(Published in Borger News Herald, December 11, 1963)
Ancil B. Leonard, former well-known and long-time resident of Borger died Tuesday in the crash of a Phillips Petroleum Co. airplane at Findlay, Ohio.
Leonard was the only passenger aboard the craft which plunged to the ground and burned following what witnesses said was two explosions as it attempted to land.
Both members of the crew, identified by a company spokesman as W.J. Hubbard and James H. Creel, also perished an announcement stated.
Funeral arrangements for the three victims are pending at Bartlesville, Okla., where they made their homes.
A full scale investigation into the crash of the high speed converted World War II bomber was underway at Findlay today.
Leonard was director of Rubber Chemicals Division of the Chemical Department of Phillips Petroleum Co. Creel was pilot of the aircraft and Hubbard was second officer and co-pilot. Both had visited Borger regularly for a number of years and were well known here.
The plane was enroute to Findlay from Newark, N.J., to pick up Wayne Brewer, Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. president and another company officer to take them to Amarillo for a business meeting with Phillips officials.
Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency investigators searched the wreckage today for clues and took statements from eyewitnesses.
Witnesses said the plane banked sharply to the left, then suddenly dived straight down. There was speculation the pilot sensing he was in trouble, might have aimed for an open area between a row of homes and railroad tracks located nearby.
The plane narrowly missed a heavily populated area and a gasoline storage plant, both located inside the Findlay city limits.
Findlay Airport officials said Creel had contacted them shortly after breaking through heavy cloud cover and reported he was in sight of the field. The plane crashed as it entered the airport's landing traffic pattern.
Although a native of northern Arkansas, Leonard considered the early-day boom city of Borger his home town and began a star-studded career with Phillips while a resident here.
He joined the parent company's refining department in 1936 as a process engineer and subsequently served as chief process engineer at Borger; assistant plant superintendent at Kansas City, Mo., and assistant plant manager at Sweeney, Tex.
He transferred to the chemical company as manager of the Cactus fertilizer plant at Dumas in 1948 and three years later became manager of the Borger Butadiene and Copolymer synthetic rubber plants.
In 1955 he moved to Bartlesville as director of the rubber chemical sales division.
Leonard was a member of the National Executive Reserve unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Business and Defense Services Administration; the Manufacturing Chemists Association; Chicago Rubber Group of the American Chemical Society and the Chemists Club of New York.
While a local resident he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dumas Rotary Club, director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce and a member of Borger's Board of City Development. He was very active in all phases of Borger's civic life.
In 1944-45 he served with the Petroleum Administration for War as chairman of District III HF Alkylation Sub-Committee, and was awarded patents for his work in recovery of hydrogen flouride from gases and water. He also held patents covering butane isomerization and catalytic acid alkylation unit processes.
He attended schools here, Amarillo Junior College and received a degree in chemistry from West Texas State College at Canyon and furthered his study at the school of law, Kansas City.
Surviving are his wife, Martha of the home; his parents Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Leonard, 1209 Baker, Borger and a brother, N.G. Leonard, Borger Fire Chief.
Courtesy Edith Guynes Stanley
Ancil B. Leonard, former well-known and long-time resident of Borger died Tuesday in the crash of a Phillips Petroleum Co. airplane at Findlay, Ohio.
Leonard was the only passenger aboard the craft which plunged to the ground and burned following what witnesses said was two explosions as it attempted to land.
Both members of the crew, identified by a company spokesman as W.J. Hubbard and James H. Creel, also perished an announcement stated.
Funeral arrangements for the three victims are pending at Bartlesville, Okla., where they made their homes.
A full scale investigation into the crash of the high speed converted World War II bomber was underway at Findlay today.
Leonard was director of Rubber Chemicals Division of the Chemical Department of Phillips Petroleum Co. Creel was pilot of the aircraft and Hubbard was second officer and co-pilot. Both had visited Borger regularly for a number of years and were well known here.
The plane was enroute to Findlay from Newark, N.J., to pick up Wayne Brewer, Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. president and another company officer to take them to Amarillo for a business meeting with Phillips officials.
Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency investigators searched the wreckage today for clues and took statements from eyewitnesses.
Witnesses said the plane banked sharply to the left, then suddenly dived straight down. There was speculation the pilot sensing he was in trouble, might have aimed for an open area between a row of homes and railroad tracks located nearby.
The plane narrowly missed a heavily populated area and a gasoline storage plant, both located inside the Findlay city limits.
Findlay Airport officials said Creel had contacted them shortly after breaking through heavy cloud cover and reported he was in sight of the field. The plane crashed as it entered the airport's landing traffic pattern.
Although a native of northern Arkansas, Leonard considered the early-day boom city of Borger his home town and began a star-studded career with Phillips while a resident here.
He joined the parent company's refining department in 1936 as a process engineer and subsequently served as chief process engineer at Borger; assistant plant superintendent at Kansas City, Mo., and assistant plant manager at Sweeney, Tex.
He transferred to the chemical company as manager of the Cactus fertilizer plant at Dumas in 1948 and three years later became manager of the Borger Butadiene and Copolymer synthetic rubber plants.
In 1955 he moved to Bartlesville as director of the rubber chemical sales division.
Leonard was a member of the National Executive Reserve unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Business and Defense Services Administration; the Manufacturing Chemists Association; Chicago Rubber Group of the American Chemical Society and the Chemists Club of New York.
While a local resident he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dumas Rotary Club, director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce and a member of Borger's Board of City Development. He was very active in all phases of Borger's civic life.
In 1944-45 he served with the Petroleum Administration for War as chairman of District III HF Alkylation Sub-Committee, and was awarded patents for his work in recovery of hydrogen flouride from gases and water. He also held patents covering butane isomerization and catalytic acid alkylation unit processes.
He attended schools here, Amarillo Junior College and received a degree in chemistry from West Texas State College at Canyon and furthered his study at the school of law, Kansas City.
Surviving are his wife, Martha of the home; his parents Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Leonard, 1209 Baker, Borger and a brother, N.G. Leonard, Borger Fire Chief.
Courtesy Edith Guynes Stanley
(Published in Borger News Herald, December 11, 1963)
Ancil B. Leonard, former well-known and long-time resident of Borger died Tuesday in the crash of a Phillips Petroleum Co. airplane at Findlay, Ohio.
Leonard was the only passenger aboard the craft which plunged to the ground and burned following what witnesses said was two explosions as it attempted to land.
Both members of the crew, identified by a company spokesman as W.J. Hubbard and James H. Creel, also perished an announcement stated.
Funeral arrangements for the three victims are pending at Bartlesville, Okla., where they made their homes.
A full scale investigation into the crash of the high speed converted World War II bomber was underway at Findlay today.
Leonard was director of Rubber Chemicals Division of the Chemical Department of Phillips Petroleum Co. Creel was pilot of the aircraft and Hubbard was second officer and co-pilot. Both had visited Borger regularly for a number of years and were well known here.
The plane was enroute to Findlay from Newark, N.J., to pick up Wayne Brewer, Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. president and another company officer to take them to Amarillo for a business meeting with Phillips officials.
Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency investigators searched the wreckage today for clues and took statements from eyewitnesses.
Witnesses said the plane banked sharply to the left, then suddenly dived straight down. There was speculation the pilot sensing he was in trouble, might have aimed for an open area between a row of homes and railroad tracks located nearby.
The plane narrowly missed a heavily populated area and a gasoline storage plant, both located inside the Findlay city limits.
Findlay Airport officials said Creel had contacted them shortly after breaking through heavy cloud cover and reported he was in sight of the field. The plane crashed as it entered the airport's landing traffic pattern.
Although a native of northern Arkansas, Leonard considered the early-day boom city of Borger his home town and began a star-studded career with Phillips while a resident here.
He joined the parent company's refining department in 1936 as a process engineer and subsequently served as chief process engineer at Borger; assistant plant superintendent at Kansas City, Mo., and assistant plant manager at Sweeney, Tex.
He transferred to the chemical company as manager of the Cactus fertilizer plant at Dumas in 1948 and three years later became manager of the Borger Butadiene and Copolymer synthetic rubber plants.
