| Upchurch, Whirta Lee 218941 |
| Birth: 03/01/1914 Death: 06/03/1962 Marriage: 01/07/1954 |
| Cemetery: Meadowbrook (H-048-03) |
| Record Source: The Paris News |
| Update info |
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If you copy this information, please cite this as your source: Betsy Mills and Ron Brothers. The Death and Cemetery Records of Lamar County, Texas, ReBroMa Press, 2008, http://www.lamarcountytx.org/cemetery. (05/12/2025) |
| Notes THE PARIS NEWS, Monday, June 4, 1962, p. 1. 'Five Lamar Residents Killed... By Dale Johnson. Five Lamar County residents were killed in a three-car accident Sunday afternoon 5.3 miles north of Paris on U.S. Highway 271 on a rain-slick highway. Officers said the Sunday mishap was the worst traffic accident in the county in many years. It raised the death toll in Lamar County to seven since Jan. 1, the same number killed in all of 1961. Dead are Mr. and Mrs. Sam DeWitt Chism, both 60 of Powderly, Dennis Melvin Gordon, 45, of 214-11th NE, Whirta Lee Upchurch, 46, of 826-3rd NW, and Gordon Leo Stone, 52, who lived in the Gibraltar Hotel. Mrs. Chism and Upchurch were pronounced dead on arrival at St. Joseph's Hospital, and Chism and Gordon died shortly after being admitted. Stone died Sunday evening. The Chisms were in a north bound auto and the other three persons were in a southbound car. The third vehicle involved contained three Mt. Pleasant men who received only minor injuries. Their car was behind the Chism auto and struck the rear of it when the collision occurred. Drivers of two other autos which were behind the southbound auto ran their cars off the road to avoid piling into the first smashup. Highway Patrolman James Wray, who investigated the fatal accident, said the two drivers of the fourth and fifth autos did some 'fancy driving' to avoid being involved in the crash. He said the occupants of the third auto which was involved received cuts, bruises and one possibly had some cracked ribs. Five ambulances from Paris took the dead and injured to the hospital. Wray said he assumed Gordon was driver of the southbound car since he was the owner, and said Chism was driving his auto. Witnesses told Wray that Gordon had passed them and some other vehicles, and as he attempted to pull back into his lane he lost control of his auto. It skidded into the path of the Chism's car and they collided head-on. The three men in the Gordon auto were thrown from the vehicle, and witnesses said Stone was thrown over the Chism car and the one in which the three Mt. Pleasant men were riding. Patrolman Wray said the accident occurred at 1:40 p.m., during a rain, and he was unable to find any skid marks from tires of either vehicle. The engine, transmission and radiator from Gordon's auto were torn from the car and thrown about 150 feet from the impact point. Both vehicles which contained the fatalities were totally demolished, and damage to the third auto was placed at $700-$800. A minor accident occurred at the scene involving an auto driven by Cleo Lamb, 823-6th NW, and a wrecker from Steelman Bros. Welding Shop which was attempting to move one of the wrecked autos. Damage was estimated at $150 to the Lamb car and the wrecker received negligible damage. Sightseers hampered efforts of ambulance attendants to remove persons from the autos, and traffic blocked the routes of ambulances to and from the scene. Officers told onlookers several times to move back from the autos so attendants would have room to work, but Wray said it did little good. Vehicles lined both sides of the highway to the north and south, and a line of vehicles remained on the highway waiting for the wreckage to be cleared so they could pass.' THE PARIS NEWS, Monday, June 4, 1962, p.2. '... W. L. (Lee) Upchurch, 48, a termite control company employee, who was dead on arrival at St. Joseph's Hospital at 1:45 p.m., lived at 826-3rd NW. The funeral will be held at Fry and Gibbs chapel, probably Wednesday, other details being incomplete. Whirta Lee Upchurch, son of P. G. and Flora (Walker) Upchurch, was born at Ambia, March 1, 1914; attended Atlas school, was a Baptist Church member, and a World War II veteran of three years overseas service, who had received the Purple Heart. He worked in Fort Worth before returning here about a year ago. Besides his parents, living in Paris, and his wife, the former Miss Shirley West, whom he married here Jan. 7, 1954, he leaves a daughter, Patricia Ann, and a brother and three sisters; Grady Upchurch, Mrs. Charlie Cope and Mrs. Buddy Green, all of Paris, and Mrs. James D. Warren, Mojave, Calif.' From the record journal of Meadowbrook Cemetery; son of P.G. & Flora Walker Upchurch. Born in Ambia community of Lamar County, died in Paris, TX. |
| War Notes Rank World War II |