Hale Family of Scurry County (cont)

This is a picture of William Jesse Hale Sr. and Ara Elverine Beaver Hale. William (went by Jess) was the son of William Henry Hale and Lona Jesse Keathley Hale. Jess was born 09 Nov 1900 in Whitefield, Oklahoma on the Choctaw Nation, and moved with his parents to Fluvanna/Dermott area in 1915. Ara was the daughter of Lewis F. Beaver (25 Dec 1864 - 7 Feb 1950) and Della Cox Beaver (24 Jun 1876 - 20 Sep 1909). Lewis and Della are both buried in the Fluvanna Cemetery. Ara was born 29 Jun 1902 in Texas. Ara and Jess married 25 Jan 1923 in Dermott, Texas. They had 4 sons all born in Fluvanna, Texas. They were as follows: William Jesse Hale Jr. - 30 Dec 1923 Leon Charles Hale - 10 Sep 1926 Donald Howard Hale - 18 Sep 1928 Benjamin Franklin Hale 24 Sep 1930.
Jess Hale Sr. worked for the RS&P Railroad as a section hand. But every year when the cotton gin began operating, Jess would rent out his job at the railroad and go work the gin job till the end of harvest, then go get his job back at the railroad. Sometime in 1930 he decided to go to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad in California. After many years of maintaining and laying new track, his ability as a track man was well established, and he was greatly respected for his personal character and dependability. In 1937 he became section foreman and they moved their family to a little town called Guadalupe, California. Jess remained there till his death Feb 1963.
Jess and his crew of four men had been out patrolling track , in Santa Maria, California , in wet weather on a little motorcar. In some ill-fated mistake, the train headed towards the motorcar with Jess and his crew on it, did not trigger the light to make the train stop.....as far as Jess and his crew knew the train was still some 40 miles away......instead they looked up and saw the train coming at them .....The crew jumped from the motorcar and began trying to derail it...but it was already too late. The crew was able to jump to the side of the rail, but Jess , the foreman, wasn't quite as lucky. Instead of jumping to the side he jumped in a southerly direction and when the freight train made contact with the motorcar, the motorcar went flying, hitting Jess and killing him instantly. The coroners report stated that Jess died from multiply head and body injuries.

This is the newspaper article of Jess Hale's death

William Jesse Hale Sr. taken in Guadalupe, California in the late 1940's. Ara Elverine Beaver, dau of Lewis F. and Della (Cox) Beaver was born 29 Jun 1902. She married William Jesse Hale Sr. on 25 Jan 1923 in Dermott, Texas. They had 4 sons Abt 1930 they moved by train to California where Ara stayed home and raised her 4 sons. THey were very active in their church, in fact Jess was the driving force behind starting a community church and building the "Church Building". Ara died at the Valley Community Hospital in Santa Maria California on 06 May 1981, and is buried at the Santa Maria Cemetery.

William Jesse Hale Jr. (known as Bill) Son of Jess and Ara Hale Born: 30 Dec 1923 in Fluvanna, Texas Married: Feb 1941 in Reno, Nevada to Freda Odessa Sasser. Freda was the daughter of: Theodore B. Sasser and Ola M. Boon She was born : 03 Jan 1925 in Plaska, Texas. Freda and Bill had two children: Ronald Dean Hale (03 Dec 1942 - 21 Mar 1995) and Valerie Ellon Hale born 22 Oct 1944 in Santa Maria, California. Freda died 25 Mar 1987 in San Carlos, Calif and was buried in Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California.
Freda and Bill were in love in high school, and decided they MUST get married. She was 17 and Bill was 18. They went to San Francisco, on a 3 day school vacation ( Washington's Birthday) on the bus which was 270 miles away. There, Bill thought his Uncle Clarence would stand up for them. Bill and Freda had it all planned out. They would marry and be back in school on Tuesday, their marriage remaining a secret till graduation, or so they thought. Bill and Freda seated themselves in the back of the bus and to their horror looked up to see Freda's gym teacher getting on the bus and a close friend of Bill's dad was also boarding the bus. Bill and Freda ducked down in back of the bus and stayed there the whole trip. Once in San Francisco, Bill called his Uncle Clarence Hale, and Clarence went to the bus station to pick up Bill. When Clarence arrived at the bus station, Bill said to him, "Oh by the way, Uncle Clarence, "Oh by the way, this is my girlfriend, Freda". We want to get married. Bill told his uncle that he and his wife Ruby Hale could stand up for them. Clarence was ready to go along with the plan until they found out it took 3 days to get a marriage license in California. But Clarence was willing to go that extra mile for his nephew and girlfriend. He called a buddy, Boomer, because Boomer had a brand new Chevy. Clarence asked Boomer how would he like to take a fast trip to Reno, Nevada? Boomer replied, "Yea, I'll bring my girlfriend," So off all six of them went in the Chevy. By the time they reached Sacramento, the weather had gotten very cold. When they got into the Sierras, it began to snow. They were told by the highway patrol they would need snow chains to go any further. Boomer stopped and purchased the snow chains, drove back onto the highway, with a yell of hi ho silver, and promptly plowed into a snow bank. They finally arrived in Reno about 3am , and after a long wait they got two rooms. Boomer and his girlfriend shared a room and Clarence, Ruby and Freda shared a double bed in the 2nd room and Bill got the cot. The next morning they were off to the courthouse. Freda told the clerk she was 18 and Bill was 21. Clarence and Ruby witnessed that the ages were correct. With license in hand, they headed off to the nearest Methodist Church. The minister had a little bit of time in between sermons and married Bill and Freda in his den. By late afternoon Monday, Bill and Freda were back in Santa Maria, looking forward to school on Tuesday with their "Big Secret". On the way to Freda's house, they met up with some casual friends. When their greeting was " Congratulations", how does it feel to be married", We knew the jig was up!! Their parents were very difficult, but Freda and Bill were adamant, they were married and they were gonna stay that way! That shaky beginning lasted 45 beautiful years until Freda's death in 1987.
Bill worked for United Airlines as a radio electric mechanic. Bill was a flight engineer in Jimmy Carters campaign flight from September to November. He also was Flight Engineer for Richard Nixon. Bill and Freda were invited to the Carter and then the Nixon inaugural balls.