Individual Details
Byron Dean FURR
(January 2, 1961 - December 27, 1977)
Good morning, troops. It’s Wednesday, Dec. 13. Today marks the 40th anniversary of a sad event that befell a college basketball program that makes an annual trip to Peoria to play Bradley. On Dec. 13, 1977, a DC-3 airplane that carried the University of Evansville men’s basketball team crashed in rain and fog, not long after it took off from Evansville, Ind. It was bound for Tennessee, where the Aces were to play their fifth game of the season. All 29 people aboard the aircraft were killed. That number included 14 Evansville players; the first-year head coach, Bobby Watson; several Evansville fans and university personnel; and the flight crew. Among the dead was a native of Monmouth: Charles Shike, the 36-year-old Evansville comptroller. A trio of team members was from Illinois — freshman Mike Duff and senior Kevin Kingston, both from Eldorado, and freshman Greg Smith of West Frankfort. Smith was the only person to survive the crash impact; he died later at an Evansville hospital. The hometowns of Duff, Kingston and Smith are located near Evansville. The gymnasium at Eldorado High School is named in Duff and Kingston’s honor. The only team member who wasn’t killed in the crash was another Illinoisan, David Furr, a walk-on from Olney. He was injured and wasn’t scheduled to join the team in Tennessee. But two weeks after the plane crash, Furr and his brother were killed in a vehicle accident as they returned home from a high school basketball tournament in Charleston.
Events
| Birth | January 2, 1961 | Indianapolis, Marion County, IN | |||
| Death | December 27, 1977 | Newton, Jasper County, IL |  |  | |
| Burial | Bethel Cemetery, Owensville, Gibson County, IL | |
Families
| Father | Dr. Jack Dean "Jackie" FURR (1933 - 2006) |
| Mother | Living |
| Sibling | David Lee FURR (1959 - 1977) |
Notes
Death
Byron Dean Furr, 16, and David Lee Furr, 18 brothers and both of Olney, IL were killed in a highway collision northeast of Newton on December 27, 1977. Authorities said the car in which the youths were riding was southbound on Illinois 130 about two miles north of Newton when it was involved in a right angle collision with a pickup truck driven by Leroy Wakefield, 55, Newton, IL. The accident occurred while the brothers were returning to Olney after attending the Charleston Holiday basketball tournament where Olney had defeated Pana, IL. Both of the victims were thrown from the car and were pronounced dead at the scene. Byron was born January 2, 1961 a son of Dr. Jack D. Furr and Elizabeth Knox of Olney. Byron, 16, was a junior at East Richland High School and was on the varsity golf team at the school. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Olney. Surviving David and Byron are stepfather and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence J. Knox of Olney; stepsister, Mrs. Mary Ann Swisher of Cambria, Ill.; stepbrothers, Bob Knox of South Bend, Ind., Steve and Tim Knox both of Carbondale and Alex Knox of Olney; grandmother, Mrs. Mary Keneipp of Owensville, Ind.; and step-grandmother, Mrs. Rhoda Fitzsimmons of Evansville. Services at Owensville United Methodist Church in Owensville, with burial in Bethel Cemetery in Owensville, Ind.Evansville Courier & Press, Evanville Indiana, December 29, 1977
Endnotes
1. Evansville Courier & Press, Evansville, Illinois.
2. findagrave.com.