Melvin Marion Priest - Death Date Update
Still have not located his grave.
23 July 1950, The Oklahoman has a story of the plane crash which is thought to have killed this man.
All that was known was a man had died in a crash of a small plane somewhere in Oklahoma. A photo showing a minister by a new grave hidden by a mountain of flowers with "Pawhuska" scribbled on the back. A general time frame but no definite date.
That was the known story of the death of Melvin Marion Priest, son of Charles Reuben and Sena Adaline Boyd Priest.He was the ex-husband of Velma Dora Cochren Priest Terry.He was a cousin to her second husband, Roy Dennis Terry.
Finally, searching through resources, a news clipping was found from the Oklahoman of July 23, 1950.
The accident occurred near Clinton in western Oklahoma.He was listed as listing in Vian located in Sequoya County on the Arkansas border to Oklahoma.
One of the historical tidbits learned was that prior to WW2 social security cards were often engraved on metal cards (thus explaining how it might have survived the fire intense enough to make identification difficult).Shown in the image is a daughter and his wife, Velma ca 1943.
See the news article and a related photo at this link http://www.familyface.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-mystery-solved-melvin-marion-priest.htmlhttp://www.familyface.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-mystery-solved-melvin-marion-priest.html