My grandmother, Susie Jane Wilkins Ledford, died about 10:30 this morning (September 11, 2000) in Myrtle Point, Oregon. She was 97 years old and lived a long and fruitful life. For anyone interested, here is a little about Grandma Susie, her children, and grandchildren. Please keep us all in your prayers. Jeanne (Ledford) Brewer Descendants of Susie Jane Wilkins Generation No. 1 1. SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS (MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born January 02, 1903 in Madison County, Arkansas, the daughter of MARION BURGESS WILKINS and LULA (LUE) RITCHIE, and died September 11, 2000 in Myrtle Point, Oregon. She married TROY EVERETT LEDFORD October 12, 1924 in Pinnacle, Madison County, Arkansas, son of JASPER LEDFORD and MAUDE BIRNIE. Notes for TROY EVERETT LEDFORD: Troy Everett Ledford was born June 28, 1902, at Thompson, Washington County, Arkansas, the son of Jasper Alonzo and Maude Zeola Birnie Ledford. He attended elementary school at Pinnacle School and helped on his family's small farm. Troy married Susie Jane Wilkins October 12, 1924, at the springhouse on his parents' farm in the Pinnacle area of Madison County, Arkansas. All of Troy and Susie's children were born at home on their farm with midwives present with the exception of Bob, who was born near Fayetteville, Arkansas, with a doctor present at his birth. During World War II, Troy worked in the shipyards in Fullerton, California, and returned to Arkansas after the war. After hearing from his wife's mother and stepfather (Lue and Earle Houston) that fruit picking was lucrative in Washington state, Troy moved there with his family about 1946, working as a migrant fruit picker in the Yakima Valley. In early 1947, Troy was employed as a Teamster truck driver at the Hanford Nuclear Project near Richland, Washington, and he and his family moved to neighboring Kennewick. He lived there until his retirement in the late 1960's, when he and Susie moved back to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Troy died in Fayetteville on August 22, 1971. His death certificate lists the cause of his death as cardiac arythmia due to malabsorption syndrome as a consequence of a massive small bowel resection for thrombosis. Troy is buried at Mount Olive Cemetery in Elkins, Arkansas More About TROY EVERETT LEDFORD: Burial: August 1971, Mt. Olive Cemetery, Elkins, Arkansas Cause of Death: Cardiac arythmia, malabsorption syndrome, massive small bowel resection Medical Information: Diabetic Children of SUSIE WILKINS and TROY LEDFORD are: 2. i. GERALDINE4 LEDFORD, b. April 25, 1925, Madison County, Arkansas. 3. ii. BOBBY JEANE LEDFORD, b. October 21, 1931, Prairie Township, Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. iii. J C LEDFORD, b. July 04, 1937, Madison County, Arkansas; m. MARY. 4. iv. DWIGHT LEDFORD, b. September 09, 1939, Madison County, Arkansas; d. June 1982, Lake Havasu City, Arizona. 5. v. BILLY RAY LEDFORD, b. October 14, 1941, Madison County, Arkansas. 6. vi. TROY CLIFFORD LEDFORD, b. September 07, 1943, Madison County, Arkansas. Generation No. 2 2. GERALDINE4 LEDFORD (SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS, MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born April 25, 1925 in Madison County, Arkansas. She married (1) JOHN CLIFFORD VANLANDINGHAM. She married (2) SMOKE WYLIE. Children of GERALDINE LEDFORD and JOHN VANLANDINGHAM are: i. DEBBIE5 VANLANDINGHAM. ii. JOHN VANLANDINGHAM. 3. BOBBY JEANE4 LEDFORD (SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS, MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born October 21, 1931 in Prairie Township, Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. He married ALICE LAROSE MCCLAIN February 13, 1953 in Montgomery, Alabama, daughter of BENJAMIN MCCLAIN and MARY COLLINSWORTH. Notes for BOBBY JEANE LEDFORD: Bobby Jeane Ledford was born at Fayetteville RFD, Prairie Township, Washington County, Arkansas on 10-21-1931 to Troy Everett and Susie Jane Wilkins Ledford. He was the only one of their children to have a doctor present at birth, and he weighed over eleven pounds on the chicken scale. He was brought up in the Pinnacle area along the White River in Madison County, and attended school through the eighth grade in the one room Pinnacle School. One of his