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Submitted: 8/5/22 • Approved: 8/5/22 • Last Updated: 8/8/22 • R529717-G0-S3
April 8, 1935-December 25, 1955
*Photo, courtesy of Mary (Coggin) Russell
*Obituary
Funeral services were held here Tuesday at the First Baptist Church for Gerald W. Witherspoon, 20, who died Christmas Day in Lubbock of a 'self-inflicted' gunshot wound.
Conducting the services were Rev. Russell Wingert, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Howard Scott, pastor of the First Baptist Church.
Witherspoon's death was ruled a suicide by Lubbock Justice of the Peace George McCleskey. According to the JP, the Texas Tech student first fatally wounded I.C. Enochs Jr., 30, and then turned the gun on himself. Both Witherspoon and Enochs had been dating Mrs. Barbara Carpenter Keene who was a witness to the shooting.
Witherspoon was born April 8, 1935. He was a 1954 graduate of Hereford High School and a sophomore at Texas Tech.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Witherspoon of Hereford; one sister, Irene Witherspoon of Hereford; and his grandmother, Mrs. Carl Gilliland of Hereford.
Pallbearers were Richard Tucker, Kit C. Sanderson, Farris Brock, Tate Graham, Charles Whitehead and Smiley Derricksen.
Burial was in West Park Cemetery under the direction of Gililland Funeral Home.
(Published in The Hereford Brand, 55th Year No. 52, Hereford, Texas, Thursday, December 29, 1955, Page 1)
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Texas, Birth Index, 1903-1997
Name: Gerald Winfrey Witherspoon
Date of Birth: 8 Apr 1935
Gender: Male
Birth County: Tarrant
Father's name: James W Witherspoon
Mother's name: Margaret Witherspoon
Roll Number: 1935_0008
U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
Name: Gerald Winfrey Witherspoon
Birth Date: 8 Apr 1935
Birth Place: Hereford, Deaf Smith, Texas
SAR Membership: 79422
Role: Applicant
Application Date: 20 Aug 1955
Father: James Winfred Witherspoon
Mother: Margaret Gilliland
Texas, Death Index, 1903-2000
Name: Gerald W. Witherspoon
Death Date: 25 Dec 1955
Death County: Lubbock
Certificate: 62650
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
Name: Gerald W Witherspoon
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age: 20
Birth Date: 8 Apr 1935
Birth Place: Texas
Residence: Hereford, Deaf Smith, Texas, USA
Death Date: 25 Dec 1955
Death Place: Lubbock, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Father: J W Witherspoon
Mother: Margaret Gilliland
Contributed on 8/5/22 by neldapat
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Record #: 529717