CLAUDE RUSSELL PRESTON
Two tragic auto accidents, two less serious highway accidents, a
break-in, and a tire erased the holiday spirit in Johnson County and
resulted in the death of two residents and injury to six others.
Killed in separate auto mishaps were Norman Lee, 48, West Van Lear,
and Claude Russell Preston, 17, Paintsville.
Injured in the Lee accident which occurred on Middle Creek in Floyd
County, were Herbert Deskins, 48, and Winfield Holbrook, 32, both of
West Van Lear. Deskins, who suffered a fractured jaw and head
injuries, remains in St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington, while
Holbrook, suffering head injuries is in Paintsville Hospital.
Hospitalized as a result of the accident in which Preston was killed
were Charles Roy Vencil, about 27, Paintsville, and Joe Plummer, 17,
also of Paintsville.
Police gave the following account of the Lee accident.
Deskins was driving Lee, Holbrook and Bruce Phelps home from work in
the mines in Breathitt County when an auto driven by Redford K.
Barnett, 42, Martin, went out of control on rain-slickened Route 114,
about three miles west of Prestonsburg and crashed into the Deskins
vehicle.
Barnett said he applied his breaks and swerved into the path of the
Deskins auto. The accident occurred at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 28.
Preston was killed when the car in which he was riding went out of
control and smashed into a 1953 Pontiac driven by Vencil. Driver of
the other car was Plummer.
The accident occurred Thursday, Dec. 29, on U. S. 40 in Paintsville
near the C. and O. underpass.
Preston died of a fractured skull at 8:30 a.m., December 30 in
Paintsville Hospital. Plummer suffered cuts and mouth injuries while
Vencil was hospitalized with a dislocated hip and cuts. No charges
have been filed in the accident, which pushed Johnson County’s
highway death count for the year to eight, worst in the county’s
history.
Another traffic mishap, occurring Dec. 29 five miles north of
Paintsville on U. S. 23, created a serious hazard for residents of
that area and forced state policemen to re-route traffic for several
hours.
A giant trailer-tractor, carrying 6200 gallons of gasoline, turned
over after swerving to miss two vehicles which had stopped in the
road. Gasoline poured out of the truck, creating a tense situation.
The driver, Kermit Bullock, 37, of Louisa, escaped without injury.
An accident Friday evening resulted in the injury of two Paintsville
youngsters. Kay Blevins, 16, suffered a broken nose and Earl Arnett,
22, was treated for a mild concussion after the car which Arnett was
driving was hit by a car driven by Marshall Wheeler, 42, Dayton,
Ohio.
The accident occurred this side of the Oil Springs High School, about
eight miles north of Paintsville. Miss Blevins, a student at
Paintsville High School gave this account.
She and Arnett had just crossed the bridge this side of the high
school traveling toward Paintsville when Wheeler’s car traveling on
the wrong side of the road and going north, forced them off the road.
The Arnett car, struck on the left front side, left the road
completely, and then swerved back across the road, crashing into a
cliff.
State Trooper Jack Music said Wheeler was charged with drunk driving.
He was not injured.
Thieves broke into Van Lear High School Dec. 28 and stole 10
typewriters from the typing classroom. State Trooper Paul Fraim said
no attempt was made by the thieves to take anything else in the
building.
Arson is suspected in the burning of a house on Drake. The home,
which burned Dec. 30, belonged to Charles Ross. No charges have been
filed, but Trooper Fralin said officials were investigating the
possibility of arson.
Services for Norman Lee were held Saturday at Mayo Methodist Church
in Paintsville. The 48-year-old miner had been president of United
Mine Workers Local 9905 for the past 10 years before his death
Wednesday.
A resident of this county all his life, he was the son of the late Ed
Lee, Sr., and Minnie Spears Lee. Survivors inclue his wife, Mrs.
Dess Bowling Lee, one son, Norman Lee, Jr., at home, two daughters,
Mrs. Betty Ruth Blair, West Van Lear, and Mrs. Norma Jean Wells,
Hawaii, and three sisters, Mrs. Gladys Hazelett, Hager Hill, Mrs.
Mary Belvins, Wittensville, and Mrs. Pauline Salyers, Paintsville.
Burial was in the Highland Memorial Park Cemetery, Rev. Moses Kitchen
and Rev. Charles Perry officiated. Graveside rites were held by
local union 9905.
Claude Preston, a member of the Paintsville High basketball team, was
buried Sunday at Meally in the family cemetery. The well-liked
junior died at 8:30 a.m., Dec. 30 from injuries sustained in an auto
accident on Thursday.
He was the son of Edgar Preston and the late Norma Fletcher Preston
and the stepson of Gussie Burgess Preston, Paintsville. Survivors
included three sisters, Mrs. Rebecca Wells, Boons Camp, Mrs. Doris
Davis, Mrs. Joyce Preston, both of Dayton, O., and four brothers,
Escom, Marvin, Billy Joe, and Edgar, Jr., all of Dayton, O.
Services were held in the Meally Church of Christ with the Rev. J. H.
Short officiating.
Paintsville Herald
4 January 1961
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