teachers was Orval Faubus, who later became the Governor of Arkansas, and who stayed with Bob's grandparents, Alonzo and Maude Ledford, during his time teaching at Pinnacle. During the last part of eight grade, the schoolteacher left and Bob taught the remainder of the school year because (according to Bob) he was the biggest and smartest kid in school, but other relatives say it is because he was the orneriest. Bob moved in 1946 to Chelan Falls, Washington, with his family, where his uncle and grandmother Wilkins were living at that time, and picked apples and fruit. In early 1947, they moved to Kennewick, Washington, when his father got a job working on the Hanford Nuclear Project as a Teamster truck driver. Bob continued to work in the Kennewick area until February 1949, when he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Bob served in Korea and Japan during the Korean War, and his term of duty was involuntarily extended from three years to four and a half years. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in August 1953 with the rank of staff sergeant. While stationed in Montgomery, Alabama, Bob met Alice LaRose McClain who was also in the Air Force. They were married in Montgomery on February 13, 1953. Following his discharge, Bob and LaRose moved to Richland, Washington, where Bob was employed as a fireman at the Hanford Nuclear Project. Their first child, Mary Jane Ledford, was born in Richland on March 27, 1954. Bob and LaRose and Mary then moved to Wallowa County, Oregon, where Bob bought a chain saw and tried logging. He worked at whatever job he could find. Their second child, Jeanne Marie Ledford, was born in Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon, on December 28, 1955, followed ten and a half months later by their third and last child, Josephine Ann Ledford, on November 14, 1956. Bob was employed at the Safeway grocery store in Enterprise for several years while LaRose was a nurses' aide at the Wallowa County Hospital in Enterprise. However, as Bob always put it, "You can't lived on green grass and blue skies", and they left the beautiful Wallowa County area in 1962 when Bob was hired as a correctional officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. He bunked in the officers' quarters at the penitentiary until his family joined him in Walla Walla early in 1963. Bob continued to work as the WSP, retiring from there in 1987 with the rank of lieutenant. However, retirement didn't agree with him, and he was employed by the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in 1988, which is located in Pendleton, Oregon, about 35 miles south of Walla Walla. Bob commuted from Walla Walla to Pendleton for 6 years, retiring again in 1995. While at the EOCI, he rose from the rank of correctional officer to Captain in the shortest period of time in the history of Oregon corrections, and was asked to return several times after his retirement there to serve as acting superintendent. Children of BOBBY LEDFORD and ALICE MCCLAIN are: 7. i. MARY JANE5 LEDFORD, b. March 27, 1954, Richland, Washington. 8. ii. JEANNE MARIE LEDFORD, b. December 28, 1955, Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon. 9. iii. JOSEPHINE ANN LEDFORD, b. November 14, 1956, Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon. 4. DWIGHT4 LEDFORD (SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS, MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born September 09, 1939 in Madison County, Arkansas, and died June 1982 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He married JAN. Child of DWIGHT LEDFORD and JAN is: i. DUKE5 LEDFORD. 5. BILLY RAY4 LEDFORD (SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS, MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born October 14, 1941 in Madison County, Arkansas. He married (1) SUSIE. He married (2) KAREN. Children of BILLY LEDFORD and SUSIE are: i. TODD5 LEDFORD. ii. DANA LEDFORD. iii. ERIC LEDFORD. iv. ALEX LEDFORD. Child of BILLY LEDFORD and KAREN is: v. CAMI5 LEDFORD. 6. TROY CLIFFORD4 LEDFORD (SUSIE JANE3 WILKINS, MARION BURGESS2, ISAIAH A.1) was born September 07, 1943 in Madison County, Arkansas. He married (1) KAREN. He married (2) PEGGY. Child of TROY LEDFORD and KAREN is: i. TROY ANTHONY5 LEDFORD. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.