Tragedies
Henington Fatal Grass Fire
In the early 1950s a grass fire broke out on the farm of Mr. Pate near Burke School while he was butchering a hog. The fire threatened the house of an elderly Mrs. Etta Henington, who lived next door to the school. Her housekeeper moved Mrs. Henington from the house, thinking she was protecting her. Instead she led her to a field in front of the house where the fire overtook her and burned her to death.
Conner Drowning
In the 1950s a daughter of Sam Conner drowned in a pond on the property of her Pate grandparents near Burke School.
Burrous Airplane Crashes
In the 1950s both Lloyd Burrous and his son Billy were killed in separate airplane crashes at the Angelina County Airport. Billy was giving a flying lesson when his airplane crashed on takeoff south of the airport.
Five years to the day later, Lloyd lost an engine on takeoff on the same runway and crashed apparently trying to turn back to land on the runway. Since turning back to the runway on takeoff is a cardinal flying error, one wonders what effect the prospect of crash landing in the same field where his son had died had on his fatal decision.
Sources:
- Donald Burrous, Personal Recollections
- M. Lee Murrah, Personal Recollections