The Advocate-Messenger (Danville, Kentucky), 04 Jun 1956, Mon • Page 1
Two Area Men Die, Two Hurt in Wreck
Chester Coffman 23 of Cincinnati, a former resident of Parksville, was one of two men killed last midnight when a car in which they were riding hit a concrete Post on the bridge over the Rolling Fork River six miles southwest of Lebanon.
Coffman, whose chest was crushed by the steering wheel of the automobile which, he was driving, was killed outright.
James Lee Miracle, 25 of Stanford, died two hours later at Mary Immaculate hospital in Lebanon. He suffered a fractured skull.
Two other persons inured in the accident were Kenneth Raley 25, of Gravel Switch, who is in the hospital at Lebanon with multiple injuries. He is a brother-in-law of the driver. And Arthur Thomas Coffman 19 of Parksville, who was hospitalized with internal injuries. He is a brother of the driver. Both men suffered head and face' lacerations.
State Police said the car was traveling at 60 miles per hour and failed to make a sharp turn on U. S. 27. It was described as a total loss.
Coffman, a Korean War veteran, is survived by his wife, Mrs. Virginia Coffman: three young children, Shirley Louise, Bobby Lee and Roger Dean; his father, John William Coffman, Parksville, and stepmother, Mrs. Clara Lou Coffman; four brothers, Homer, Thomas, Walter Wesley and Johnnie William Coffman, all of Parksville, and six sisters, Mrs. Birdie Daugherty, Mrs. Louise Belcher, Mrs. Gladys Raley, Miss Imogene Johnson and Miss Birdie Mae Coffman, all of Parksville, and Mrs Joan Raley, Gravel Switch. Coffman's body, taken to Pruitt and Hickey funeral home at Lebanon, was removed from there to the home of his father in Parksville.
Funeral services will be held at I o'clock (CDT) on Tuesday afternoon at Fairview Baptist Church in Lincoln County. Burial will be in the Hall's Gap Cemetery.
Miracle's body, also taken to Pruitt and Hickey funeral home, was later removed to Beazley Raney funeral home In Stanford. A former member The U. S. Marine Corp for four years and a veteran of the Korean War, Miracle is survived by his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Gil Miracle and three sisters; Mrs. Stanley Hensley, Mrs. Wendell Robbins and Mrs. Ruth Ross, all of Cincinnati, and his grandparents, Mr and Mrs. Charles Miracle and Aaron Manning, Lincoln county.
Funeral services for Miracle will be held at 2 o'clock (CDT) on Tuesday afternoon at Stanford Church of God with the Rev. Aubrey Bates officiating.
Burial will be in Buffalo Springs Cemetery at Stanford. The body was taken to the home of Aaron Manning, Stanford, Route 3, this morning.

The Cincinnati Enquirer
(Cincinnati, Ohio)
04 Jun 1956, Mon • KENTUCKY EDITION • Page 14
TWO KILLED
In Auto Crash
Both Are Cincinnatians Pair Are Hurt Badly Near Lebanon, Ky.
Two Cincinnati men were killed and two others were injured seriously at midnight Saturday when their automobile hit a concrete post on U. S. 68 near Lebanon, Ky. State police identified the dead as Chester Ray Coffman, 26, 936 Hatch St., Mt. Adams, and James Lee Miracle, 25, also of Cincinnati. Injured were Arthur T. Coffman, 19, brother of Chester and resident of the Hatch Street address, and Kenneth Raley, 24, Gravel Switch, Kentucky. Police said all were passengers in an automobile driven by Chester Coffman. The vehicle apparently went out of control on a sharp curve seven miles west of Lebanon and struck a concrete gate post to a private driveway. The elder Coffman, who suffered a skull fracture and crushed chest, was pronounced dead at the scene. Miracle died at Mary Immaculate Hospital, Lebanon, an hour later. The others held at the same hospital, suffered head injuries and lacerations. The three Cincinnatians' are all former residents of Kentucky, police said. The Coffmans are natives of Parksville, Ky., and work for a Cincinnati automobile parts concern, police said. Miracle is from Stanford, Ky.

Son of John William and Irene Vernon Lewis Coffman.
Husband of Virginia Eudna Vermillion Coffman.Father of Shirley Louise and Bobby Lee Coffman.∼Chester Ray Coffman was the 26-year old-son of John W. Coffman and Irene (Lewis) Coffman. His death certificate #12812 says he died on the Campvellsville Pike (U.S. Highway 68) and was buried at Hall's Gap on June 5, 1956.