This obituary for Virgil Cornelius Bohannon was published in the Marshall Mountain Wave on 13 October 1977.

Neal Bohannon Died October 6

Virgil Cornelius (Neal) Bohannon, age 66, died at his home on October 6.

He was born in Searcy County February 5, 1911, a son of the late Patrick and Mollie Bohannon[1]. He was a member of the Welcome Home Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and one sister, Lester, Loy[2] and Alex Bohannon[3] and Sarah Michell[4].

Survivors include a brother, Chester[5], of Marshall; three sisters, Sylvania Watts[6], Sutter, California, Pearl Jones[7], Harrison, and Hester Bohannon[8] of Marshall, and other relatives[9] and friends.

Services were held Saturday, October 8, at Coffman Chapel, with Earl Harness officiating. Burial was in Shady Grove Cemetery.

Notes

[1] Neal’s parents were Patrick Bohannon and his third wife Mary F. “Mollie” Graham.

[2] Loy was technically Neal’s half-brother, being the son of Patrick Bohannon  and his second wife Mary Wilbanks.

[3] Alex was technically Neal’s half-brother, too. He was the son of Patrick Bohannon and his first wife Rixey Watson.

[4] Sarah was Neal’s half-sister, being the daughter of Patrick Bohannon and Rixey Watson. Sarah married Jess Mitchell – their surname is misspelled in the obituary.

[5] Chester and Neal had the same parents, so they were full brothers.

[6] Sylvania was Neal’s half-sister, being the daughter of Rixey Watson.  Sylvania married James Madison Watts in 1917.  James was the son of Eliza Ann Graham, the sister of Sylvania’s step-mother Mollie Graham. This put Sylvania in the curious position of being her own husband’s step-cousin.

[7] Pearl was Neal’s half-sister, being the daughter of Mary Wilbanks. She married Bryan Jones in 1917.

[8] Hester and Neal were full siblings, having the same parents.

[9] Neal’s other relatives apparently did not include a wife and children. There is no record of him having been married.

Grave Marker

Virgil Neal Bohannon

Sources

Marshall Mountain Wave, “Neal Bohannon Died October 6,” published 13 October 1977. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

Grave marker photographed by Ashli Graham at Shady Grove Cemetery, Searcy County, Arkansas on Saturday, 4 June 2011.

See Also

For the complete accounting of Neal’s siblings, refer to the series of articles I wrote on the multiple marriages of both Patrick Bohannon and Mollie Graham.