Lightning Strikes and Murder
My paternal grandparents had 14 children and outlived 10 of them! Only my dad (Afton LeRoy), my aunts Leona and Alene, and my uncle Alonzo LaFayette (“LaFay”) lived past 40 and were alive when Grandpa passed away. I don’t know much about the rest of my paternal aunts and uncles other than what Grandpa wrote in his biography: “Our daughter Mae died November 1, 1940, at the age of 26, and is buried in Oroville. Ruth died tragically December 14, 1948, at the age of 27 in Guam, and is buried in San Francisco. Laurence Elmer died October 22, 1959, at the age of 32 and is buried in Tucson. Lester Burt died March 31,1965 and is buried in Mesa. Of the children who died while we were in Mexico, Carl, Florence and Grant are buried in Colonia Garcia; Alma Ray in Pacheco. Little Vera was laid to rest in El Paso, and Julia in Tucson.” Back in the early 20 th Century, because medicine and access to doctors was not as readily available as they are today, large families ofte...