BRATTON, James Michael
Source: Covington Friend Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1974
Funeral services for James Michael Bratton, 17, of 111 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, who was killed Saturday evening in an automobile accident near Alvin, Ill., will e held 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Williamsport Christian Church with Rev. Joe Shryock officiating. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery, Williamsport. The body will lie in state one hour before services. Friends may call at the Fisher Funeral Home in Williamsport after 4 p.m. Monday.
He was born Nov. 19, 1957 at Williamsport, the son of James LeRoy and Beverly Jean Ritter Bratton. He had been a resident of Williamsport all his life and was a junior at Seeger Memorial High School. He was active in all sports and was an assistant coach of the Little League Farm League.
He was a candidate for membership in National Honor Society and was to have been initiated Tuesday. He had been employed as a stock boy at Layton’s Star Market in Williamsport the past two years. He was a member of the Williamsport Christian Church and was active in the youth group and church affairs.
Surviving with his parents are two sisters, Jackie Sue and Mary Kay, both at home; his maternal grandparents, Howard Ritter, Rt. 1, Rossville, Ill. and Mrs. Alma Ritter, Danville, Ill.; paternal grandmother, Mrs. Agnes Bratton, Williamsport; maternal great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Grant Winegardner, Williamsport.
According to sheriff’s deputies, Bratton was killed when his auto left state route 119 and struck a utility pole. He was driving a carload of teenagers to a church function in Danville. A passenger in the auto, Ronald Berry, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Max Berry, Williamsport, was taken to the intensive care unit of Lake View Memorial Hospital in Danville and has since been transferred to a regular hospital room.
Three other Williamsport teens were in the auto; William Wesley, 13, was treated at Lake View for cuts and released. Park Campbell, 16, was treated and released from Community Hospital in Williamsport where he was taken by a motorist in another auto accompanying the group. Another passenger, Robert Hughes, 13, was uninjured.
The accident occurred when Bratton, westbound, near the intersection with Bowman Avenue Road east of Alvin, swerved to avoid a large pile of mud on the road. The auto then hit another patch of mud and slid off the road. The car traveled some 75 feet before it struck a utility pole and severed it. The impact of the collision forced the power pole against the driver’s side of the car.
Farm tractors losing mud driving across the road apparently cause the poor road condition. The mud was made slick by rain falling at the time of the accident shortly before 7 p.m.- s