Individual Details

Death

J. L. Furr, 76, Pecos, a pioneer in West Texas since 1891, died at 11:20 a. m. Sunday of a stroke while at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lorena Bell, 613 West Ninth. Furr was born in Mississippi in 1874, and was married to Francis Hobson in Breckenridge in 1901. In 1911 they moved to Toyah where Furr went to work for a general contractor. He helped build the county jail and Methodist church in Pecos, the county courthouse in Barstow, and did the interior decoration of the Toyah school house. In 1923 he went into the general mercantile and grocery business at Toyah and continued there until his business was destroyed by fire in 1929. In 1932 Furr moved to Pecos where he worked as a painter and paperhanger until his health failed and he moved to Odessa to live with his oldest daughter. Furr was a member of Odd Fellow lodge which he joined in 1910. He was also a member of the Rebekah lodge. Furr’s closest friend was B. A. (Uncle Bill) Oden, Pecos, famed West Texas adventurer. Furr and Oden celebrated their birthdays together for more than 30 years. Furr is survived by his widow; five children, Mrs. Lorena Bell and Mrs. Mont Bosworth, both of Odessa; Mrs. Bill Winston and Mrs. C. A. Franklin, both of Pecos; and James Furr, Hobbs, N. M.; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Mrs. Frank Kearney, Pecos, is a niece. Services will be held at 3 p. m. today in Pecos with the Rev. J. L. Morgan of the Methodist church officiating.
The Odessa American, Odessa, Texas, March 27, 1950