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: 10/1/21 • Approved: 10/2/21 • Last Updated: 10/5/21 • R460320-G0-S3
US Marine Corps
World War II
June 17, 1925-July 9, 2007
Purple Heart
*Photo/Information, courtesy of Edith Guynes Stanley
*Obituary
WHEELER - Darville E. Atherton, 82, died Monday, July 9, 2007.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday in First Baptist Church with the Rev. Bill Stiles, pastor of Allison Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Wheeler Cemetery by Wright Funeral Directors.
The beloved patriarch of the Atherton family passed from this life into the presence of his Savior and members of his family July 9, 2007. Darve was at home with his grandson, along with his companion of many years, his little dog, Cuddles.
Darville was born June 17, 1925, in the Zybach community, the second of four sons, to Floyd and Mattie Edwards Atherton. He graduated from Briscoe High School in 1942. He married Sammie Lee Doughterty on Jan. 5, 1947, in her parents' home north of Wheeler. To this union four sons were born.
He accepted Christ as a youngster, being baptized in a horse tank.
He served two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Division. Darville was very proud of his tour of duty in the Marines, and often said, "Once a Marine, always a Marine." He enlisted during World War II and saw action in the South Pacific theater, helping take Guadalcanal, and being present and seeing the famous flag raising on Iwo Jima. He suffered a head wound when the landing craft he was in was blown up as they reached the beach on Pelilieu, where he received a 30 percent disability, and for which he was decorated with the Purple Heart. As he and other wounded personnel were being flown to the Army hospital on Guadalcanal, the plane he was in crash landed on a jungle island, leaving Darve with many memories that remained fresh in his mind throughout the years. He said that after the plane came to rest, he shook the pilot's hand and thanked him for landing them safely. Darve would always smile and chuckle as he related that the pilot told him he "could've done better if he'd had a runway." Before being honorably discharged, he served in China.
Darville spent two years doing road construction in Borger, and in 1948, he began dairy farming, cattle ranching and farming on the first land he and Sammie purchased, 640 acres about 8 miles north of Wheeler, which came to be known as the "home place," being bought from Sammie's parents. Over the course of years, the Atherton land holdings increased considerably, due to many long hours of hard work that he, his wife and sons invested in their places. In the 1960s, he bought the Callan, Anderson, Watts and Smith places and began an extensive haying and ranching operation while doing custom haying and wheat harvesting. He raised milo, cotton, irrigated alfalfa and grasses.
On a routine day in 1967, he and his two older sons were burned in an explosion on north Callan, east of Wheeler. They all suffered major burns, and his eldest son, Arville Dean, died from stress complications of his burns. Darve was told his own hands were so badly burned that he wouldn't be able to use them. In spite of the personal heartache he and his family were enduring, being told that he wouldn't have manual dexterity only served as yet another personal challenge to him, and he bested the odds, just as he had done after his military injuries.
He became active in soil conservation efforts and was named the National Outstanding Comeback Farmer for Wheeler County in 1971. He served as chairman of the Wheeler Soil and Water Conservation District, giving 25 years of outstanding service. He said his interest in conservation began when he participated in the WPA and planted windbreak trees.
Darve served on the Briscoe School Board for several years.
Darville was a previous member of Briscoe Baptist Church, where he served as Sunday school superintendent and church treasurer. He and Sammie moved their memberships to First Baptist Church in Wheeler when they moved east of town in the mid-'70s.
He was devoted to Sammie and spent several hours every day with her, encouraging her during meals and trying to make her as comfortable and happy as possible.
Generosity was his nature, with him making many donations to worthy organizations. Anonymously, he helped numerous others, while personally sacrificing.
He was a member of the American Legion, VFW and other military organizations. He was a 50-year Master Mason, a current member of Shamrock Masonic Lodge No. 929, following in his dad's footsteps, as both were past Master of Masonic Lodge No. 1099 in Wheeler.
Darve had a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed visiting with his many friends and family. He always had a ready smile, handshake, pat on the back or hug for whomever he encountered. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and was a loving son and brother. His passing has left a void in our hearts that will never be filled on Earth.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Sammie Lee Atherton, in 2004; three sons, Arville Dean Atherton, Lee Royce Atherton and Micky "Mick" Atherton; a granddaughter, Kathy "Renee" Atherton; and his parents, Floyd and Mattie Atherton.
Survivors include a son, Russell and wife Noveta Atherton of Wheeler; two brothers, Darrle Atherton and wife Frankie of Willis and Bill Atherton and wife Christine of Wheeler; a sister, Ladell Atwood and husband Ted of Pampa; four grandchildren, Angel Atherton Thomas, Chynna Atherton Lopez, Michael Atherton and Nikki Atherton; four stepgrandchildren, Deann Aderholt, Kelly Aderholt, Misty Snelgrooes and Jennifer Allen; seven great-grandchildren, Stephen Penny, Sierra Atherton, Jacolby Napier, Kamonte' Martin, Bailey Sydney, Isaiah Lopez and Aviana Lopez; three stepgreat-grandchildren, Whittney Brownfield, Teesha Coone and Torree Coone; and three great-great-grandchildren, Jace Martin, Julius Atherton and Aaron Atherton.
The family suggests memorials be to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, P.O. Box 1890, Amarillo, TX 79174-0001; or the Ja Naee Goad Memorial.
Amarillo Globe-News, July 12, 2007
Contributed on 10/1/21
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 460320