Notes for: Lucille Margaret Bodine

From Ronny Bodine:

Lucille worked as a waitress in a restaurant on Roane Street in Harriman. Although the newspaper account refers to Lucille as Miss Lucille Bodine, she had been married more than two years before in Rossville, Georgia to Archie Morgan, a fact that was perhaps not known at the time by her family. Following the death of his wife, Archie Morgan remarried and moved to Lake City, Florida.

The Wartburg "The Morgan County News" of 17 March 1949:

Two Crushed to Death in Collision

Two persons were killed instantly and two others were injured early Sunday morning when a southbound Greyhound bus struck a wrecked truck eight miles south of here on Highway No. 27, during a driving snow. The dead were: William Mong, 26, of Sunbright; Miss Lucille Bodine, about 20, of Harriman.

Both were passengers of the truck, driven by Jake Rigby of Indianapolis, Ind., which had smashed into the abuttment of a concrete bridge at Bitter Creek. They had climbed from the truck to assist Rigby, who had been thrown from the vehicle by the impact, when they were struck from the rear by the bus, killing them instantly. Exact time of the accident was set at 5:15 a.m., the time at which Mong's wrist watch--badly smashed--had stopped.

Rigby told authorities he was traveling south on the highway, when he met a 'weaving" car at the small bridge. To avoid striking the vehicle, which did not stop, he hit the bridge. He was driving a truck tractor, from which the trailer had disconnected.

The two victims were mashed beneath the bus, which sheared off a portion of the bridge railing. Workers spent more than 30 minutes removing the bodies, which were pinned beneath the wreckage. They were removed to Schubert's funeral home. Funeral services for Miss Bodine were held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, at Schubert Funeral Home, with Rev. Wood of Oakdale officiating; burial in Wartburg Cemetery.