Everett Garrett 'Ebb' Horton

(July 21, 1915 ~ August 7, 2000)

Ebb, son of Charlie Wayne Horton and Virgie Virginia Parnell, married to Anna Bell Jones, and buried in Rogers Cemetery, Ovalo, Taylor County, Texas.

TUSCOLA - Everett G. "Ebb" Horton, 85, died Monday, August 7, 2000, in an Abilene nursing home.

Services are 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Burtis Williams officiating. Burial will be in Rogers Cemetery, directed by Fry-Bartlett Funeral Home of Tuscola.

Mr. Horton was born in Loveland, Okla., and moved to Lawn in 1921. He graduated from Lawn High School and was a U.S. Army veteran of WWII.

He worked for Safeway Grocery in Abilene and in the oil fields in West Texas for 25 years, retiring in 1973 as district manager for Schlumberger Oil Field Service.

He married Anna Bell Jones in 1939 and moved to Tuscola in 1973 from Kermit. He was a member of Tuscola First Baptist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Anna Bell Horton, of Tuscola; two daughters, Judy Coffman of Tuscola, Ronda Kay Appleton of El Paso; one son, Hank Everett of Lawn; three brothers, Billy Ted Horton of Carlsbad, N.M.; two sisters, Velma Johnson, Merlene Lafoon of Lawn; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews.

Visitation is 6-8 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to Rogers Cemetery Fund, in care of First State Bank in Tuscola, P.O. Box 98, Tuscola, Texas 79562.

FIVE OF HORTON BROTHERS OVERSEAS, 6TH SPURNS DEFERMENT TO JOIN NAVY

By Lillian Hurd

LAWN, Feb 2 - When M.C. Horton, 18-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie W. Horton, left for Army serive a few days ago he followed in the footsteps of five older brothers, all of whom are now overseas.

Horton left his father at home, bedfast, with a broken leg he received Jan. 6 in Abilene, when a bale of cotton rolled on him from a truck at the government cotton yards.  The only help left to farm the 245 acres of land cultivated by the Hortons is Bobby Ray Horton, 16, and Billy Ted, who is 13.

In spite of these handicaps, Mr. and Mrs. Horton think they are very fortunate in that they have not (illegible) a son in service so far and only one has been wounded.  Physicians tell Mr. Horton he will not be able to walk again for three months but he says there will be a way provided, and they will get along someway till the war is over and the boys come home.  The Horton family lived in Loveland, Okla. before coming to the Lawn community in 1922 where they have lived since that time.

Oldest of the six Horton boys in service is, Sgt. Sydney W. Horton, 32, who is with the infantry, now in France.  He has been in service since December of 1943.  He was home on furlough in October 1944, and shipped out from Ft. Meade, Md., in November of the same year.  In a recent letter to his parents he said he had not been up in the front lines but was close enough to hear the big guns and there was plenty of excitement.  He is married to the former Mary Edna Virden of Winters.  They have a son and daughter, Steve and Jackie.  Mrs. Horton and the children make their home with her parents in Winters.

The second oldest son is Pfc. Everett G. Horton, 30, now in Belgum, with a Service Battery of the First Army.  He went into service in July 1943, trained at Ft. Sill, Okla. and Camp Bowie and went overseas soon after he was home on furlough in February of 1944.

In a recent letter he told his parents they had to back up so fast at one point recently the he lost all his belongings.  He asked for his brother Sydney's address and said he had an idea they were near each other now.  He is married to the former Anabelle Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Jones of the Rogers community.  They have one daughter.

S-Sgt, Alton Ralph Horton, landed on Pellions Island with the 31st Wildcat Division.  He was wounded Dec. 29, 1944, by a sniper's bullet which ripped a four inch gash in his side.  He has been in service since June 1942 and went overseas in the spring of 1944.  He is sending the Purple Heart awarded him, to his parents.

First Lt. Charlie T. Horton, 24, has been in serivce almost four years, and is now with a paratrooper division on Luzon.  He first trained with the Field Artillery, received his second lieutenants rating at Ft. Sill, Okla.  He transferred to the paratroopers and trained at Ft. Benning, Ga., and went overseas in January 1944.  Since that time he has been in Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies, made the landing on Leyte, and is now on Luzon.

In a recent letter to his parents Lieutenant Horton said when they dropped down on enemy territory the Japanese soldiers were badly frightened and ran for their lives, looking for a place to hide.  He said they were doing most of their sleeping in foxholes, and promises for a turkey dinner had been kept, with cats arriving by plane.

Lieutenant Horton is married to the former Lois Wilson of Spray, N.C., and their daughter Aneta, was three months old when he left the states.

Sgt. Herman Horton, 23, is with the Marines, and has been in services since August 1942.  He was first sent overseas to New Caledonia and was in the invasion of Bougafnville.  When he arrived back in the state in February of 1944 his service ribbon bore two major engagement stars.  After visiting his parents here he reported back to Camp Pendletion and is now stationed in the Hawaiian Islands.

M.C. Horton, the last to go into service, will be 19 in February.  He was deferred last year to assist his father in making a crop, but when his number came up this year, he insisted on going, and no persuasion could make him change his mind.  He is now station at Ft. Sam Houston.

Mr. and Mrs. Horton are hoping the war will be over long before Bobby Ray, now almost 17, is old enough to be called to service.  They also have two daughters who are doing their part in defense work at Consolidated Aircraft plant in Fort Worth.  They are Morene and Merlene Horton and make their home in Fort Worth with a sister, Mrs. Velma Anderson, and Mr. Anderson.

Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Texas) - Sat, Feb 3, 1945