Information from Texas Death Certificate.
Karen Anice Worsham
Feb 21, 1965 - Apr 24, 1973
Mrs. Worsham
Karen Worsham
AVALON-Funeral services for Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham and her daughter, Karen Worsham, are set for 2 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church in Avalon.
Services will be under the direction of Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home of Waxahachie. No information about burial services is available at this time.
Mrs. Worsham drowned in Chambers Creek while trying to rescue her daughter who had been swept away while she was wading.
Mrs. Worsham is survived by her husband, James Worsham of Avalon; a daughter, Carla; a son, Russell; and her mother, Mrs. Selma Shambaugh of Lufkin.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
By JOHN BENDER
Sun Staff Writer
AVALON-The wife and eight-year-old daughter of the superintendent of the Avalon school district drowned in the swirling water of rain-swollen Chambers Creek Tuesday.
The bodies of Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham, 35, and Karen Worsham, 8, were recovered from the muddy water several hours after they went down at about 2:30 p.m.
Mrs. Worsham and an unidentified woman were apparently letting their children wade in the creek where it had flooded F.M. 55 between Avalon and Blooming Grove.
“She (Karen) apparently slipped and fell down and over she went, with the current taking her away,” Ellis County Sheriff Wayne McCollum said.
Mrs. Worsham and her son, Russell, 11 went in after the girl. The boy was able to get out but the mother, attempting to tow the child back to the bank, was pulled under by the current. “Apparently she got to a clump of trees” about 75 yards downstream, McCollum said. “She was a real good swimmer, but I guess it was more than she could handle.”
The other woman rushed back to Avalon, two miles away and notified James Worsham at the school. In a desperate attempt to save his wife and child, Worsham drove to the creek and apparently lost control of his car when he hit a flooded section of the road about 50 yards from where the children had been wading. The car was found partially off the road in water up to the windshield, McCollum said.
“He went in (the creek) and stayed in there for a long time trying to find them before they were able to get him to come out,” the sheriff said.
Boyd Thornton at the Boze-Mitchell rescue unit from Waxahachie located both bodies in tall grass about 20 yards from the shore. Mrs. Worsham’s body was found at 6:30 p.m. and the child’s at 7:25 p.m. Justice of the Peace Herschel Smith ruled accidental drowning.
McCollum said he received the report at 4:45 p.m. and was one of the first official units to arrive. Navarro County Sheriff Jerry Shelton and Chief Deputy Harold Pitts attempted to approach the scene of the drowning from the south on F.M. 55 but were stopped by flooding on Hill Creek. They had to wait until a boat arrived to take them across Hill Creek.
Rescue units continued to arrive at the scene until 7:30 p.m. just after the second body was found. Local residents owning boats helped in the search while others brought horses to ride along the banks of the creek.
Thornton said six boats, including one from the Navarro County Sheriff’s department, helped drag the creek in search of the bodies.
The bodies were taken to Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home in Waxahachie.
Chambers Creek, which originates near Cleburne, was about five feet over F. M. 55 at the deepest point. Torrential rains Monday night that flooded areas in Cleburne rushed into the creek causing it to rise eight feet above flood stage at some points.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
Karen Anice Worsham
Feb 21, 1965 - Apr 24, 1973
Mrs. Worsham
Karen Worsham
AVALON-Funeral services for Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham and her daughter, Karen Worsham, are set for 2 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church in Avalon.
Services will be under the direction of Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home of Waxahachie. No information about burial services is available at this time.
Mrs. Worsham drowned in Chambers Creek while trying to rescue her daughter who had been swept away while she was wading.
Mrs. Worsham is survived by her husband, James Worsham of Avalon; a daughter, Carla; a son, Russell; and her mother, Mrs. Selma Shambaugh of Lufkin.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
By JOHN BENDER
Sun Staff Writer
AVALON-The wife and eight-year-old daughter of the superintendent of the Avalon school district drowned in the swirling water of rain-swollen Chambers Creek Tuesday.
The bodies of Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham, 35, and Karen Worsham, 8, were recovered from the muddy water several hours after they went down at about 2:30 p.m.
Mrs. Worsham and an unidentified woman were apparently letting their children wade in the creek where it had flooded F.M. 55 between Avalon and Blooming Grove.
