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
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.
