Individual Details

Death

A Monroe paralytic – known to many Charlotteans – died shortly after midnight Friday of injuries received when a wheel came off his specially-built motorcycle. Arthur Lee McFadden, 46, operator of a bicycle shop in Monroe, was thrown to the pavement when the right rear wheel of his motorcycle came off. He received chest injuries and several broken ribs. Police said the accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday in the 2400 block of Independence Boulevard near Briar Creek road. McFadden, officers said, was paralyzed from the waist down from an earlier motorcycle accident. He was able to drive his specially-built three-wheeled motorcycle from a semi-reclining position. The motorcycle had long handlebars and a gear shift located where McFadden could reach it from his seat. The motorcycle spun around in the street when the wheel came off, police said, tossing McFadden to the street. McFadden’s death was the first fatality inside the city limits in 1956. Funeral services for McFadden will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in McEwen Funeral Home Chapel conducted by Rev. Vernon T. Helms and the Rev. Melvin Helms. Burial will be in Union ARP Church cemetery near Richburn, S.C. Mr. McFaden was owner of Mac’s bicycle shop on Mill street. He had made his home in Monroe for nine years and was born in, S. C. on June 10, 1909. Mr. McFadden was the son of the late Robert Clark and Mattie Ferguson McFadden of South Carolina. Surviving are two daughters; Anna Laura and Betty Ruth of Charlottesville, Va.; four brothers; J. O., J. S., E. G. and T. B. McFadden of Rock Hill, S. C. The body will remain at McEwen’s Funeral Home.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina, January 14, 1956