“She (Karen) apparently slipped and fell down and over she went, with the current taking her away,” Ellis County Sheriff Wayne McCollum said.
Mrs. Worsham and her son, Russell, 11 went in after the girl. The boy was able to get out but the mother, attempting to tow the child back to the bank, was pulled under by the current. “Apparently she got to a clump of trees” about 75 yards downstream, McCollum said. “She was a real good swimmer, but I guess it was more than she could handle.”
The other woman rushed back to Avalon, two miles away and notified James Worsham at the school. In a desperate attempt to save his wife and child, Worsham drove to the creek and apparently lost control of his car when he hit a flooded section of the road about 50 yards from where the children had been wading. The car was found partially off the road in water up to the windshield, McCollum said.
“He went in (the creek) and stayed in there for a long time trying to find them before they were able to get him to come out,” the sheriff said.
Boyd Thornton at the Boze-Mitchell rescue unit from Waxahachie located both bodies in tall grass about 20 yards from the shore. Mrs. Worsham’s body was found at 6:30 p.m. and the child’s at 7:25 p.m. Justice of the Peace Herschel Smith ruled accidental drowning.
McCollum said he received the report at 4:45 p.m. and was one of the first official units to arrive. Navarro County Sheriff Jerry Shelton and Chief Deputy Harold Pitts attempted to approach the scene of the drowning from the south on F.M. 55 but were stopped by flooding on Hill Creek. They had to wait until a boat arrived to take them across Hill Creek.
Rescue units continued to arrive at the scene until 7:30 p.m. just after the second body was found. Local residents owning boats helped in the search while others brought horses to ride along the banks of the creek.
Thornton said six boats, including one from the Navarro County Sheriff’s department, helped drag the creek in search of the bodies.
The bodies were taken to Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home in Waxahachie.
Chambers Creek, which originates near Cleburne, was about five feet over F. M. 55 at the deepest point. Torrential rains Monday night that flooded areas in Cleburne rushed into the creek causing it to rise eight feet above flood stage at some points.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
Information from Texas Death Certificate.
Karen Anice Worsham
Feb 21, 1965 - Apr 24, 1973
Mrs. Worsham
Karen Worsham
AVALON-Funeral services for Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham and her daughter, Karen Worsham, are set for 2 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church in Avalon.
Services will be under the direction of Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home of Waxahachie. No information about burial services is available at this time.
Mrs. Worsham drowned in Chambers Creek while trying to rescue her daughter who had been swept away while she was wading.
Mrs. Worsham is survived by her husband, James Worsham of Avalon; a daughter, Carla; a son, Russell; and her mother, Mrs. Selma Shambaugh of Lufkin.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
By JOHN BENDER
Sun Staff Writer
AVALON-The wife and eight-year-old daughter of the superintendent of the Avalon school district drowned in the swirling water of rain-swollen Chambers Creek Tuesday.
The bodies of Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham, 35, and Karen Worsham, 8, were recovered from the muddy water several hours after they went down at about 2:30 p.m.
Mrs. Worsham and an unidentified woman were apparently letting their children wade in the creek where it had flooded F.M. 55 between Avalon and Blooming Grove.
“She (Karen) apparently slipped and fell down and over she went, with the current taking her away,” Ellis County Sheriff Wayne McCollum said.
Mrs. Worsham and her son, Russell, 11 went in after the girl. The boy was able to get out but the mother, attempting to tow the child back to the bank, was pulled under by the current. “Apparently she got to a clump of trees” about 75 yards downstream, McCollum said. “She was a real good swimmer, but I guess it was more than she could handle.”
The other woman rushed back to Avalon, two miles away and notified James Worsham at the school. In a desperate attempt to save his wife and child, Worsham drove to the creek and apparently lost control of his car when he hit a flooded section of the road about 50 yards from where the children had been wading. The car was found partially off the road in water up to the windshield, McCollum said.
“He went in (the creek) and stayed in there for a long time trying to find them before they were able to get him to come out,” the sheriff said.
Boyd Thornton at the Boze-Mitchell rescue unit from Waxahachie located both bodies in tall grass about 20 yards from the shore. Mrs. Worsham’s body was found at 6:30 p.m. and the child’s at 7:25 p.m. Justice of the Peace Herschel Smith ruled accidental drowning.
