James
Buster Found Dead in Kidd
Lake
[Source:
Sherman TX Democrat,
August 2, 1956]
The
body
of James D. Buster,
former Sherman city attorney and city
judge, was found in Kidd Lake
Wednesday
about 3 p.m.
Buster's
body was discovered lying
partially submerged about 10 feet from
shore by I. L. Grimes, 801
Frisco Road.
The lake is located about four miles north
of Sherman on Loy Lake Road.
Justice
of the Peace Jim Spangler
ruled about 2 p.m. Thursday that Buster
died from "drowning with
suicidal
intent." The ruling was made by Spangler
after the dead man's family
decided against an autopsy.
Minor
abrasions were found on the
dead man's face around the eyes, and two
bruises were found on the head.
Bruises
on
Head
"The
bruises,"
said
Spangler, "were round, about the size of a
half-dollar."
Sheriff's
deputy Rock Chambers
said a taxi cab from Sherman took Buster
to the lake about 10:45 a.m.
Wednesday.
Grimes
said Wednesday afternoon
that he went to the lake to see a friend
who recently moved into a
nearby
house.
"I
didn't know if my friend
had moved into the house yet," said
Grimes, "and I left my car at the
gate on Loy Lake Road because I didn't
know if I could drive over the
dam.
"I
thought I saw a body in
the water and then I looked closer to make
sure. I ran back to my car
to find
help. A man and a boy in a pickup came by.
They helped me pull the body
from
the water."
According
to Grimes, the body was
in an upright position in the water, face
down.
Artificial
Respiration
David
Gately,
of 515 N. Carr, the
youth in the pickup, said he hitched a
ride with J. A. Barnett of
Denison and
was coming back to Sherman when they were
stopped by Grimes.
The
15-year-old youth said
Wednesday that after the body had been
pulled from the water, the three
tried
artificial respiration, but the man was
dead.
"He
was about ten feet from
the edge of the shore in water about five
and a half or six feet deep,"
said Gately.
After
failing to revive the man,
the men notified the Grayson County
Sheriff's office of the death, and
Desk
Sergeant Pat Robinson of the Sherman
Police Department reported the
incident to
Democrat
reporters at 2:52 p.m. Wednesday.
Taken
in
Cab
Buster's
glasses,
a ball-point
pen, a small pocketknife, and $4.20 were
found in a briefcase lying
beside his
hat on the shore of the lake a few feet
from the body.
Deputy
Sheriff Chambers said
Thursday morning that Buster was taken to
the lake by Roy G. Smith,
driver for
the Clipper Cab Company of Sherman.
Chambers,
in quoting the driver,
said Buster was picked up in front of the
Plaza Theater on Houston
Street about
9:15 on Wednesday morning.
Smith
said Buster asked to be
taken first to McKown and Washington
Streets, then to the rock pits at
the end
of South Gribble Street, and then six
miles east of Sherman on Highway
82, and
out Travis Street Road.
The
driver said he stopped at the
Gribble Street rock pits.
To
Meet
A Man
After
driving
the man out Travis
Street Road to the intersection of Perrin
Field Road, Smith said Buster
asked
him to turn right and go back to town on
Loy Lake Road. On the way back
toward
Sherman, he wanted out at Kidd Lake, Smith
said, mentioning, "he was
supposed to meet a man there."
Buster
paid his fare and the cab
driver drove back to Sherman at
approximately 10:45 a.m.
Funeral
services for Buster will
be at 10 a.m. Friday in Dannel Funeral
Chapel with W. J. Epting, a
Sherman
Baptist minister, and Rev. Robert Badgett
of the Central Christian
Church
officiating.
Dannel
Funeral Home will be in
charge of burial at West Hill Cemetery.
Buster,
who lived at 718 S.
Walnut, was born August 1, 1893, at
Ardmore, Okla., the son of the late
W. S.
and Maude Cummins
Buster. He moved to Sherman in 1913
from Whitesboro.
A
veteran of World War I, he
married Miss Charlie Kelley in 1915. He
was a member of the First
Baptist
Church of Sherman.
Bible
Class
Teacher
For
32 years he was a teacher of
the Young Men's Bible Class at the First
Baptist Church. Buster was a
former
city attorney of Whitesboro, former city
attorney and city judge of
Sherman,
past master of Travis Masonic Lodge 117,
former past district deputy
grand
master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of
Texas, former state grand master
of the
International Order of Odd Fellows, and
was the first post commander of
Charles
R. Simmons–Clifford Hardwicke American
Legion Post.
He
was also former United States
Commissioner for Eastern District
Federal Court and in charge of land
acquisition for the United States Corps
of Engineers. While working for
the
Corps of Engineers, he helped acquire
land for Lake Texoma, Convair
Aircraft of
Fort Worth, and Sheppard Air Force Base
of Wichita Falls.
Survivors
include his wife; a son,
J. D. Buster Jr. of Lubbock; one
daughter, Mrs. Daniel E. Flanders of
Fort
Worth; three sisters, Mrs. W. A. Roberts
of Dallas, and Mrs. Fred Mooty
and
Miss Maude Buster, both of Sherman; and
one granddaughter.
Pallbearers
will be S. V. Ernest,
Rayburn Nall,
L. G. Hight, E. G. Graves and J. N.
Dickson, all of
Sherman; and
G. W. Turner of Fort Worth.
Honorary pallbearers will be the
members
of the Grayson County Bar Association.
CUMMINS
FAMILY
