Clinton crime
shocks Harper
family
BY LEIGH LANDINI THE PADUCAH SUN
CLINTON, Ky -- At 80, Curtis Harper hadn't let age slow him down. He rose well before sunrise every morning and walked from his family's white house on U.S. 51 to. his office, where he built a ham empire.
Harper routinely toured the ham plant behind the building after he arrived in the office, and then he worked until he walked home at 4:30 p.m., friends and family members say.
"He walked that plant, and that's where he got his exercise," said Edward Bugg, 75, Harper's best friend, as he stood in the company's parking lot after visiting with the family. "He just didn't slow down."
That was Harper's routine until Thursday morning.
Two workers of Harper's Country Hams Inc. walked into the front part of the office complex shortly after 6 a.m. and found Harper lying motionless on the floor. They then called police and ambulance crews.
"He had a routine of coming out every morning, and apparently someone knew that or saw him," said Brian Harper, his grandson.
By 7 a.m., the normally quiet Hickman County business was swarming with police searching for clues in an apparent homicide-robbery. (Obituary, page 6A.)
Chuck Robertson, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police, said Harper died of HARPER "massive head injuries" from being hit. He did not elaborate.
Brian Harper, who helped run the family company with his father, Gary, and his grandfather, said a cash box containing $2,000 was missing from the office. Police would not confirm the amount.
Harper's family last saw him at 5 a.m. when he left for work, Robertson said. His body was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville for an autopsy. Results are expected today, Robertson said.
News of Harper's death spread quickly through this small farming community, and many people's first reaction was shock.
"It's kind of bad when it's here in our own county," Jetty Humphries said as she ate luneh at Nicky's Barbecue, just down U.S. 51 from Harper's business. "I think these things happen in other places."
Joe and Edith Ragsdale of Tinley Park, III., a Chicago suburb, pulled into the company parking lot around 11 a.m. and asked what all the commotion was about. They simply wanted to stop by on their way to Trenton, Tenn., to visit relatives, eat some of the famous country ham and catch up with the Harper family, whom they have known since the 1980s.
"This is terrible," Edith Ragsdale said. "We really feel bad for them (the family) because we know what it's like." The Ragsdales' son was murdered last year in Chicago.
"Everybody's real shaken up," said Freddie Frizzell, curing department supervisor and a 16-year employee. "It's just a real sinking . feeling. It's just like my wife said:, it's almost like losing your granddaddy."
For the family, emotions ranged from grief and shock to anger. "I guess right now we're angry more than anything else because of the way that it happened," Brian Harper said. "We wouldn't have been as surprised given his age if it was natural, but this way, it was a shock."
Even with the shock, Harper's plant employees tried to go about their normal business. "If you knew Mr. Harper, he'd want everyone to go ahead and work," Frizzell said. "Gary (Curtis Harper's son) said for everyone to go on and do their jobs."
The ham plant is fast approaching its busiest time of the year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. The curing department had received a fresh load of meat earlier Thursday. Workers were busy salting and processing. For most of the day, the smell of curing hams wafted through the air, as it always does.
"If we hadn't worked today, we would have had to work on Saturday," Frizzell said.
Employees and family remember Harper's dedication in building his business into a family empire that will be passed on to Gary, Brian and Brian's two sons. Harper started the ham business in 1952 as a backyard operation, selling the home-cured hams to passersby on U.S. 51. That year, he packed the hams in casket cases and smoked them in a converted outhouse.
Bugg fondly recalls those early years as Harper started his business just two years before Bugg opened his feed and grain supply in Clinton. Bugg and his family recently closed the family business.
"Curtis and I were always so close," Bugg said about hearing the news of the killing. "Oh, man, it just kind of took me down. It was like losing a brother almost."
Harper is remembered not only as a smart and dedicated businessman, but also as a strong family man and civic servant. He had served on the Clinton Bank board since 1967.
"He really thought a lot of his family," Bugg said. "They were a close family."
Throughout the day, Harper's nieces, nephews, cousins and friends stopped by the house to console grieving family members.
Earl and Frances Warren of Clinton were just two of the friends who stopped by the house. "So far, I think they're just in shock, Frances Warren said.
Brian Harper said he will miss his grandfather, who used to take him fishing as a boy and regale him with tales of his days on Hickman County's only high school football team. And Brian's two children heard those same stories.
