Cecil Calvert Champenois was born on 19 July 1901 in Meridian, Lauderdale County,
Mississippi. He was most likely named after his Uncle, Dr. Cecil Champenois, also from Meridian,
Mississippi.
Cecil Calvert Champenois died at Schreiner Airport, Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas, on 10 August 1938 in
a plane crash.
The 1938 Plane Crash
I [Cecil T. Champenois, Jr.] found a write-up in one of the strangest places about Cecil Calvert Champenois'
plane crash. It was on the FamilyTree Maker web site and was specifically about the fellow who was also in
the plane with Cecil Calvert when the plane crashed. His name is: Howard Whitfield Fletcher. He was the son
of Haydon Fletcher and Clara Whitfield. Here's what the article says:
Notes for Howard Whitfield Fletcher:
The headline for the newspaper for 20 Aug 1936 read as follows: "Two killed as Plane Crashes, Burns at
Kerrville Airport, Howard Fletcher, 31, Kerrville licensed pilot, who plunged to his death Saturday when
his plane crashed and burned at the municipal airport. Cecil Champenois, 36, of Bay City, a passenger in
the plane, also was killed. Miss Winifred Fletcher, sister of the pilot, witnessed the crash from an
automobile parked at the airport. Fletcher, a garage employee here, had been flying about three years.
He was buried in Garden of Memories."
My Notes: Whoever put these notes together made a mistake of 2 years. My grandfather, Cecil Calvert
Champenois, died on August 10, 1938, two years later than what the notes said above. Also, the Miss Winifred
Fletcher, was named Cora Winifred Fletcher. She was born in 1910 and died in 1952 in Kerrville,
Kerr County, Texas.
A school teacher named Susie Adkins who also works at the Cedarville Cemetery in Bay City, Texas,
called me (Cecil Jr.) on Saturday, October 9, 1999, and informed me that she had found the article about Cecil
Calvert Champenois' plane crash, which occurred on August 10, 1938, at the Kerrville Airport. It appears that Faye
(Perry) Champenois and Mrs. Fletcher both saw the plane crash and the men burn to death before their very
eyes. What a horrible scene for these two women to have to bare! Cecil was buried in the Rosewood Memorial
Park in the city of Humble, Harris County, Texas, on 21 August 1938 at 4PM. The Masonic Order gave the memorial
ceremony, as Cecil Calvert Champenois was a member of that Order in Houston. All of this was reported
in the Bay City Tribune newspaper on 22 August 1938. Cecil was 36 years and 1 month of age when he had
his untimely death.
I will further state here what my father told me the night his mother told him his father had died.
Daddy said he was 9 years of age and had been awakened three times by his deceased father, who was in the room.
He knew his father had died, so that when his mother came to tell him, he already knew. He said his father told
him that he was alright.
I have since heard that my grandmother had received some life insurance money after Cecil Calvert Champenois' death.
Later on, she met a man and I think that they were either married, or were going to get married. However, this man ran
off with all of her money, leaving her destitute. This is the story I have heard. My father grew up without his father's presence after the age of nine. I have compassion for him for his loss in his very early formative years.
The following link is an article copied from the Daily Tribune newspaper by a librarian:
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