|
a.
|
Note: Beckley Post-Herald Beckley, West Virginia
Wednesday, February, 22, 1950
Page 12
Falling Pole Kills Mullens Lineman Near Whitesville
MULLENS, Feb 21 - A 30-year-old linesman for the West Virginia Engineering Company was killed about 5 p.m. yesterday when the utility pole on which he was at work fell, throwing him against a concrete pier.
Dead is Williard Lester, of Mullens Hill, an employ of the engineering concern for approximately six years and the father of two small children, the youngest two weeks old.
The accident occurred about six miles from Whitesville in Boone County where Lester was working with and engineering force in erecting a new power line to serve the Blue Pennant Coal Company.
Johnny Rinehart, foreman on the job, said Lester had gone up an old pole to remove the wire and fixtures being replaced by the new line; the pole gave way with his weight.
Rinehart estimated the lineman would have fallen about 15 feet. He understood Lester had previously scaled the same pole in removing the wire and had climbed the pole a second time to retrieve the fixtures which held the wire in place when it collapsed.
Other crewman applied artificial respirator for approximately an hour in an effort to restore his breathing but crushing injuries to the chest proved fatal.
Lester is survived by his wife, Mrs. Marie Ballengee Lester; their infant son, Willard Lee Lester, Jr.; another son by a former marriage, Carlos Lester, age four, who resides with relatives at Corinne; his father, R. B. Lester of Bud; his mother, Mrs. Martha Lester of South Mullens; a brother Lowell Lester, of Corinne; and three sisters, Mrs. Eual Miller and Mrs. Clifton Graham, both of South Mullens, and Mrs. Claude Walker, of Spencer.
The body is being returned to the Robertson and Foglesong Funeral Home in Mullens, pending the completion of arrangements.
***
Beckley Post-Herald
Beckley, West Virginia
Thursday, February, 23, 1950
Page 2
LESTER RITES SET FOR TODAY
MULLENS, Feb. 22 - Funeral services for Williard Lester, 30, of Mullens Hill, lineman for the West Virginia Engineering Company, who was killed in a fall from a utility pole, will be conducted at 1 p.m. Thursday from the chapel of the Robertson and Foglesong Funeral Home, Mullens.
The Rev. Lonnie Blankenship, of Corinne, will be in charge of final rites, with burial to follow in the Rinehart Cemetery on the mountain above Mullens.
An employ of the engineering from for several years, Lester died almost instantly in the mishap, which occurred about 5 p.m. Monday near Whitesville.
Born May 7, 1919, at Bud, he leaves as survivors his wife, Mrs. Marie Ballengee Lester; their infant son, Williard Lee Lester; another son by a previous marriage, Carlos Lester, who resides with relatives at Corinne; his father, R.B. Lester of Bud; his mother, Mrs. Martha Lester, of South Mullens; a brother, Lowell Lester, of Corinne; three sisters, Mrs. Eual Miller and Mrs. Clifton Graham, both of South Mullens, and Mrs. Claude Walker, of Spencer.
|
