Willis White “Bill” Jones -- Social Studies Teacher

 

Willis White "Bill" Jones

Willis White “Bill’ Jones was born on May 11, 1921 in Canton, Kentucky in the old Canton Hotel, the third generation of his family to be born in the old hotel.  He was the only child of Leonard Adolphus “Dink” Jones and Helen Futrell Jones. Dink was a native of Trigg County, Kentucky and had worked as a construction worker and grocery salesman.  Helen was also a native of Trigg County, and was the daughter of Joseph Lane Futrell and Nancy Elizabeth Thomas.  Nancy was a granddaughter of Perry Thomas.

Bill lived in Canton and attended Trigg County Schools, graduating from Trigg County High School.  In 1941, he moved to St. Charles, Missouri where he worked for Wellston Springs Ordinance Plant, which manufactured war materials to be used in World War II.  Bill was later transferred to the Holston Valley Ordinance Works in Kingsport, Tennessee. Bill was subsequently inducted into the U.S. Army and received his basic training at Camp Barkley, Texas. After receiving advanced training at Camp Carson, Colorado, he was sent to the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. Because of the hot and humid climate of the islands, many soldiers incurred incurable fungus and deteriorating diseases.  Bill was given an honorable medical discharge from the military in 1946.

On July 5, 1941 in St. Charles, Missouri, Bill married Mildred Helen Stewart of Gracey, Kentucky.  Mildred was born on February 23, 1922, the daughter of James Backus Stewart and Lois Piercy Stewart. When Bill was in the service overseas, Mildred lived with her parents and taught school in Gracey.

After Bill was discharged from the military, he and Mildred moved to Cadiz in 1947.  Bill went back and graduated from Murray State University.  Bill and Mildred opened operated a florist shop in Cadiz called Mildred’s Florist. After they sold the florist shop several years later, the name of the business remains Mildred’s Florist even today. Mildred taught school for five years in Cadiz after moving from Gracey and then went to Ft. Campbell where she taught school for 32 years until she retired in 1984.  Bill became a social studies teacher and taught history at Trigg County High School.

Bill and Mildred became the parents of their only child, a daughter, Shawn Hiler Jones, born in 1954.

Bill was involved in many civic responsibilities as a citizen of Cadiz and Trigg County including the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Cadiz Masonic Lodge, the Cadiz Shrine Club and a number of other organizations.  As a well respected high school teacher he was selected “Teacher of the Month” and “Teacher of the Year” on several occasions.

On March 13, 1983 Bill died at his home in Cadiz of a massive heart attack.  He was 61 years old.  Unbeknown to him, the high school annual had been dedicated to him in the year he died.  Bill was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  Mildred died in Hopkinsville on December 26, 1998 at the age of 76.  She was buried in East End Cemetery next to her husband.

 Bill and Mildred Jones

 

Tombstone of Bill and Mildred Jones

 

Military Tombstone of Bill Jones

LINEAGE:  (Willis White “Bill” Jones was the son of Leonard Adolphus and Helen Futrell Jones. Helen was the daughter of Joseph Lane and Nancy Elizabeth Thomas Futrell.  Nancy was the third child of Rufus King and Alvie Adeline Dunn Thomas.  Rufus was the fifth child of Perry and Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Helena Gertrude Sumner Humphries -- Honored Home Economics Teacher

 

Gertrude Sumner Humphries

Helena Gertrude Sumner was born on December 16, 1910 in Trigg County, Kentucky.  She was the only child of James Ottawa Sumner and Martha Miller Thomas Sumner. James O. and Martha were both natives of Trigg County with Martha being a great-granddaughter of James and Mary Standley Thomas and James O. being a great-great-grandson of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.

Gertrude grew up in her family home with her favorite pastime being sewing for her dolls using an old treadle sewing machine developing a talent that she would use in her adult life.  She attended the Montgomery School and graduated from the Cadiz High School.  During the depression, at the age of 16, she helped to put herself through college at Western Kentucky University.  After graduation, she pursued a career as a home economics teacher, a career which lasted 33 years.

