Cooksey - Richard Lee
Richard Lee COOKSEY
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review, August 30, 1965
A mother and one of her three small sons were killed n a car-truck accident five miles southeast of Crawfordsville and just north of Whitesville about 11 a.m. Monday. The other two sons were injured and brought to Culver Hospital. The dead are Mrs. Mary Ann Cooksey, 25, of Ladoga, and Richard Lee Cooksey, 6. The other two sons, Rex Allen Cooksey, 5, and Terry Wayne Cooksey, 3, were not believed seriously hurt. They were released later and taken to the home of their maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Leland Axsom, in Whitesville. The truck driver, Charles Fry, 27, Rt. 1, Crawfordsville, was not injured. The accident occurred while Mrs. Cooksey was driving south on the blacktop county road. According to Sheriff Clarence Demoret, she apparently got across the center of the road and hit the left front of the truck. Her car then veered off the road and rammed into a fence on the east side of the road. The accident occurred in front of the Lyle Hulbert home, according to investigating officers, and members of the Hulbert family reported the accident to the sheriff’s office. Mrs. Cooksey and her sons had been visiting at the home of her brother, Robert Axom, north of the accident scene and were en route to the Leland Axsom home. The 1960 Falcon driven by Mrs. Cooksey was completely demolished by the crash, but the truck was only slightly damaged. Glass was scattered all over the highway. The fence also was damaged. Dr. J. M. Kirtley, acting county coroner, was called to the scene to investigate. Along with Sheriff Demoret, Deputy Sheriff Ralph Linn investigated the accident. The latest traffic deaths brought the fatality count in the county for this year to eight. The last previous fatality occurred July 19 near Darlington. Mrs. Mary Ann Cooksey was born Jan. 31, 1941, near Elmdale to Leland and Elsie Geiger Axsom. She married Roger Cooksey Sept. 16, 1958, at New Market. She was a member of the Fremont Baptist Church at Crawfordsville. Survivors include her parents; her husband; two sons, Rex Allen and Terry Wayne; six sisters, Mrs. Norma Grayson of Mulberry, Mrs. Lena Mings of Crawfordsville and Misses Carolyn, Patricia, Kathy and Martha, all at home; two brothers, Robert of near Crawfordsville and Leland Axsom Jr. at home; the paternal grandmother, Mrs. Anna Axsom, and aunts and uncles. Richard Lee Cooksey was born Feb. 12, 1959, in Crawfordsville to Roger and Mary Ann Cooksey. Double funeral rites will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Noble Reeves Funeral Home in New Market. Rev. Robert Shotts will officiate. Burial will be in the Oakland Cemetery near Wingate. Friends may call at the funeral home after 9 p.m. Wednesday. – jlr