Brian Harper plans to tell his children more about their greatgrandfather when they're older and remind them that he "loved to joke with them when they were kids."
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, pp 1 & 18-A
._______
Curtis Harper
Clinton, Ky. - Curtis Harper, 80, of Clinton Rt. 2, died Thursday at Harpers Country Hams.
(Story, 1A)
Mr. Harper was president of Harper's Country Hams, a director of Clinton Bank, and a member of Kentucky Ham Producers and National Country Ham Producers.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma McMurry Harper; a son, Gary L. Harper; and a grandson, Brian Robert Harper, all of Clinton; a brother, Collins "Bill" Harper of Clinton; and two great-grandsons.
He was preceded in death by two brothers. His parents were Millage and Wayman Harper.
Services will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Brown Funeral Home in Clinton with the Rev. Dennis Norvell officiating. Burial will be in the Clinton Cemtery.
Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Contributions can be made to Hickman County Ambulance Services, the Clinton First Baptist Son Shine Day Care, and the Baptist Children's Home.
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, p. 6-A
._______
shocks Harper
family
BY LEIGH LANDINI THE PADUCAH SUN
CLINTON, Ky -- At 80, Curtis Harper hadn't let age slow him down. He rose well before sunrise every morning and walked from his family's white house on U.S. 51 to. his office, where he built a ham empire.
Harper routinely toured the ham plant behind the building after he arrived in the office, and then he worked until he walked home at 4:30 p.m., friends and family members say.
"He walked that plant, and that's where he got his exercise," said Edward Bugg, 75, Harper's best friend, as he stood in the company's parking lot after visiting with the family. "He just didn't slow down."
That was Harper's routine until Thursday morning.
Two workers of Harper's Country Hams Inc. walked into the front part of the office complex shortly after 6 a.m. and found Harper lying motionless on the floor. They then called police and ambulance crews.
"He had a routine of coming out every morning, and apparently someone knew that or saw him," said Brian Harper, his grandson.
By 7 a.m., the normally quiet Hickman County business was swarming with police searching for clues in an apparent homicide-robbery. (Obituary, page 6A.)
Chuck Robertson, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police, said Harper died of HARPER "massive head injuries" from being hit. He did not elaborate.
Brian Harper, who helped run the family company with his father, Gary, and his grandfather, said a cash box containing $2,000 was missing from the office. Police would not confirm the amount.
Harper's family last saw him at 5 a.m. when he left for work, Robertson said. His body was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville for an autopsy. Results are expected today, Robertson said.
News of Harper's death spread quickly through this small farming community, and many people's first reaction was shock.
"It's kind of bad when it's here in our own county," Jetty Humphries said as she ate luneh at Nicky's Barbecue, just down U.S. 51 from Harper's business. "I think these things happen in other places."
Joe and Edith Ragsdale of Tinley Park, III., a Chicago suburb, pulled into the company parking lot around 11 a.m. and asked what all the commotion was about. They simply wanted to stop by on their way to Trenton, Tenn., to visit relatives, eat some of the famous country ham and catch up with the Harper family, whom they have known since the 1980s.
"This is terrible," Edith Ragsdale said. "We really feel bad for them (the family) because we know what it's like." The Ragsdales' son was murdered last year in Chicago.
"Everybody's real shaken up," said Freddie Frizzell, curing department supervisor and a 16-year employee. "It's just a real sinking . feeling. It's just like my wife said:, it's almost like losing your granddaddy."
For the family, emotions ranged from grief and shock to anger. "I guess right now we're angry more than anything else because of the way that it happened," Brian Harper said. "We wouldn't have been as surprised given his age if it was natural, but this way, it was a shock."
Even with the shock, Harper's plant employees tried to go about their normal business. "If you knew Mr. Harper, he'd want everyone to go ahead and work," Frizzell said. "Gary (Curtis Harper's son) said for everyone to go on and do their jobs."
The ham plant is fast approaching its busiest time of the year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. The curing department had received a fresh load of meat earlier Thursday. Workers were busy salting and processing. For most of the day, the smell of curing hams wafted through the air, as it always does.
"If we hadn't worked today, we would have had to work on Saturday," Frizzell said.