Her teaching career began at the Sinking Fork School in Christian County, Kentucky where she taught from 1931 to 1936 and then returned there to teach from 1942 to 1948.  In 1948, she begin teaching at Trigg County High School in Cadiz where she taught home economics till her retirement in 1971. It is estimated that over 3,000 girls passed through her classrooms.

Gertrude’s career as a home economics instructor was highly recognized as she was a member of local, district, state and national associations of Home Economists.  She served several times as an officer in the district and state level of these organizations.

Gertrude’s dedicated service as a teacher was exemplified in her sponsorship of numerous skits, plays, pageants, banquets and other events for her students.  She spent many hours chaperoning student group as they traveled across the state for home economic events.  She was selected as the Trigg County “Teacher of the Year” and “Woman of the Year.”  The Trigg County High School home economics department was named as the “Gertrude Humphries Economics Department” In honor of the outstanding work she had performed at the school.

Gertrude married Ira Lee Humphries on December 16, 1934 at a ceremony in her parent’s home.  Ira was born in Trigg County on October 18, 1903, the second of five children born to George T. Humphries and Mancel Marlow Humphries. His siblings were Jessye Virginia Humphries, Georgia Mae Humphries, Howard Wilson Humphries and Harriet Bonnie Humphries. Ira was a farmer and he and Gertrude lived on the family farm that he had managed since he was a young man.  The farm had been in the Humphries family for generations having been granted to his ancestor for service rendered in the Revolutionary War.  Ira and Gertrude were the parents of one child, Harold Rudolph Humphries who was born on January 1, 1936 in Trigg County.

Gertrude died on June 6, 1990 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky at the age of 79.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  Her husband, Ira, had died the previous year on September 14, 1989 in Hopkinsville at the age of 85 and was also buried in the East End Cemetery.

Ira Humphries

Ira and Gertrude HumphriesTombstone

LINEAGE: (Helena Gertrude Sumner was the daughter of James Ottawa and Martha Miller Thomas Sumner and the granddaughter of Benjamin Miles and Henrietta Gabrella Bridges Sumner and Starkie Armstead and Inez Miller Thomas.  Henrietta Gabrella was the first child of Drewry and Peachie Ann Tart Bridges and Starkie Armstead was the tenth child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Drewry was the fourth child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges)

Lindsey Morgan Sholar -- Victim of a Tragic Vehicle Accident

 

Lindsey Morgan Sholar

Lindsey Morgan Sholar was born on June 4, 1995 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the only child of John Wayne Sholar and Gayla R. Curtis Sholar.  Her father was a construction worker and was a native of Trigg County, Kentucky.  Her mother was a native of Christian County, Kentucky. Lindsey had two halfsiblings by her father’s first marriage to Millie Maeve Witty, Tiffany Leigh Robison, born in 1974 and Jacob Uriah Robison, born in 1976.

On Monday evening of June 23, 2003 when Lindsey was 8 years old, she was traveling with her father in a 1992 Jeep Cherokee.  Around 10:20 p.m. they were about two miles north of Gracey, Kentucky when her father apparently lost control of the vehicle and ran off the roadway and into a cornfield and overturned.  The vehicle came to a rest on its top. Lindsey’s father, Johnny was pronounced dead at the scene.  Lindsey was taken to the Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville for treatment of minor injuries.

Lindsey grew up in Trigg County in the Cerulean community and attended Trigg County schools.  In 2012, Lindsey was a student at Trigg County High School, when she, like her father, lost her life in a tragic automobile accident.

On Saturday morning, December 8, 2012, Lindsey was a passenger In a Toyota passenger van that was traveling northbound about a mile north of Highway U.S. 68 on the Rockcastle Road in Trigg County.  The vehicle was in a curve near the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church when it collided with a southbound farm tractor hauling a chisel plow.  The collision was so serious that it caused the death of three passengers in the van along with the driver of the van. A fifth passenger in the van was transported to the Trigg County Hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.  The driver of the tractor was also uninjured in the accident.   Officials said the tractor driver tried to avoid the collision once he saw the van but wasn’t able to do so.  In addition to Lindsey losing her life, the other victims of the crash were Dalton R. McDougall, age 19, Kimberly M. Shafer, age 18 and the driver David M. Shoaf, age 30. McDougall and Shafer were recent graduates of Trigg County High school.

