Mae Olive (Johnson) Sellers |
| Posted 2017-11-29 by Pat R |
| Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona) Friday, November 20, 1936 Last Rites For Heroic Mother At Mesa Sat. Mrs. Mae Sellers, Victim of Tragic Accident on Mountain Road; Tosses Baby Girl to Safety The host of friends of Mrs. Mae Olive Sellers, shocked and saddened by her tragic death Wednesday, were to pay their last respects this afternoon as the remains lay in state from 3 to 6 o'clock at the Coffinger mortuary. Tonight the body will be taken to Mesa, where funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, with interment in the Mesa cemetery. Death lashed suddenly at a mother and daughter on steep Wade hill, 10 miles east on Constellation road shortly after noon Wednesday but mother instinct and mother sacrifice were even quicker and Mrs. Mae Sellers tossed her child to safety while she herself was caught. When Norman Hanson, stage driver, came upon the spot, little Betty Sellers, age 2, was sitting by the body of her mother, pinned beneath the automobile, patting the cold face and sobbing "Mother's asleep, mothers asleep." The child was practically unhurt, but Mrs. Sellers was beyond all human help. Mother and daughter had started to visit R. P. Sellers, father-in- law, about 11 o'clock Wednesday morning. Mrs. Sellers was driving the father-in-law's car, an Essex roadster. Hanson, who with his wife and two children had been delivering the mail to Constellation, passed the spot at 12:30. Retuning at 1 o'clock they came upon the pitiful scene. Hanson, after ascertaining that life was extinct, at once turned back and brought Mr. Sellers and his son Tom, who live but a quarter mile away from the scene. They jacked up the overturned car and pulled the body of Mrs. Sellers from beneath it. While Tom remained with the body Hanson and Mr. Sellers rushed to Wickenburg with the baby. Highway Patrolman Jack Peterson and Judge Bob Storms were notified. The sheriff of Yavapai County, Bob Roberts, and Justice of the Peace John Connery of Congress were summoned and the official party went to the scene of the accident, accompanied by the Coffinger ambulance and the Wales wrecking car. Babe Falls To Safety At the scene a coroner's jury was impanelled and an investigation conducted. As far as could be determined, Mrs. Sellers was descending the hill, where the road is very steep, dangerous, and crooked, when the car apparently began to get out of control, because of loose gravel or brake failure. The mother either tossed the babe from the car and attempted to follow, or tried to get out with the child in her arms. The car rode up the steep cliff a short distance and then fell back on its side, pinning Mrs. Sellers beneath it on the road and crushing her across the chest. The baby sustained bruises and a slight cut on the head. The car was practically undamaged, and when tested out by Dick Wales, was found to have fair brakes. The gear shift lever was in reverse when it stopped. A verdict of death by accident was returned. The husband, Clarence Sellers, local agent for the Standard Oil company, went to the scene with the official party and was almost prostrated by the frightful tragedy. Later he rallied and was meeting the shock courageously. The remains were brought to the Coffinger mortuary. Neighbors and friends rallied quickly to the support of the stricken family until relatives could be notified. Mrs. Sellers was 34 years old. Besides the baby Betty, there are two other children, Gail, 11 and Jimmy, 10 years old. In addition to the immediate family, the father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin D. Johnson, of Mesa, survive, also a sister, Mrs. Mabel Rose, of Phoenix, and four brothers, Lew, Howard, William and Walter, all of Mesa. See Also: Find A Grave |
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