In 1955 he moved to Bartlesville as director of the rubber chemical sales division.
Leonard was a member of the National Executive Reserve unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Business and Defense Services Administration; the Manufacturing Chemists Association; Chicago Rubber Group of the American Chemical Society and the Chemists Club of New York.
While a local resident he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dumas Rotary Club, director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce and a member of Borger's Board of City Development. He was very active in all phases of Borger's civic life.
In 1944-45 he served with the Petroleum Administration for War as chairman of District III HF Alkylation Sub-Committee, and was awarded patents for his work in recovery of hydrogen flouride from gases and water. He also held patents covering butane isomerization and catalytic acid alkylation unit processes.
He attended schools here, Amarillo Junior College and received a degree in chemistry from West Texas State College at Canyon and furthered his study at the school of law, Kansas City.
Surviving are his wife, Martha of the home; his parents Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Leonard, 1209 Baker, Borger and a brother, N.G. Leonard, Borger Fire Chief.
Courtesy Edith Guynes Stanley
Ancil B. Leonard, former well-known and long-time resident of Borger died Tuesday in the crash of a Phillips Petroleum Co. airplane at Findlay, Ohio.
Leonard was the only passenger aboard the craft which plunged to the ground and burned following what witnesses said was two explosions as it attempted to land.
Both members of the crew, identified by a company spokesman as W.J. Hubbard and James H. Creel, also perished an announcement stated.
Funeral arrangements for the three victims are pending at Bartlesville, Okla., where they made their homes.
A full scale investigation into the crash of the high speed converted World War II bomber was underway at Findlay today.
Leonard was director of Rubber Chemicals Division of the Chemical Department of Phillips Petroleum Co. Creel was pilot of the aircraft and Hubbard was second officer and co-pilot. Both had visited Borger regularly for a number of years and were well known here.
The plane was enroute to Findlay from Newark, N.J., to pick up Wayne Brewer, Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. president and another company officer to take them to Amarillo for a business meeting with Phillips officials.
Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency investigators searched the wreckage today for clues and took statements from eyewitnesses.
Witnesses said the plane banked sharply to the left, then suddenly dived straight down. There was speculation the pilot sensing he was in trouble, might have aimed for an open area between a row of homes and railroad tracks located nearby.
The plane narrowly missed a heavily populated area and a gasoline storage plant, both located inside the Findlay city limits.
Findlay Airport officials said Creel had contacted them shortly after breaking through heavy cloud cover and reported he was in sight of the field. The plane crashed as it entered the airport's landing traffic pattern.
Although a native of northern Arkansas, Leonard considered the early-day boom city of Borger his home town and began a star-studded career with Phillips while a resident here.
He joined the parent company's refining department in 1936 as a process engineer and subsequently served as chief process engineer at Borger; assistant plant superintendent at Kansas City, Mo., and assistant plant manager at Sweeney, Tex.
He transferred to the chemical company as manager of the Cactus fertilizer plant at Dumas in 1948 and three years later became manager of the Borger Butadiene and Copolymer synthetic rubber plants.
In 1955 he moved to Bartlesville as director of the rubber chemical sales division.
Leonard was a member of the National Executive Reserve unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Business and Defense Services Administration; the Manufacturing Chemists Association; Chicago Rubber Group of the American Chemical Society and the Chemists Club of New York.
While a local resident he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dumas Rotary Club, director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce and a member of Borger's Board of City Development. He was very active in all phases of Borger's civic life.
In 1944-45 he served with the Petroleum Administration for War as chairman of District III HF Alkylation Sub-Committee, and was awarded patents for his work in recovery of hydrogen flouride from gases and water. He also held patents covering butane isomerization and catalytic acid alkylation unit processes.
He attended schools here, Amarillo Junior College and received a degree in chemistry from West Texas State College at Canyon and furthered his study at the school of law, Kansas City.
Surviving are his wife, Martha of the home; his parents Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Leonard, 1209 Baker, Borger and a brother, N.G. Leonard, Borger Fire Chief.
Courtesy Edith Guynes Stanley
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