Clara Mae Gillam

GILLAM, IRWIN, ERWIN, CRAFT

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 1/30/2020 at 08:05:20

August 1, 1963 - The Tipton Conservative

Mrs. Clara Mae Gillam, 65, of Tipton, and 3 other women, all relatives of Mrs. Gillam, were killed about 1 p.m. July 28 in a 2-car crash near Higginsville, Mo.

The other dead were identified as Mrs. Nell Elizabeth Gillam, 57, and Mrs. Mrytle E. Denger, 86, both of Des Moines and Flora E. Tillotson, 62, of St. Joseph, Ill.

Mrs. Nell Gillam, driver, apparently lost control of her car and it swerved into the path of a westbound car driven by Lee L. Lowder Jr., Allen, Kan. Mrs. Lowder is in critical condition in a Lexington, Mo., hospital but Lowder escaped injury, according to the highway patrol.

Officers said the dead women were returning from a vacation trip to California.

Mrs. Gillam is survived by a niece and nephew. The nephew, who lives in Des Moines, has gone to Missouri to identify the bodies.

Mrs. Gillam was born Sept. 15, 1892 at Mud Lava Springs, Ind., and was married to Millard W. Gillam in June of 1916. Her husband preceded her in death in 1957.

Survivors include a brother, John Irwin, National City, Calif.; a sister-in-law, Mrs. Inez Erwin, Cambridge, Ill.; a half-sister, Mrs. Irene Craft, Attica, Ind., and several nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Sheets and Dahn funeral home with the Rev. Robert McDanel officiating and interment in Masonic cemetery.