Online Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/obits/g/grcerl47.txt
Extracted from The Winn Parish Enterprise (Winnfield, LA)
Grice Believed Killed In Texas City Disaster
Earl Grive [sic Grice], son of Rev. and Mrs. W. M. Grice of Route 2, Winnfield, is still
missing after a thorough search by his relatives throughout Texas City and
vicinity and is now believed to be one of the 301 persons in that vicinity
presumed to be dead. Red Cross officials in Galveston report that no trace
can be found of the man.
The missing man leaves a wife, the former Syble Walker, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Jim Walker of Tannehill; three children, Willie Pearl, Laura Ann, and
Peggy Rouline (article 2 below give name as Pauline); his parents, Rev. and
Mrs. W. M. Grice of Route Two, Winnfield; four sisters, Mrs. W. S. Dunn, Mrs.
Otis Wood, Mrs. James I. Porter, and Mrs. T. P. Ingles, all of Route Two,
Winnfield; and two brothers, Arthur Grice or Route Two, Winnfield, and Oscar
Grice of Slidell.
Daniel Webster Newsom, son of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Newsom of Route 2, Grayson,
has not been heard from since the Texas City disaster and Red Cross workers
report no trace of him. His brother in law, Homer Waites of Pineville, spent
two and one half days searching for Newsom but could find no trace. Mrs. D.
W. Newsom, who is an employee of the County Agent's office at the Court House
here, said that her husband worked for the Gulf Coast Dredging Co. and was at
sea part of the time. It is possible that he was not in Texas City at the
time of the explosions, but a rescue worker in that city told Mr. Waites that
Newsom was on the docks shortly before the first explosion.
Former Winn Parish residents reported injured in the disaster were: Mrs. M. D.
Nicholson, Mrs. Jack Norwood (nee Cordelle Boyette), Alex Maddox, and Mrs. H.
Brown. Mr. Maddox was employed at an oil company in Texas City and was
reported to be painfully injured, but it is believed he will recover. He is
the son of Mrs. J. W. Murphy of Shreveport and the nephew of Mr. W. L. Owens
and Mrs. G. A. Hynes of Winnfield and A. A. Owens of Tullos.
Mr. and Mrs. H. Brown were operating a grocery store in Texas City and Mrs.
Brown was slightly injured by flying glass from a broken window of the store.
The couple formerly lived in an apartment of Mrs. W. H. Baker in Winnfield.
Mrs. O. S. King, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben I. Boren of Winnfield, received
an injured foot in the Texas City explosions. The King home in that city was
partially demolished.
Relatives here have been notified that Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin H. Killen are
safe after the blasts and Ivy L. Johns of Tannehill has notified his relatives
that he is uninjured. Mrs. Lurline Burch Malone and her four children,
Jeraldine, James Arnold, Lloyd, and Jerry Wayne, formerly of Winnfield, are
safe, according to a Red Cross report reaching here yesterday from Galveston.
Jim Walker, father in law of Earl Grice, was also in Texas City, but relatives
here report that he and his family are safe. Others who formerly lived in
Winn Parish at Texas City were Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Schmidt, M. D. Nicholson,
Mr. and Mrs. Logan Stovall, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jackson.
Also in Texas City from Winn were Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Terrall of Calvin. They
visited Mrs. Terrall's mother, Mrs. D. A. McNaughton, in Calvin last weekend.
Mr. Terrall is a pipe fitter and a veteran of World War II. He said that the
destruction in Texas City was worse than anything he saw in Germany during the
war.
Extracted from The Winn Parish Enterprise (Winnfield, LA)
Funeral Thursday For Victim Of Texas Disaster
Funeral services for Earl Grice, one of the last victims of the Texas City,
Texas, disaster, to be identified, were held at Old Union Church, near Joyce,
Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock.
The remains were identified earlier this week by keys found on the body, which
had been issued to Mr. Grice by the Chemical Company, and by a belt buckle on
the victim. The remains arrived at the home of the victim's parents, Rev. and
Mrs. W. M. Grice, of Route Two, Winnfield, this morning.
Mrs. Earl Grice, widow of Mr. Grice, and three children, Willie Pearl, Laura
Ann, and Pauline, have moved from Texas City, to Route Two, Winnfield, to make
their home.
Thursday, April 24, 1947
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Thursday, May 1, 1947