The year 1965 had not ended when we lost our first classmate on December 18, 1965. Norman McVean and three other SMU students who had graduated from Permian in 1965, Tim Haines, Stan Poulos and Bill Edwards were driving from Dallas to Odessa for the holidays. Norman was not driving and it is not clear who was driving the car, but the car was registered to Norman. They were about 6 miles west of Roscoe, Texas and were driving in a rain storm. This was when Interstate 20 was under construction and the east bound and west bound lanes were divided by medians. Norman's car left the westbound lane and jumped the median and struck an eastbound vehicle. Norman was ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene. Stan Poulos was critically injured and was hospitalized in the ICU unit at Hendrick Memorial Hospital in Abilene. Tim and Bill Edwards both were treated for injuries in Sweetwater. Two persons in the other car, an 80 year woman and a 13 year girl were also pronounced dead at the scene.
It was shock to all. I was attending OC at the time and had completed my mid term exams and was at Snug Harbor, a popular young person's dance club when Grace Burks came up to me and told me that she had heard Norman was killed earlier than nignt. She was crying. I couldn't believe it, I had seen Norman when he had been in Odessa for the Thanksgiving holidays.
I remember attending Norman's funeral at the First Baptist Church. Norman was not a Baptist but rather a Methodist. The First Methodist Church was under reconstruction following a fire and thus Dr. John Rasco, the minister of the First Baptist Church offered up the sanctuary for Norman's funeral. Dr. Rasco was a neighbor of Norman's on Ridgecrest Drive just north of OHS. Norman was laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Garden's Cemetery in Odessa. Stan Poulos, Tim Haines and Bill Edwards all survived. Bill Edwards passed away June 1, 1989 from a heart attack.
Billy Mac Brown
The year 1965 had not ended when we lost our first classmate on December 18, 1965. Norman McVean and three other SMU students who had graduated from Permian in 1965, Tim Haines, Stan Poulos and Bill Edwards were driving from Dallas to Odessa for the holidays. Norman was not driving and it is not clear who was driving the car, but the car was registered to Norman. They were about 6 miles west of Roscoe, Texas and were driving in a rain storm. This was when Interstate 20 was under construction and the east bound and west bound lanes were divided by medians. Norman's car left the westbound lane and jumped the median and struck an eastbound vehicle. Norman was ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene. Stan Poulos was critically injured and was hospitalized in the ICU unit at Hendrick Memorial Hospital in Abilene. Tim and Bill Edwards both were treated for injuries in Sweetwater. Two persons in the other car, an 80 year woman and a 13 year girl were also pronounced dead at the scene.
It was shock to all. I was attending OC at the time and had completed my mid term exams and was at Snug Harbor, a popular young person's dance club when Grace Burks came up to me and told me that she had heard Norman was killed earlier than nignt. She was crying. I couldn't believe it, I had seen Norman when he had been in Odessa for the Thanksgiving holidays.
I remember attending Norman's funeral at the First Baptist Church. Norman was not a Baptist but rather a Methodist. The First Methodist Church was under reconstruction following a fire and thus Dr. John Rasco, the minister of the First Baptist Church offered up the sanctuary for Norman's funeral. Dr. Rasco was a neighbor of Norman's on Ridgecrest Drive just north of OHS. Norman was laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Garden's Cemetery in Odessa. Stan Poulos, Tim Haines and Bill Edwards all survived. Bill Edwards passed away June 1, 1989 from a heart attack.