Hillcrest Cemetery, Woodward L. and Stella B. Young

This double grave stone seen below marks the burial place of Woodward L. and Stella B. Young, my great-aunt and uncle on my father's side of the family. Woodward was born on September 30, 1896 and died on February 1, 1974. Aunt Stella was one of my paternal grandfather's four sisters, born sixteen months after my grandfather, on November 23, 1900. She was just ten months away from her 95th birthday when she died on January 24, 1995. Stella and Woodward ("Woodard," as he was often called) lived in Goodman, Mississippi most of their adult lives, and it was in Goodman that the couple raised four sons. Woodward was a World War I veteran, and at least three of their sons served in the U. S. military.



Stella and Woodward saw the early deaths of two of these young men. The first son to die was William H. ("Billy") Young, whose grave marker is pictured here. Billy Young was killed on April 22, 1943, just three weeks after his 21st birthday, while serving as an Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Force. Although Billy did leave a young widow, the couple had no children.



Pictured below is the grave marker for Charles Young, who died as the result of long-term effects of a serious brain tumor. Although Charles survived the surgery, he was not able to live again on his own. After years of hospitalization, Charles died in a long-time care facility owned and operated by the U. S. Air Force on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Charles was the father of three children.



The double grave marker shown below marks the burial site of Elton C. Young and his wife, Kathryn S. Young. Elton retired with the rank of Colonel from the U. S. Air Force, having served in a number of locations both in and outside the United States. His wife, Kathryn, died on April 3, 2000, about three years before Elton's own death on Dec. 27, 2003. They are buried near Stella and Woodward, his parents, and near his two brothers, Billy and Charles.




Source: Digital Photograph Collection (2009) privately held by Janice Tracy