Employees and family remember Harper's dedication in building his business into a family empire that will be passed on to Gary, Brian and Brian's two sons. Harper started the ham business in 1952 as a backyard operation, selling the home-cured hams to passersby on U.S. 51. That year, he packed the hams in casket cases and smoked them in a converted outhouse.
Bugg fondly recalls those early years as Harper started his business just two years before Bugg opened his feed and grain supply in Clinton. Bugg and his family recently closed the family business.
"Curtis and I were always so close," Bugg said about hearing the news of the killing. "Oh, man, it just kind of took me down. It was like losing a brother almost."
Harper is remembered not only as a smart and dedicated businessman, but also as a strong family man and civic servant. He had served on the Clinton Bank board since 1967.
"He really thought a lot of his family," Bugg said. "They were a close family."
Throughout the day, Harper's nieces, nephews, cousins and friends stopped by the house to console grieving family members.
Earl and Frances Warren of Clinton were just two of the friends who stopped by the house. "So far, I think they're just in shock, Frances Warren said.
Brian Harper said he will miss his grandfather, who used to take him fishing as a boy and regale him with tales of his days on Hickman County's only high school football team. And Brian's two children heard those same stories.
Brian Harper plans to tell his children more about their greatgrandfather when they're older and remind them that he "loved to joke with them when they were kids."
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, pp 1 & 18-A
._______
Curtis Harper
Clinton, Ky. - Curtis Harper, 80, of Clinton Rt. 2, died Thursday at Harpers Country Hams.
(Story, 1A)
Mr. Harper was president of Harper's Country Hams, a director of Clinton Bank, and a member of Kentucky Ham Producers and National Country Ham Producers.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma McMurry Harper; a son, Gary L. Harper; and a grandson, Brian Robert Harper, all of Clinton; a brother, Collins "Bill" Harper of Clinton; and two great-grandsons.
He was preceded in death by two brothers. His parents were Millage and Wayman Harper.
Services will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Brown Funeral Home in Clinton with the Rev. Dennis Norvell officiating. Burial will be in the Clinton Cemtery.
Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Contributions can be made to Hickman County Ambulance Services, the Clinton First Baptist Son Shine Day Care, and the Baptist Children's Home.
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, p. 6-A
._______
Clinton crime
shocks Harper
family
BY LEIGH LANDINI THE PADUCAH SUN
CLINTON, Ky -- At 80, Curtis Harper hadn't let age slow him down. He rose well before sunrise every morning and walked from his family's white house on U.S. 51 to. his office, where he built a ham empire.
Harper routinely toured the ham plant behind the building after he arrived in the office, and then he worked until he walked home at 4:30 p.m., friends and family members say.
"He walked that plant, and that's where he got his exercise," said Edward Bugg, 75, Harper's best friend, as he stood in the company's parking lot after visiting with the family. "He just didn't slow down."
That was Harper's routine until Thursday morning.
Two workers of Harper's Country Hams Inc. walked into the front part of the office complex shortly after 6 a.m. and found Harper lying motionless on the floor. They then called police and ambulance crews.
"He had a routine of coming out every morning, and apparently someone knew that or saw him," said Brian Harper, his grandson.
By 7 a.m., the normally quiet Hickman County business was swarming with police searching for clues in an apparent homicide-robbery. (Obituary, page 6A.)
Chuck Robertson, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police, said Harper died of HARPER "massive head injuries" from being hit. He did not elaborate.
Brian Harper, who helped run the family company with his father, Gary, and his grandfather, said a cash box containing $2,000 was missing from the office. Police would not confirm the amount.
Harper's family last saw him at 5 a.m. when he left for work, Robertson said. His body was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville for an autopsy. Results are expected today, Robertson said.
News of Harper's death spread quickly through this small farming community, and many people's first reaction was shock.
"It's kind of bad when it's here in our own county," Jetty Humphries said as she ate luneh at Nicky's Barbecue, just down U.S. 51 from Harper's business. "I think these things happen in other places."
Joe and Edith Ragsdale of Tinley Park, III., a Chicago suburb, pulled into the company parking lot around 11 a.m. and asked what all the commotion was about. They simply wanted to stop by on their way to Trenton, Tenn., to visit relatives, eat some of the famous country ham and catch up with the Harper family, whom they have known since the 1980s.
"This is terrible," Edith Ragsdale said. "We really feel bad for them (the family) because we know what it's like." The Ragsdales' son was murdered last year in Chicago.
