Extracted from The Laurel Leader-Call (Laurel, MS)
Monday, March 25, 1963

Laurel Resident Drowns When His Boat Capsizes

A. J. Wilmoth, 48, an employe of Masonite Corporation, drowned Saturday in Eagle Lake near Vicksburg in a boating accident. Wilmoth, a resident of Indian Springs Road, Laurel, apparently drowned, according to authorities, when his boat overturned after striking an obstacle or after hitting rough water. Wilmoth, alone at the time of the accident, had gone earlier Saturday to Jackson to pick up a brother, Paul Wilmoth, a produce house operator, who was to accompany the victim on the fishing trip. The brother was unable to make the trip, the family said. A veteran of World War II, Wilmoth was a wet-lap machine operator at Masonite's Unit No. 1. Authorities estimated the time of the accident at between noon and p.m. Saturday.

Funeral services for Wilmoth will be held Tuesday, 2 p.m. at Memory Chapel, with the Rev. Dee Parker officiating. Burial will be in Memory Gardens near Jackson.

Surviving are, his widow, Mrs. Leetha Bankston Wilmoth, one daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Lee Clark, Laurel; two sons, Thomas Randall Wilmoth and Glen Allen Wilmoth, both of Route 5, Laurel; one sister, Mrs. Albert Parker, Austin, Tex.; four brothers, Paul E. Wilmoth, J. A. Wilmoth, C. A. Wilmoth, all of Jackson; and Hilton Wilmoth, Webb City, Mo.; and two grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be, Jeff Holifield, W. J. Scruggs, Joe King, C B. Campbell, M. Buckhalt, and C. J. Holifield.

Memory Chapel is in charge.