We don't know much about Mary. She and Bill were married in Arkansas around 1940. Billy Pat was born October 31, 1943. Bill was shipped to France with Patton's Third Army in early 1944, and was killed there on November 11th. Mary remarried September 3, 1945, but her second husband died very suddenly of viral pneumonia in August of 1956. She became very despondent, giving her family concern that she might be suicidal. Her mother appealed to some authority for help, but was told they couldn't do anything unless Mary did something to prove she was not stable. The morning of June 11, 1957, she shot all three of her sons through the head and killed herself. The two Sharp sons died within 24 hours, but BIlly Pat lived for eight years in a vegetative state. According to the Arkansas Democrat on June 12, Mary left a note saying:"The boys and myself can't go on. I love them and no one else wants them. So what I do is after they said no matter what, they wanted to be with me. If it is possible, put Charles in my coffin. For he has always slept with me and my only hope is that he can sleep on with me. Mary "There were four other hand written notes that indicated she had been considering suicide at least since March 15th. Mary was survived by her mother, Mrs. Vance Rial, two brothers, Louis and Herman Bailey, of Fontana, California, and a sister, Vivian Williams of Fontana; her grandmother Ellen Jane Bailey, of Conway, Arkansas
We don't know much about Mary. She and Bill were married in Arkansas around 1940. Billy Pat was born October 31, 1943. Bill was shipped to France with Patton's Third Army in early 1944, and was killed there on November 11th. Mary remarried September 3, 1945, but her second husband died very suddenly of viral pneumonia in August of 1956. She became very despondent, giving her family concern that she might be suicidal. Her mother appealed to some authority for help, but was told they couldn't do anything unless Mary did something to prove she was not stable. The morning of June 11, 1957, she shot all three of her sons through the head and killed herself. The two Sharp sons died within 24 hours, but BIlly Pat lived for eight years in a vegetative state. According to the Arkansas Democrat on June 12, Mary left a note saying:"The boys and myself can't go on. I love them and no one else wants them. So what I do is after they said no matter what, they wanted to be with me. If it is possible, put Charles in my coffin. For he has always slept with me and my only hope is that he can sleep on with me. Mary "There were four other hand written notes that indicated she had been considering suicide at least since March 15th. Mary was survived by her mother, Mrs. Vance Rial, two brothers, Louis and Herman Bailey, of Fontana, California, and a sister, Vivian Williams of Fontana; her grandmother Ellen Jane Bailey, of Conway, Arkansas
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