"Everybody's real shaken up," said Freddie Frizzell, curing department supervisor and a 16-year employee. "It's just a real sinking . feeling. It's just like my wife said:, it's almost like losing your granddaddy."
For the family, emotions ranged from grief and shock to anger. "I guess right now we're angry more than anything else because of the way that it happened," Brian Harper said. "We wouldn't have been as surprised given his age if it was natural, but this way, it was a shock."
Even with the shock, Harper's plant employees tried to go about their normal business. "If you knew Mr. Harper, he'd want everyone to go ahead and work," Frizzell said. "Gary (Curtis Harper's son) said for everyone to go on and do their jobs."
The ham plant is fast approaching its busiest time of the year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. The curing department had received a fresh load of meat earlier Thursday. Workers were busy salting and processing. For most of the day, the smell of curing hams wafted through the air, as it always does.
"If we hadn't worked today, we would have had to work on Saturday," Frizzell said.
Employees and family remember Harper's dedication in building his business into a family empire that will be passed on to Gary, Brian and Brian's two sons. Harper started the ham business in 1952 as a backyard operation, selling the home-cured hams to passersby on U.S. 51. That year, he packed the hams in casket cases and smoked them in a converted outhouse.
Bugg fondly recalls those early years as Harper started his business just two years before Bugg opened his feed and grain supply in Clinton. Bugg and his family recently closed the family business.
"Curtis and I were always so close," Bugg said about hearing the news of the killing. "Oh, man, it just kind of took me down. It was like losing a brother almost."
Harper is remembered not only as a smart and dedicated businessman, but also as a strong family man and civic servant. He had served on the Clinton Bank board since 1967.
"He really thought a lot of his family," Bugg said. "They were a close family."
Throughout the day, Harper's nieces, nephews, cousins and friends stopped by the house to console grieving family members.
Earl and Frances Warren of Clinton were just two of the friends who stopped by the house. "So far, I think they're just in shock, Frances Warren said.
Brian Harper said he will miss his grandfather, who used to take him fishing as a boy and regale him with tales of his days on Hickman County's only high school football team. And Brian's two children heard those same stories.
Brian Harper plans to tell his children more about their greatgrandfather when they're older and remind them that he "loved to joke with them when they were kids."
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, pp 1 & 18-A
._______
Curtis Harper
Clinton, Ky. - Curtis Harper, 80, of Clinton Rt. 2, died Thursday at Harpers Country Hams.
(Story, 1A)
Mr. Harper was president of Harper's Country Hams, a director of Clinton Bank, and a member of Kentucky Ham Producers and National Country Ham Producers.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma McMurry Harper; a son, Gary L. Harper; and a grandson, Brian Robert Harper, all of Clinton; a brother, Collins "Bill" Harper of Clinton; and two great-grandsons.
He was preceded in death by two brothers. His parents were Millage and Wayman Harper.
Services will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Brown Funeral Home in Clinton with the Rev. Dennis Norvell officiating. Burial will be in the Clinton Cemtery.
Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Contributions can be made to Hickman County Ambulance Services, the Clinton First Baptist Son Shine Day Care, and the Baptist Children's Home.
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, p. 6-A
._______
shocks Harper
family
BY LEIGH LANDINI THE PADUCAH SUN
CLINTON, Ky -- At 80, Curtis Harper hadn't let age slow him down. He rose well before sunrise every morning and walked from his family's white house on U.S. 51 to. his office, where he built a ham empire.
Harper routinely toured the ham plant behind the building after he arrived in the office, and then he worked until he walked home at 4:30 p.m., friends and family members say.
"He walked that plant, and that's where he got his exercise," said Edward Bugg, 75, Harper's best friend, as he stood in the company's parking lot after visiting with the family. "He just didn't slow down."
That was Harper's routine until Thursday morning.
Two workers of Harper's Country Hams Inc. walked into the front part of the office complex shortly after 6 a.m. and found Harper lying motionless on the floor. They then called police and ambulance crews.
"He had a routine of coming out every morning, and apparently someone knew that or saw him," said Brian Harper, his grandson.
By 7 a.m., the normally quiet Hickman County business was swarming with police searching for clues in an apparent homicide-robbery. (Obituary, page 6A.)
Chuck Robertson, public affairs officer for Kentucky State Police, said Harper died of HARPER "massive head injuries" from being hit. He did not elaborate.
