In October of 1943, John was taking a Greyhound bus between Clarksville and his wartime job Nashville when an accident occurred. On Germantown Hill, northwest of downtown Nashville, the driver spun on wet pavement and the bus overturned. John was thrown down and his hip was broken. He was hospitalized at the old Nashville General Hospital and had screws inserted. He received a settlement from Greyhound, used it to pay off his mortgage, and retired.
Five years late, in 1948, starting guard and captain of the high school football team, Joe graduated. Joe was married in 1950 to his high school sweetheart, Irma, who was from Sango. They had saved up money and left for Knoxville for college.
James married in June of 1952 to Rita, who me met in California where he was stationed with the Marine Corps. In September he was awarded the air medal.
In November of that year, John had surgery for benign prostatic hypertrophy. He died of a stroke in the post-op days. It is likely that he had untreated hypertension leading up to the surgery. Indeed, contemporary medicine was just starting to see what had been termed “essential” hypertension as a disease. It had prior been seen as an “essential” increase in blood pressure to assure proper profusion of the organs. Signs suggesting that he had blood pressure problems included the emerging memory problems in the years before his death.
Callie sold the Clark Street home the next year and moved to Owensboro, near her daughter Martha. She continued to do sewing and alterations out of her house. She died in 1988.
