Fred Eugene (Buddy) Potts of
Poteau, OK (December 15, 1944 - September 1, 2019).
Buddy was preceded in death by
his wife Susan, son Jeffrey and daughter Shelly. In addition, his parents Maudell Allen Potts
and John J Potts of Fort Smith, AR and brother Johnny Potts of Renton, WA.
He is
survived by sisters Linda Potts-Grigg of Poteau, OK and Sherry Potts (Rich)
Rapin of Fort Smith, AR along with an aunt, Geneva Rowe of Poteau, OK, J.B.
(Pete) Nelson of Hartshorne, OK and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Buddy was born in Hartshorne, OK where he
was raised until his family moved to Northern California in the 1950’s
eventually returning to Oklahoma in the early ‘60s. Following high school, he enlisted in the
U.S. Army and served in the Army Airborne as a Paratrooper until his honorable
discharge in 1964.
Buddy and
wife Susan made their home in Eureka, CA.
After the tragic loss of Susan and their two children in a house fire,
Buddy returned to Oklahoma where he served as a Wilburton Police Officer. He later settled in Fort Smith, AR working
for Oakridge Builders constructing the Sebastian County Detention Center and
later for Crawford Construction Company working on the Historic Restoration of
the Fort Smith National Park, Judge Parker’s Courthouse. He later took an
environmental/maintenance position with Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith, AR until
he retired in 2007. Since retiring,
Buddy lived in Poteau, OK close to family.
A graveside
service will be held at the Mountain Station Cemetery, Wilburton, OK on
Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 11:00AM.
1 comment:
In the summer of 1966 I was almost 16 years old and visiting my grandmother who was a companion to Julia Deich in Miranda, California. Sue Potts and her husband and baby were renting the trailer on the property for the summer while he worked on a road repair crew. I only remember that Buddy was very handsome and came home very tired, at which time I would make my exit. But I remember Jeffrey’s first birthday and what an adorable baby he was. Sue would have been 18 that summer and the elderly ladies encouraged us to keep company. Sue was very nice and energetic. She took me blackberry picking, she knew right where to stop along the highway. We went home and made cobbler. We went in her little truck into Arcata, I think, and stopped at her parent’s house. I don’t think anyone else was home. I don’t know if I would remember all of this over 53 years later but for one additional memory. In February 1973 I was staying with my folks in San Jose, flipping through the morning paper, when on an inside page a filler caught my eye. Sue
Potts and her children had died in a house fire in Eureka.
There is a marker for Sue, Jeffrey and Michelle in Sunset Memorial Park, Eureka, California. Sue was born Susan Michelle Boyd on May 7, 1948. Jeffrey William Potts was born August 15, 1965. Michelle D. Potts was born September 6, 1967. They died February 22, 1973.
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