PEMBERTON, John LeRoy (Roy)

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ March 1, 1963 Roy Pemberton Rites Tuesday Funeral services were held at 11 o'clock Tuesday morning of this week for John LeRoy (Roy) Pemberton, widely known Wickenburg business man, who passed away at 2:20 p.m. Friday, February 22 in Good Samaritan Hospital, Phoenix, where he had been a patient since January 31. Dr. Charles S. Poling, former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church here conducted the services at the Wickenburg Cemetery, overlooking the town to which Mr Pemberton had contributed so much and had seen grow from a little town of 150 people in the nearly 40 years he resided here. Born in Globe, Arizona, Match 2, 1891, he lived as a child on the Salt River at the location now covered by Roosevelt Lake which was formed when Roosevelt dam was built. He worked as a signal boy for the overhead cable workers and as a carpenter's helper during the construction of the dam. In 1914, while employed by the Gila County Highway Department, he met and married Wilminth (Billie) Chilson. They moved to Tempe in 1917 where Mr Pemberton engaged in the garage business. Later he became shop foreman in Phoenix for the Franklin Motor Car Co. In 1924 the family moved to Wickenburg where he took over the Hyder Garage. He also engaged in the cattle business east of town in association with the late A. G. Walker. In 1937 he purchased the Texas Buffet, located in the old Texas Hotel building. He remained there until 1946 when he moved the business to a new building he built on Center Street, changing the name to La. Cabana and operating it with his son Dwight until becoming ill last Fall. Mr Pemberton served three terms on the Wickenburg Town Council and three terms as a member of the School Board. He was a charter member of the local Masonic Lodge. Besides his wife and son, Mr Pemberton is survived by two daughters, Mrs Virginia Sheriff of Wickenburg and Mrs Barbara Johnson of Corning, Calif., his 97-year- old mother Mrs Sallie Pemberton who lives with his sister, Mrs Stella Frazier in Roosevelt, Ariz., and nine grandchildren.