To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Texas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Texas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 8/11/21 • Approved: 8/11/21 • Last Updated: 8/14/21 • R446310-G0-S3
1913-1955
Photo/information, courtesy of Edith Guynes Stanley
*Obituary
Two cousins were killed instantly yesterday afternon [sic] when the 1955 Ford convertible they were riding plowed head-on into a gasoline truck 8 miles west of Pampa on Highway 152.
Pinned behind the steering wheel of the completely demolished auto was Alfred Frank Pierce, 42, 703 1/2 Delaware, Borger. A companion, Bill Bankston, about 45, of Perryton, was pinned underneath the right hand section of the dash, officers said.
Both men and five Greyhounds were riding in the vehicle at the time of the crack-up. Three of the dogs which belonged to Bankston were killed.
The men were believed to be on a coyote hunting excursion, at the time they topped the fatal hill.
The collision occurred as Pierce, driver of the auto, attempted to pass a car driven by Wesley Matlock of Pampa. While in the passing maneuver a gasoline truck driven by Lowell A. Frazier of Amarillo came over the hill. After the impact, the truck went out of control and before Frazier could bring it to a stop, it collided with the Matlock auto. The convertible never [ink blot on paper - illegible].
Neither Matlock, Ed Walters, a passenger with Matlock, or Frazier were injured. The left rear of the truck and the left rear fender of the Matlock car sideswiped. The gasoline truck was extensively damaged, however, because of the impact with the convertible.
Pierce was an employee of the W.W. Holmes Oil Company, Borger and is survived by his wife, of the home, a daughter Mrs. Jackie Slover, Borger; two sons, Jackie and George of Borger and his parents Mr. and Mrs. G.M. Pierce, Fort Worth.
Other survivors include two sisters, Mrs. Dewey Wilkerson and Mrs. Otis Medford, both of Ft. Worth; five brothers, L.M. and Herman Pierce, Hobbs, N.M.; Joe and Edgar, both of Ft. Worth; and Elbert Pierce, Carlsbad, N.M. and two grandchildren.
Funeral services for Pierce will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday, at the East Side Baptist Church, with Rev. J.R. Lawson, pastor, officiating.
Pallbearers include Scotty Watson, Bob Fisher, Harold Hall, Clyde Crain, Elzie Gage, and Gordon Green, all of Borger. Honorary pallbearers include the employees of the W.W. Holmes Oil Company.
Interment for Pierce will be in the Highland Park Cemetery.
Bankston's body was carried overland to Tahoka, Texas yesterday. He is survived by his mother and a brother Joe Bankston, both of Lubbock. At the time of the accident he worked as a cook in a Perryton restaurant.
The accident was investigated by State Highway Patrolmen and the Hutchinson County Sheriff's Office.
(Published in Borger News Herald, July 13, 1955, p1 c4&5)
-----
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
Name: Alford Franklin Pierce
Birth Date: 8 Sep 1913
Birth Place: Hill, Texas
Gender: Male
Race: White
Residence: Borger, Hutchinson, Texas
Father: G M Pierce
Mother: Lula Bell Huffman
Age at Death: 41
Death Date: 12 Jul 1955
Death Place: Pampa, Gray, Texas, USA
Contributed on 8/11/21
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 446310