Brian Harper, who helped run the family company with his father, Gary, and his grandfather, said a cash box containing $2,000 was missing from the office. Police would not confirm the amount.
Harper's family last saw him at 5 a.m. when he left for work, Robertson said. His body was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville for an autopsy. Results are expected today, Robertson said.
News of Harper's death spread quickly through this small farming community, and many people's first reaction was shock.
"It's kind of bad when it's here in our own county," Jetty Humphries said as she ate luneh at Nicky's Barbecue, just down U.S. 51 from Harper's business. "I think these things happen in other places."
Joe and Edith Ragsdale of Tinley Park, III., a Chicago suburb, pulled into the company parking lot around 11 a.m. and asked what all the commotion was about. They simply wanted to stop by on their way to Trenton, Tenn., to visit relatives, eat some of the famous country ham and catch up with the Harper family, whom they have known since the 1980s.
"This is terrible," Edith Ragsdale said. "We really feel bad for them (the family) because we know what it's like." The Ragsdales' son was murdered last year in Chicago.
"Everybody's real shaken up," said Freddie Frizzell, curing department supervisor and a 16-year employee. "It's just a real sinking . feeling. It's just like my wife said:, it's almost like losing your granddaddy."
For the family, emotions ranged from grief and shock to anger. "I guess right now we're angry more than anything else because of the way that it happened," Brian Harper said. "We wouldn't have been as surprised given his age if it was natural, but this way, it was a shock."
Even with the shock, Harper's plant employees tried to go about their normal business. "If you knew Mr. Harper, he'd want everyone to go ahead and work," Frizzell said. "Gary (Curtis Harper's son) said for everyone to go on and do their jobs."
The ham plant is fast approaching its busiest time of the year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. The curing department had received a fresh load of meat earlier Thursday. Workers were busy salting and processing. For most of the day, the smell of curing hams wafted through the air, as it always does.
"If we hadn't worked today, we would have had to work on Saturday," Frizzell said.
Employees and family remember Harper's dedication in building his business into a family empire that will be passed on to Gary, Brian and Brian's two sons. Harper started the ham business in 1952 as a backyard operation, selling the home-cured hams to passersby on U.S. 51. That year, he packed the hams in casket cases and smoked them in a converted outhouse.
Bugg fondly recalls those early years as Harper started his business just two years before Bugg opened his feed and grain supply in Clinton. Bugg and his family recently closed the family business.
"Curtis and I were always so close," Bugg said about hearing the news of the killing. "Oh, man, it just kind of took me down. It was like losing a brother almost."
Harper is remembered not only as a smart and dedicated businessman, but also as a strong family man and civic servant. He had served on the Clinton Bank board since 1967.
"He really thought a lot of his family," Bugg said. "They were a close family."
Throughout the day, Harper's nieces, nephews, cousins and friends stopped by the house to console grieving family members.
Earl and Frances Warren of Clinton were just two of the friends who stopped by the house. "So far, I think they're just in shock, Frances Warren said.
Brian Harper said he will miss his grandfather, who used to take him fishing as a boy and regale him with tales of his days on Hickman County's only high school football team. And Brian's two children heard those same stories.
Brian Harper plans to tell his children more about their greatgrandfather when they're older and remind them that he "loved to joke with them when they were kids."
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, pp 1 & 18-A
._______
Curtis Harper
Clinton, Ky. - Curtis Harper, 80, of Clinton Rt. 2, died Thursday at Harpers Country Hams.
(Story, 1A)
Mr. Harper was president of Harper's Country Hams, a director of Clinton Bank, and a member of Kentucky Ham Producers and National Country Ham Producers.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma McMurry Harper; a son, Gary L. Harper; and a grandson, Brian Robert Harper, all of Clinton; a brother, Collins "Bill" Harper of Clinton; and two great-grandsons.
He was preceded in death by two brothers. His parents were Millage and Wayman Harper.
Services will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Brown Funeral Home in Clinton with the Rev. Dennis Norvell officiating. Burial will be in the Clinton Cemtery.
Visitation will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Contributions can be made to Hickman County Ambulance Services, the Clinton First Baptist Son Shine Day Care, and the Baptist Children's Home.
The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Ky
Friday, September 15, 1995, p. 6-A
._______
Family Members
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