charles of near Shawnee and 2 sisters: only Mrs. Alice Douglas of El Reno is named.

1958

The SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR, Friday, October 9, 1958, pg. 2:
GEORGE RITES ARE PENDING
   Obit for U.G. George sr., 75, of 1122 North McKinley. Burial at Fairview cemetery.
   George was a retired railway postal clerk, he made the first run from Shawnee to Arkansas City in 1904. He retired in 1940. Born in Princeton, Ky., he moved to Shawnee in 1901 from Kentucky. His wife, Mrs. Josephine C. George died Nov. 16, 1943. George was a member of the Trinity Baptist church and the Railway Mail Clerk association.
   Survivors include two sons, Guy jr., 319 North Pesotum; James W., Oklahoma City. Also a sister, Mrs. P.G. Kirk, of the home address, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild; two half-sisters, Mrs. Harold Jacob and Mrs. Ernest Ritchie, both of Princeton, Ky., and a half brother, Burley George, Princeton.
(Used by permission from the SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR.)

The SHAWNEE NEWS-STAR, Friday, October 9, 1958, front page:
COUNTY RESIDENT SINCE 1892 DIES
Obit of W.B. Hill, 87, county resident since 1892. Burial in Fairview cemetery. Born in Georgia on Jan 6, 1866. Came to Oklahoma from Montague county, Texas, in 1892. Wife, Beatrice, died Aug 31, 1905. Survivors: 1 son: Raymond, route 1 Maud; 1 daughter: Mrs. C.E. Newsom, Hale Center, Texas; 1 half-sister: Mrs. Lucinda Force, Wynnewood; 2 half-brothers: Charlie of Ada and Pat of Verden, Okla.

1959 THE OKLAHOMAN, December 2, 1959
Obit of I.C. EWAN, age 80. was born in Nebraska and came to Oklahoma in 1914. Before coming to Shawnee he lived in Enid for 15 years. He was a retired orthopedic mechanic. Survivors: 2 sons: W.L. Ewan of Shawnee and Clarence E. Ewan of Kansas City; 1 sister: Mrs. Carrie M. McClain of Udall, Kan.

The OKLAHOMAN, December 27, 1959

Obit of John Walter Yoder who died at age 75. Born in Missouri. Survivors: wife, Edna of Vallejo, Calif.; 2 sons: Arvel of Vallejo and Vincent of Shawnee; 1 daughter: Mrs. Lorraine Stacey of Vallejo; 4 brothers: W.W., J.M. and O.J. all of Shawnee, and O.L. of Long Beach, Calif.
Obits for "double funeral services" for sisters, Mrs. Ivy Ellison and Mrs. Bessie Hollis. Survivors of Ivy Ellison: 2 sons: Willie Ellison of Ada and Vernon Ellison who was a merchant seaman stationed at San Pedro, Calif; 1 daughter: Mrs. Marie Ayres of Bremerton, Wash.; father: Jim Henderson of Asher; two brothers: Cecil Henderson of New York City and Elmer Henderson of Shawnee; 2 sisters: Mrs. Cressie Coleman and Mrs. Ruth Matthews both of Asher. Survivors of Mrs. Hollis: 1 son: Roy Pappan of Galveston, Texas; father: Jim Henderson of Asher; two brothers, Cecil and Elmer Henderson; 2 sisters: Mrs. Cressie Coleman and Mrs. Ruth Matthews. Burial for the sisters in Vista cemetery near Asher.