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William Ray
Loftin |
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Born: 26 Dec 1943, Newton, Catawba County, NC Died:
19 Aug 2005, Hickory, Catawba County, NC |
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William "Billy"
Ray Loftin was the first child born to
Sam William Loftin and
Willie Aleen Goble. Sam was 25 and Willie was 18 at the
time of Billy Ray's birth. |
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Willie and Sam
had been visiting with her parents on Christmas Day 1943 when it
started to snow. While there, Willie went into labor and
Sam had to go get his brother Mike’s car in order to drive her
to the hospital in Newton. |
Because of the
heavy snow, other family members had to push the car at times as
Sam attempted to drive Willie through the snow to the hospital.
At one point Sam even had to walk and get
some horses to pull the car up a hill, as they continued to the
hospital in Newton. |
Billy Ray was
born over 12 hours later on December 26, 1943 around 10 P.M. |
(Right) Billy Ray Loftin |
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Willie's memories of Billy Ray's birth
(Recorded 10 Dec 2008)
(Duration 1:48; Size 2.07 MB) |
Click
Here |
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Sam, Willie & Billy Ray, 1944 |
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Billy Ray with his 1st Cousin, Louise Loftin (Potter) |
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Billy Ray with his Uncle, Charlie Loftin |
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Campmeeting photos, 1945 |
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On one wintry
evening while living on E. Bandy Rd., Willie discovered that
Billy Ray was missing in the middle of the night. He was 3 or 4
years old at the time. Willie remembers crying and saying,
“it’s so cold outside - he’ll freeze to death.” Eventually,
however, he was found in the spare bedroom under a stack of
clothes. He told them he had been cold in his room and climbed
under the clothes to keep warm. |
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All of these photos were taken when Billy Ray's maternal
Grandparents, Martin & Nessie Goble, lived in the Murphy Jones
house on Alley Road, just off of Sherrills Foard Rd. in Catawba
County. |
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The family lived in this house (below Left) on Dexter Path, off
of Shiloh Church Rd, in Catawba County, when Billy Ray was a
baby. The house was brand new - Sam had just completed
building it for his growing family. Eventually Sam would
build the family a larger home (below Right) on E. Bandy's Rd in
Catawba County. The house had indoor plumbing and even a
basement. |
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Billy Ray with Carol Kirksey, a friend from church |
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This photo form around 1947 shows Billy Ray as a 4-year-old |
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The family attended Mathis Chapel Baptist Church in Catawba
County. |
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Billy Ray with Sam & Willie at Mathis Chapel Baptist Church
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Willie became pregnant around 1948 but miscarried. She
became pregnant again in 1952. Billy Ray gained a "little
brother" on 08 May 1953 when Curtis Dean was born. |
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Billy Ray's boyish handwriting (as a young boy) on the back of a family photo of
Curtis |
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Sam built another house on Hwy. 10 for a relative. When
the cousin's loan was not approved by the bank to buy the house,
Sam decided to sell his house on E. Bandy's and move the family
into the new house on Hwy. 10 (below). |
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Billy Ray started 1st Grade in the fall of 1949 at Balls Creek
Elementary School. Willie had bought him new clothes for
the occasion and he had been attending for a few weeks when Sam
was called into the school. There was a problem: Billy was
just 5 and didn't turn 6 until December 26th, and the county's
cut-off date for was in October. He wouldn't be allowed to
come back till next year. So, he "officially" started
school in the fall of 1950. |
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School Photos |
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade |
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6th Grade
8th Grade |
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10th Grade
11th Grade |
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12th Grade |
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Billy Ray met and married Mattie Diane Self on 23 Dec 1961 while
he was still a Senior at Bunker Hill High School. Diane
was born 09 Sep 1942 in Catawba County, NC. |
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Bill and Diane
moved in with Sam & Willie for 6 months till he could finish
high school. The house only had two bedrooms, but they
managed to find enough room. There's an old saying, "a
house filled with love has elastic walls". Bill's maternal
Grandfather was also living with the family at the time.
Bill & Diane got the 2nd bedroom. Grandpa Martin Goble
and Curtis (who was 8) slept in a "single" bed in the den. |
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They eventually
rented a small house overlooking the lake at Murray's Mill. |
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Children of William Ray Loftin and Mattie Diane Self |
Name |
Birth Date |
Death Date |
Spouse |
Beverly Ann
Loftin |
1963 |
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Richard Allen Kale
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William Ray
Loftin, Jr. |
1964 |
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(1) Lindsay Reid
Bolick
(2) Kay Louise Glenn |
Leif Eric Loftin |
1969 |
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(1) Roxanne Marie
Gardner
(2) Sydney Suzanne Brown |
Crystal Annette
Loftin |
1970 |
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(1) Mark Anthony
Burgin
(2) Mark Kiser |
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1964 - Bill & Diane with Beverly at Bill's parent's home in
Catawba |
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Bill & Diane at Billy & Kay's Wedding with
their children
(Left to Right)
Eric, Willie (Bill's mother), Bill, Kay, Billy, Diane, Beverly
and Crystal |
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Bill spent most of his adult life working as an Insurance Agent
at Western Southern Insurance. |
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Bill and Diane's home in Conover |
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Bill died 19 Aug 2005 at the age of 61. He is buried in
the Conover Cemetery. |
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Bill's Obituary |
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SOURCES |
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A special thanks to
Willie
Goble Loftin,
Helen Goble Sigmon and Brenda Isenhour Schronce
for the photos of Bill and his family. |
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If you have additional information or photo of
William Ray Loftin, please contact me. |
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