Doris Ann Clayton and Dustin Lee Fowler -- Young Victims of a Brain Tumor

 

Anita Clayton with her sister, Doris Ann Clayton

Doris Ann Clayton was born on June 26, 1942 in Trigg County, Kentucky, the second of three children born to Richard Boyd Clayton and Pauline Travis Clayton. Doris Ann’s siblings were Richard Gayle Clayton, born in 1936 and married Sylvia Jean Wallace and later married Cindy Lou Creekmore; and  Anita Joyce Clayton, born in 1943 and married Samuel Wilkinson "S.W." McNichols.

Because of their parent’s divorce, Doris Ann and her sister, Anita lived with their grandparents, Henry and Mamie Light Carloss on a farm in Trigg County, where she attended the local schools.  In the summer of 1954 when Doris Ann was 12 years old, she began to suffer severe headaches.  She was hospitalized at the Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Doris Ann went through surgery to have the tumor removed.  On Friday evening at 8 p.m. on July 16, 1954 Doris Ann died.

Doris Ann Clayton, age 12, was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky.

Doris Ann Clayton tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Doris Ann Clayton was the daughter of Richard Boyd and Pauline Travis Clayton and the granddaughter of Carney Baccus and Mamie Adeline Light Travis.  Mamie was the tenth child of John J. and Emeline Catherine Thomas Light. Emeline Catherine was the seventh child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

 

Dustin Ray Fowler

Dustin Ray Fowler was born on November 1, 1992 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the only son of Jeffrey Ray Fowler and Rhonda Faye Swatzell Fowler.  He had one sister, Jessica Beatrice Lacy, born in 1989, a half-brother, Scotty Jones and a half-sister Madison Skinner.

Dustin attended school in the Trigg County system and in 2007, he was in the seventh grade at Trigg County Middle School in Cadiz, Kentucky where he was a member of the baseball team.  Dustin had been complaining of headaches and had been receiving treatments for a sinus infection.  In February of 2007, Dustin began to walk strangely as though he was having trouble keeping his balance.  Dustin begun to get extremely tired and would go to bed early which was unusual for a 14 year old boy and when he woke up he was still very tired.  After his headaches became almost unbearable, he was taken to the hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  It was there that a CAT scan revealed that he had a brain tumor. 

The doctors quickly referred Dustin to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.  There, the doctors attempted to surgically remove his tumor, but were not able to remove all of it.  The family was told that the tumor was “very aggressive”.  During the initial 10-hour surgery, a blood clot formed next to Dustin’s heart and the surgeons went back into surgery to try to remove it. His blood pressure went down and he slipped into a coma from the physical trauma.  Dustin died at 2 p.m. on Thursday April 12, 2007.

Dustin Ray Fowler, age 14, was buried at the Caldwell Blue Spring Cemetery in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

 

Dustin Ray Fowler tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Dustin Ray Fowler was the son of Jeffrey Ray and Rhonda Faye Swatzell Fowler and the grandson of William Ray and Frances Nell Sholar Fowler and Charles Edward and Charlene Kelly Swatzell.  William Ray was the sixth child of William Terry and Mallie Helen Williams Fowler.  Mallie was the fifth child of Robert Henry and Lucy Agnes Adams Williams. Lucy was the first child of John Wylie and Martha Jane Coleman Adams.  Martha was the second child of Alfred Boyd and Alpha Thomas Coleman.  Alpha was the second child of Perry and Elizabeth Bridges Thomas. Perry was the third child of James and Mary Standley Thomas;    Charles Edward Swatzell was the first child of Thomas Lowell and Edith Beatrice Sumner Swatzell.  Edith Beatrice was the third child of William Averitt and Mary Virginia Wilson Sumner. William Averitt was the first child of William Lowery and Mary Jane Thomas Sumner.  Mary Jane was the seventh 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.)