Lindsey was a senior at Trigg County High School and would have graduated as a member of the Class of 2013.  She had been elected as the Most Dependable member of the senior class. She was very involved in school activities including membership in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), the Environmental Science Club, the Friends of Rachel Club and the Interact/Rotary Club.  Through the Interact/Rotary Club, she had been awarded a Scholarship to Murray State University for the fall of 2013.  Lindsey was also a member of the TCHS wrestling team.

Lindsey was 17 years old when she died.  She was buried in the Jones Cemetery in Trigg County, Kentucky.

Lindsey Morgan Tombstone

LINEAGE: (Lindsey Morgan Sholar was the daughter of John Wayne and Gayla Curtis Sholar and the granddaughter of Ernest William and Mary Frances Wright Sholar.  Ernest was the second child of Henry David and Maggie Louise Dearing Sholar.  Henry was the only child of William Henry and Martha Frances Bridges Sholar.  William Henry was the second child of David “Davie” and Temperance Lawrence Sholar.  David was the first child of Allen Thomas and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

Samuel Lee Merrill -- Tax Attorney

 

Samuel Lee Merrill

Samuel Lee Merrill was born on December 31, 1980 in Richardson, Texas, the only child of Roy Lee Merrill, Jr. and Donna Jane Winn Womack Merrill.  His father had an earlier marriage to Jo Lynn Hopkins who had provided Sam with three stepsiblings, a stepsister, Catherine Paige Merrill, born in 1966 and two stepbrothers, David Russell Merrill, born in 1972 and Jeremy Paul Merrill, born in 1974. He also had two stepbrothers on his mother’s side, Jason and Paul Womack.  Sam’s father, Roy was a native Texan, born in Harris County, Texas in 1940 and was a graduate of the University of Texas Law School. Roy was a descendant of James Clark “Muck” Thomas, a native of Trigg County, Kentucky who had moved to Searcy County, Arkansas in the 1800s.

Sam grew up in Richardson, Texas, a suburb of Dallas and graduated from J. J. Pearce High School in Richardson in the top 10 per cent of his class.  He went on to attend Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas where he was a Brown Scholar, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a minor in Math.  He then went on to attend the University of Texas School of Law where he was on Law Review.  Law Review is a prestigious honor of students who published articles written by law professors, judges and other legal professionals.  Sam graduated from law school with his Doctor of Jurisprudence/Juris Doctor (J.D.) in May 2006 and received the Chancellors Award.

While in high school and college, Sam excelled in the game of tennis.   He maintained a top 25 ranking both in high school and college.  In college he was a multiple time All Conference tennis player and the number one singles player in the state.

Sam was a talented piano player and he used this skill while courting his wife to-be, Emily, in the early days of their relationship in Southwestern University where they met. Sam married Emily Roxanne Caster on July 5, 2008 in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Emily was born on July 7, 1983 in Tarrant County, Texas, the daughter of Richard William Caster and Jaymie Bell Caster.

Sam and Emily settled in Dallas, Texas where he joined the law firm of Thompson and Knight. The law firm had offices in the U.S. Mexico, Europe and North Africa with specialties in energy work, corporate governance, tax and finance.  Sam worked in their tax department and became a partner in the firm in 2015.

Sam and Emily became the parents of twin sons, Henry Merrill and Lee Merrill, who were born in 2013. Sam enjoyed entertaining his two sons by playing the piano for them in their home.

Samuel Lee Merrill died on January 10, 2016 in Dallas, Texas at the young age of 35.

Sam and Emily Merrill

Sam with his twin sons, Henry and Lee

Sam entertains his son at the piano

LINEAGE: (Samuel Lee Merrill was the son of Roy Lee, Jr. and Donna Winn Womack Merrill and the grandson of Roy Lee, Sr. and Pauline Smyth Merrill.  Pauline was the first child of Grover Houston and Blanche Waller Smyth.  Grover was the first child of Charles Walter and Alpha Adeline Thomas Smyth.  Alpha was the fifth child of James Clark “Muck” and Elizabeth Lawrence Thomas.  James Clark was the fourth child of James, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas.  James, Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)