Texas man looking for relatives of baseball teammate kiled in 1966

Photo by Chelsea Katz/Used by permission of Kilgore (Texas) News Herald The center park of the Kilgore Boys’ Baseball Association complex is named Robert Gwartney Memorial Park for the 12-year-old Robert Gwartney, Jr., who was killed, along with the rest of his family, in a car wreck in Oklahoma on June 29, 1966. A second baseman, baseball and sports was a part of Gwartney’s year, especially summertime baseball.
Photo by Chelsea Katz/Used by permission of Kilgore (Texas) News Herald The center park of the Kilgore Boys’ Baseball Association complex is named Robert Gwartney Memorial Park for the 12-year-old Robert Gwartney, Jr., who was killed, along with the rest of his family, in a car wreck in Oklahoma on June 29, 1966. A second baseman, baseball and sports was a part of Gwartney’s year, especially summertime baseball.

— A Texas man is looking for relatives of Robert Gwartney, Jr., who died at the age of 12, along with his family, in a horrific traffic accident near Poteau, Okla., on June 29, 1966. Robert Gwartney, Jr., was the son of Robert Gwartney, Sr., a dentist in Kilgore, Texas, who was from Gravette and was returning to Gravette with his family on the first leg of a vacation to visit family members here.

That's when the accident occurred. The Gwartney car was struck from the side on an Oklahoma highway, according to Dale Hedrick of Kilgore, killing the entire family. The July 16, 1966, obituary listed the accident victims as Robert Sr. (43), Carolyn Sue (39), Melanie Carol (18), Robert Jr. (12) and Collene Kay (10).

The funeral service was held July 1, 1966, at the First Baptist Church in Kilgore, according to a microfilm copy of the obituary published in the Kilgore News Herald.

Dale Hedrick of Kilgore, now 63, along with triplet brothers David and Don, were close friends and baseball teammates of Robert Jr. They played summer ball together; and Robert Jr. was a second baseman on the Pirate baseball team, part of the Kilgore Boys Baseball Association, according to the Kilgore News Herald. Don was also on a football team on which Robert Jr. was the quarterback and describes Robert Jr. as a very athletic guy.

David "still has a 'batting champion' softball he received from his Chandler Elementary School sixth-grade softball team, which went 7-2 in 1966. Each of his teammates, including Gwartney, signed the ball," according to an Oct. 8, 2016, Kilgore News Herald article.

The loss of a close friend and very athletic teammate, now 51 years ago, stays on Dale Hedrick's mind, partly because his brother Don was invited to vacation with the Gwartney's that summer, something Don didn't do because of another now-forgotten obligation. And, his brother David says he still remembers the five hearses in front of the Baptist Church and the five caskets in the church sanctuary -- quite an impressionable experience for 12-year-old friends!

Dale Hedrick said his teammates requested that one of Kilgore's baseball association parks be named in memory of Robert Jr., and "what was once Peanut League Park soon became the Robert Gwartney Memorial Park" (Kilgore News Herald).

Dale Hedrick said he has a baseball, in a case, which he threw out as a first pitch when the season opened this spring. He said a new ball park is being built in Kilgore and the old ball park will no longer be used after this season. He said the old park will become a memorial and he didn't want people to forget who Robert Gwartney was and why the old ball park was named after him. Dale said he would like to see the baseball go to a family member of the Gwartneys if any can be found who remember.

Robert Gwartney, Sr., was a native of Gravette, a veteran of World War II and a graduate of the University of Texas Dental School. He practiced dentistry in Texarkana and moved to Kilgore in 1955. His heirs, according to action on the Gwartney will in 1966 reported in the Kilgore News Herald, were two brothers, Reginald Ray Gwartney, Route 3, Gravette, and Kenneth Lee Gwartney, Route 1, Biggs, Calif.; two sisters, Verla Ann Manx, Route 1, Diamond, Mo., and Viola Lorens Finley, Wichita, Kans.

His parents are listed as Robert R. Gwartney (1883-1941) and Pearl May Morgan Gwartney (1890-1947). His last remaining sibling is listed as Verla A. Gwartney Radcliff (1909-2002).

Carolyn Sue was born in Timpson, Texas, and later lived in Marshall, Texas. Her heirs, according to action on the Gwartney will from the Kilgore News Herald, were her mother Icie Kate Kyle of Marshall; three brothers, J.P. Kyle, Port Arthur, Texas; Alfred A. Kyle, Delhi, La.; Mike Kyle, Elysian Fields, Texas; two sisters, Mozelle Chappell, Pasadena, Texas, and Libby Elsbury, Mount Pleasant, Texas.

An article in the Gravette News Herald from July of 1966 states the Robert Gwartney family was on the way to visit Reginald Gwartney in the Gravette area when the accident occurred. It says Reginald flew to Texas to attend the funeral services for his younger brother and his family. It also states that Robert Gwartney, Sr., grew up in the Hiwasse area and had attended Donnivan School before moving to California.

Dale Hedrick is unsure if his former friend and teammate has any relatives left in northwest Arkansas, but he is hoping there are some relatives remaining who might still remember a boy named Robert Jr. who visited family members in the Gravette area years ago.

If anyone remembers or knows of family members, they may contact this author at [email protected] and he will pass on the information to Dale Hedrick in Kilgore, Texas.

General News on 05/17/2017