Leslie and Ronald Sholar – Young Victims of a House Fire

 

Leslie and Ronald Sholar

Leslie Eugene Sholar and Ronald Wayne Sholar were two young brothers who died in a tragic house fire on January 26, 1954 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  Leslie Eugene or "Sonny" as he was called was five and one-half years old, born on March 8, 1948 and his brother, Ronald Wayne was four years old, born on November 26, 1949.  They were the only children, at that time, of William Eugene “Frog” Sholar and his wife, Margaret Worthington Turner Sholar. 

The Sholar family resided in a six room frame house located just outside the western city limits of Hopkinsville. Fire department personnel stated that they received an alarm of the fire at 7:10 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 26. By the time the firemen arrived at the residence, flames were leaping out of the children’s bedroom 20 feet into the air.

Mrs. Sholar and her sons were alone in the house and she was awakened when the door to her bedroom flew open.  She first thought someone had opened the door and turned on the light.  When she realized what was happening, she tried to make her way to the children’s bedroom but was cut off by the blaze.  Her clothes on fire, Mrs. Sholar ran into the yard and collapsed.  She knew enough to roll over and over to put out her burning night clothes.  After extinguishing her clothing, Mrs. Sholar ran to the window of the boys’ room where neighbors kept her from going back into the house.   She was burned severely about the eyes, shoulders and arms.  Two of the neighbors suffered cuts about the hands and arms in an attempt to pull the boys from the burning inferno.  Mrs. Sholar was subsequently admitted to Jennie Stuart Hospital where she was listed in critical condition from her burns.   Firemen labeled the mother’s effort as one of the bravest rescue attempts in the community’s fire history.

The young boys, only 13 months difference in their ages, perished in their bedroom.  The body of the older boy was found on the floor, and firemen investigating the blaze were inclined to think he may have been attempting to reach the nearby window when he was overcome.  The body of the younger boy was found on the bed and it was believed he had awakened only sufficiently to pull the bed covers over his head in an effort to keep out the intense heat of the fire.

Firemen could not determine the exact cause of the blaze and said they did not believe it started from the coal furnace that was used to heat the house. The family used butane gas for cooking purposes, but none of the neighbors heard an explosion. The father had prepared an early breakfast for himself and had already left for his work in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee.  He said there was no evidence of fire when he left the house.

The two little boys who spent their short lives together were buried in a single coffin and were interred in a single grave in the Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville.  Only their father could attend the double funeral as their mother was hospitalized.  William and Margaret subsequently became the parents of a daughter, Ronsonlyn Sholar, who was born on January 31, 1957.

Tombstone of Leslie and Ronald Sholar

 Newspaper photo of mother, Margaret Turner Sholar

LINEAGE:  (Leslie Eugene and Ronald Wayne Sholar were the sons of William Eugene “Frog” and Margaret Worthington Turner Sholar, grandsons of John William and Eliza Jane Steger Sholar and great-grandsons of Drewry Bridges and Helen Wiles Sholar.  Drewry Bridges Sholar was the tenth child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cahoon Bridges.)