Individual Details

Death

Lt. Col. James H. Furr, 41, and wife, Mabel Scott Furr, 39, of 519 Stilwell Oaks Road, died Saturday, May 18, 1963, after an automobile accident near Anna, Ill. They were enroute to Omaha, Neb. where Col. Furr was to take command of the Army Supply Depot there. Col. Furr was born in Charlotte Aug. 30, 1921 son of the late Charles H. and Ora Kirk Furr. He was a graduate of Central High School and attended the University of Alabama. He was a member of Hawthorne Lane Methodist Church. In 1942 at Charlotte he enlisted in the army as a private. He served in World War II, the Korean War, and had returned to the United States in March from South Vietnam where he had served for the past year. Col. Furr was a graduate of the Staff and Command School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He had participated in many campaigns and was decorated on numerous occasions. Col. Furr is survived by one son, James Michael Furr and one daughter, Karen Deborah Furr, both of the home; also one sister, Mrs. Roy E. Holbrook, Charlotte. Mrs. Furr was born in Charlotte Nov. 30, 1923, the daughter of William J. and Juanita Stack Scott who live on Stilwell Oaks Road. She was a graduate of Central High School and was a member of Hawthorne Lane Methodist Church. Wherever she and Col. Furr were stationed she became active in Cub Scouts, church and civic organizations. Besides their children Mrs. Furr is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Scott of the city; three sisters, Mrs. C. F. Campbell, Atlanta, Ga. Mrs. B. C. Forde, Salisbury, N. C. and Mrs. J. H. Sutton of the city; and one brother, W. J. Scott, Jr., Gastonia. Funeral services will be held Thursday, 11 am. at Hawthorne Lane Methodist Church. Officiating will be the Rev. Robert H. Stamey, the pastor, the Rev. J. Edwin Carter, the associate pastor, and Lt. Col. Harx J. Gunhus, chaplain, Ninth Corps. Full military honors will be accorded at the graveside in Sharon Memorial Park by a detachment of military personnel from Ft. Jackson, S. C. Arrangements by Miller and Kerns.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina, May 22, 1963

WOLF LAKE, Ill. (AP) — An Army lieutenant colonel and his wife from Charlotte, N. C., were killed Sunday in a two-car collision in Wolf Lake, Union County, IL. They were Lt. Col. James H. Furr, 38, and his wife, Mabel, 37. Among the six injured were the Furr’s two children, James Jr., 15, and Karen, 13. The boy was taken to a hospital in East St. Louis and the girl to one in Anna, Ill. Both were reported in good condition and expected to recover. Also injured were Emmett Williams, 32, driver of one car; and his passengers, Gilbert Williams, 41, Rufus Williams, 27, and Billie Booker, 27, all of St. Louis. Police said Williams tried to pass a car driven by Vora Vincent, 54, of Gorham, Ill., and collided headon with the auto driven by Furr, and then hitting the Vincent car in the rear. Furr only recently had returned from a year’s duty in South Viet Nam and the family was en route to Omaha, Neb., where Col. Furr was to take command of the Army Supply Depot. Furr apparently died instantly. Mrs. Furr died later in a hospital.
The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina, May 20, 1963