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Submitted: 1/22/21 • Approved: 1/24/21 • Last Updated: 1/27/21 • R1361898-G0-S3
1926 - Oct 23, 1951
*Obituary
OSCEOLA, Oct. 20, 1951 - Two women cousins from Huffman were killed at 2:30 today when their automobile overshot a Highway 61 curve two and one-half miles north of here, overturning and pinning both beneath the wrecked vehicle.
Dead are:
Miss Virginia Ray, 21, superintendent of nurses at Walls Hospital, apparently the driver. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Max Ray of Huffman.
Miss Dorothy Hughes, 25, daughter of Mrs. Florence Hughes of Huffman.
According to Deputy Sheriff Cliff Cannon, the couple was driving toward Blytheville alone when their car missed a sharp curve near Frank Williams' residence, struck a tree and overturned throwing both underneath the car.
Deputy Cannon said the body of Miss Ray was found face up under the rear door of the car's left side and that Miss Hughes' body lay face down across the other woman.
"This indicated", he said," that both were thrown from the car through the driver's door."
The pair was last reported seen at 2 a.m. by Herman Allen, Caruthersville truck driver, who saw them at a Lake David cafe.
Allen, who arrived at the accident scene shortly after he crash, said he saw them drinking a Coke about 35 minutes earlier.
First person to reach the car was Bill Childress, employee of Buchanan Chevrolet Company, who reported that car lights were still on, the motor running and the radio playing.
The bodies were removed to Swift Funeral Home here and taken to Cobb Funeral Home in Blytheville this morning.
The car, a 1951 Pontiac did not appear to be heavily damaged, Depty Cannon said.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete at noon.
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Sunday, October 21, 1951
Double Rites Held for Auto Victims, Services Conducted for Virginia Ray and Dorothy Hughes
Double funeral services for Miss Virginia Ray, 21, and Miss Dorothy Hughes, 25, cousins from Huffman who were killed in an auto accident Saturday morning near Osceola, were to be conducted at 2 p.m. today at the Huffman Baptist Church.
The Rev. Byron Epps, pastor and the Rev. M.R. Griffin officate. Burial was to be in Elmwood Cemetery with Cobb Funeral Home in charge.
Miss Ray, a graduate of Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Memphis, had been superintendent of nurses at Walls Hospital for the past 15 months.
She is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Max Ray, Sr. of Huffman; three brothers, William Ray of Charleston, Mo., and Max Ray Jr., and Raymond Ray, both of Huffrman and a sister, Mrs. Louise Williams of San Diego, Calif.
Miss Hughes is survived by her mother, Mrs. Florence Hughes of Huffman; a brother, John Hughes of Huffman; and five sisters, Mrs. Chester Caldwell of Blytheville, Mrs. Moss Moore of Elaine, Ark., Mrs. Donald Fleming of Binghampton, N.Y., Mrs. Dewey Davis of Darlington, S.C. and Miss Peggy Hughes of Huffman.
Pallbearers for Miss Hughes were Charles Nance, David McPeak, Malcolm Greenway, Joe Siebert, B. W. White and Pruitt Harrison.
For Miss Ray, pallbearers were James Henson, Lymon Henson, Jimmie Ray, Johnny Ray, Roy Harrison and Gerald Cassidy.
Blytheville Courier News, Blytheville, Arkansas
Saturday, October 20, 1951
Contributed on 1/22/21 by eagle12953
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Record #: 1361898