Extracted from The Ruston Daily Leader (Ruston, LA)
Thursday, January 12, 1967

Ruston High Graduate Killed In One-Car Highway Accident

Ronald Mayo Whitten, a 19-year-old 1965 graduate of Ruston High School, was killed early last night when his car struck a concrete abutment west of Ruston on Interstate 20.

Whitten is the son of Mr. and Mrs. M. O. Whitten of 205 East California, Ruston.

The accident occurred at exactly the same place where a 23-year-old Barksdale airman was seriously injured in a similar accident Monday. The two accidents occurred in nearly the same manner -- both cars were traveling toward Ruston, both left the road approximately 300 feet west of the overpass, and both crashed into the massive concrete pillars that support the overpass. State Police said that this marked the twelfth serious accident at the site since the highway opened.

Investigation of the accident last night by State Police showed that Whitten's car left the highway at an undetermined rate of speed and went into the median that separates the east-west lanes of traffic. The State Police speculated that Whitten, alone in the car, may have been asleep, for tire marks in the median indicated no attempt to change direction before the car smashed into the overpass.

Whitten, an employee at Delta Engineers in Minden, was enroute to Ruston when the accident occurred at about 6:00 p.m. State Police were summoned to the scene, and a Martin Ambulance carried Whitten to Lincoln General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Whitten had been a member of the 1964-65 Ruston Bearcat varsity basketball team which reached the state AA semifinals. He was an active member of Temple Baptist Church, and participated in W.O.W. activities. He attended Louisiana Tech following his graduation from Ruston High School.

Funeral arrangements were still incomplete early today. The funeral will be under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home of Monroe.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Richard Whitten of Ruston, and George R. Whitten [Robertson] of College Park, Md.; and his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Carter, Sr., of Monroe.