Obituary

Grover E. Bailes, Elizabeth Native, Texas Crash Victim

Local friends have recently received word of the death of Grover Edrie Bailes, 42, of Hominy, Okla., who was fatally injured in a car crash 10 miles north of Houston, Tex., on Highway 75 May 11. Funeral services were conducted at Hominy on May 14th.

Mr. Bailes was born at Elizabeth, W. Va. Jan. 19, 1913, oldest in a family of eight brothers and sisters. His is the first death in the family of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Bailes, who live at Bristow, Okla. All were in Hominy to attend services.

He was employed by Sinclair May 1, 1942 as a deliveryman assigned to the Pennsylvania products pipe line system. On July 1, 1948, he was promoted to chief station engineer and on July 1, 1954, was named division chief gauger at the Independence, Kan., office. His work took him from Chicago, Ill., to Corpus Christi, Texas.

Two other men were in the car with Bailes when a head-on crash with a car driven by a soldier took place. One of the others was killed and one taken to a Houston hospital seriously injured. Mr. Bailes' chest was crushed against the steering wheel. He lived long enough to give a report of the accident, but died enroute to the hospital.

Mr. Bailes' wife was the former CoRene Leonard of Weatherford, Okla. He was a veteran of World War II, having served 30 months in the U.S. Navy from March 11, 1943, to August 18, 1945. He was a member of the American Legion and the Masonic Lodge in Hominy.

Survivors besides the widow, and his parents, are: four sisters, Mrs. Ora Fuller, Oklahoma City, Mrs. Mary Shakespeare, Cedar Rapids, Ia., Mrs. Madeline Cox, Monohans, Tex., and Mrs. Rhea Clodefelter, of Tulsa; three brothers, Chester Bailes, Grand Prairie, Tex., Clifford Bailes and Donald Bailes both of Bristow, Okla., and 14 nieces and nephews.