Walter Lee Pope

Name	Walter Lee Pope^{285, ED 36-2, SD 7, Sheet 4-B, dwelling 82, family 85,303, ED 90, SD 9, Sheet 8-B, dwelling 140, family 149}
Birth	23 September 1919, Gaston Co, NC^{303, ED 90, SD 9, Sheet 8-B, dwelling 140, family 149,285, ED 36-2, SD 7, Sheet 4-B, dwelling 82, family 85,377}
Death	8 June 1965, Cherryville, Gaston Co, NC³⁷⁷
Burial	Cherryville, Gaston Co, NC³⁷⁷, Cherryville City Cemetery
Father	James C. Pope (1885-1957)
Mother	Georgia Cline (1896-1958)

Spouses

1	Martha Sue Sellers (Private)^{285, Ed 36-6, SD 7, Sheet 19-B, dwelling 315, family 322}
Father	Ernest Sloan Sellers (1894-1996)
Mother	Aubra Lee Brown (1894-1976)

Children	Pamela (Private)
	Walter Daniel (Private)
	Susan Lee (Private)
	Timothy Sellers (Private)
	Mary Laura (Private)

Notes for Walter Lee Pope

Martha and Walter were dating when he was drafted into the army in the summer of 1941. War was on the horizon, and her father didn't want her to marry until after Walter had done his service. He said that he had had to wait to marry Aubra until after World War I, and Walter could wait too. Instead they eloped in late June and Walter left in early July to go to Camp Davis in Wilmington. He was home for the weekend of December 7th and they were out on a date when they were stopped by a friend who asked if they had heard about the bombings at Pearl Harbor. He told Walter he'd better get back to his unit.⁴⁰⁵

Walter went in as a private, but was soon recommended for Officers Candidate School. During his training their first daughter Pam was born and he was shipped out to Europe whe she was about a year old.⁴⁰⁵

He served in World War II as a First Lieutenant in the 658 Quartermaster Truck Co.³⁷⁷ The 658th took part in the "Red Ball Express" (so-called because the routes were marked with red balls), delivering supplies to the frontlines in Germany. The Army Transportation Corps was somewhat integrated, with white officers over mostly black non-coms and privates.

After V-E Day Walter came home on furlough for a few weeks and was out to dinner with Martha when the news came about Hiroshima. He had been dreading returning to war. He stayed in the Army until November or December 1945, serving in Texas.⁴⁰⁵

After the war Walter and his young family lived next door to Worth Sellers and his family who lived in what had been a roadhouse run by Worth called the Red Door. After Worth moved away, the house was converted back into a roadhouse by "Poker Gantt". Poker built a small "motel" which rented rooms by the hour, and sold beer illegally, making it a less than desirable location for Walter and Martha to raise a family. Walter would have his friends buy beer there, so he could then call the police on the roadhouse. Unfortunately, the police back then were in the pay of Poker Gantt, so they would warn him of their upcoming raid, giving Poker time to hide the beer back in the woods. In retaliation, every evening after they closed for the night they would set up the jukebox to play all night long at top volume and point the speakers at Walter and Martha's house. Shortly thereafter Walter and Martha built their house next to her father's home and moved away.⁴⁰⁵


Last Modified 23 August 2003	Created 23 September 2003 using Reunion for Macintosh OSX

Created 23 September 2003 by Reunion, from Leister Productions, Inc.