McCollum said he received the report at 4:45 p.m. and was one of the first official units to arrive. Navarro County Sheriff Jerry Shelton and Chief Deputy Harold Pitts attempted to approach the scene of the drowning from the south on F.M. 55 but were stopped by flooding on Hill Creek. They had to wait until a boat arrived to take them across Hill Creek.
Rescue units continued to arrive at the scene until 7:30 p.m. just after the second body was found. Local residents owning boats helped in the search while others brought horses to ride along the banks of the creek.
Thornton said six boats, including one from the Navarro County Sheriff’s department, helped drag the creek in search of the bodies.
The bodies were taken to Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home in Waxahachie.
Chambers Creek, which originates near Cleburne, was about five feet over F. M. 55 at the deepest point. Torrential rains Monday night that flooded areas in Cleburne rushed into the creek causing it to rise eight feet above flood stage at some points.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
Karen Anice Worsham
Feb 21, 1965 - Apr 24, 1973
Mrs. Worsham
Karen Worsham
AVALON-Funeral services for Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham and her daughter, Karen Worsham, are set for 2 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church in Avalon.
Services will be under the direction of Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home of Waxahachie. No information about burial services is available at this time.
Mrs. Worsham drowned in Chambers Creek while trying to rescue her daughter who had been swept away while she was wading.
Mrs. Worsham is survived by her husband, James Worsham of Avalon; a daughter, Carla; a son, Russell; and her mother, Mrs. Selma Shambaugh of Lufkin.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
By JOHN BENDER
Sun Staff Writer
AVALON-The wife and eight-year-old daughter of the superintendent of the Avalon school district drowned in the swirling water of rain-swollen Chambers Creek Tuesday.
The bodies of Mrs. James (Phyllis) Worsham, 35, and Karen Worsham, 8, were recovered from the muddy water several hours after they went down at about 2:30 p.m.
Mrs. Worsham and an unidentified woman were apparently letting their children wade in the creek where it had flooded F.M. 55 between Avalon and Blooming Grove.
“She (Karen) apparently slipped and fell down and over she went, with the current taking her away,” Ellis County Sheriff Wayne McCollum said.
Mrs. Worsham and her son, Russell, 11 went in after the girl. The boy was able to get out but the mother, attempting to tow the child back to the bank, was pulled under by the current. “Apparently she got to a clump of trees” about 75 yards downstream, McCollum said. “She was a real good swimmer, but I guess it was more than she could handle.”
The other woman rushed back to Avalon, two miles away and notified James Worsham at the school. In a desperate attempt to save his wife and child, Worsham drove to the creek and apparently lost control of his car when he hit a flooded section of the road about 50 yards from where the children had been wading. The car was found partially off the road in water up to the windshield, McCollum said.
“He went in (the creek) and stayed in there for a long time trying to find them before they were able to get him to come out,” the sheriff said.
Boyd Thornton at the Boze-Mitchell rescue unit from Waxahachie located both bodies in tall grass about 20 yards from the shore. Mrs. Worsham’s body was found at 6:30 p.m. and the child’s at 7:25 p.m. Justice of the Peace Herschel Smith ruled accidental drowning.
McCollum said he received the report at 4:45 p.m. and was one of the first official units to arrive. Navarro County Sheriff Jerry Shelton and Chief Deputy Harold Pitts attempted to approach the scene of the drowning from the south on F.M. 55 but were stopped by flooding on Hill Creek. They had to wait until a boat arrived to take them across Hill Creek.
Rescue units continued to arrive at the scene until 7:30 p.m. just after the second body was found. Local residents owning boats helped in the search while others brought horses to ride along the banks of the creek.
Thornton said six boats, including one from the Navarro County Sheriff’s department, helped drag the creek in search of the bodies.
The bodies were taken to Boze-Mitchell Funeral Home in Waxahachie.
Chambers Creek, which originates near Cleburne, was about five feet over F. M. 55 at the deepest point. Torrential rains Monday night that flooded areas in Cleburne rushed into the creek causing it to rise eight feet above flood stage at some points.
The Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas; Wednesday, April 25, 1973
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