Beckham County, OK - Deaths: Hazel Oleta Pruitt, 1927
Wednesday, 24 Sep 2008
Submitted by: delma25@pldi.net (Delma Tindell)

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PRUITT, HAZEL OLETA
(20 Oct 1927, Elk City Newspaper, Elk City, Beckham Co, OK):
Miss Hazel Pruitt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pruitt.  Died in Elk
City October 19, age 17 years.  Funeral services were held Tuesday,
October 20, at the Baptist church at 2:30, Rev. Shirley in charge.  Burial
in Fairlawn cemetery.  Grubitz & Son in charge.
Miss Hazel Pruitt, seventeen year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie
Pruitt of this city, met a tragic death Wednesday shortly after noon when
she was ground to death beneath the wheels of a Rock Island passenger
train.
Miss Pruitt and Mrs. Martha Wright were picking cotton in a field near the
"Twin Bridges" a couple of miles west of the city.  Becoming thirsty they
started after some drinking water, it being necessary to walk across the
trestle which spans a small creek.  Mrs. Wright says she looked down the
track before they started across but could not see a train, but they had
not gone very far when she heard the roar and the clicking of the rails.
She told Miss Pruitt that a train was coming and both looked around, the
train being almost upon them.  She grabbed Miss Pruitt by the arm but she
jerked loose and ran, falling just as the train was upon her.  Mrs. Wright
stepped off the trestle upon a projecting timber and was unhurt.
The train was stopped a few feet on the other side of the trestle and the
mangled body taken from beneath the engine and was taken to Doxey, where
it remained until the train from the west brought it to this city.
The track curves just before it reaches the trestle and a train could not
be seen any great distance away.  Miss Pruitt was the youngest of three
girls in the Pruitt family and was a member of the Baptist Church here.
The body was prepared for burial by Grubitz & Son and the funeral was held
this afternoon from the Baptist church.  The family have the sympathy of
all in their bereavement.

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