Lloyd and Mary Elizabeth (Hambley) Wakenight were married for almost 20 years before tragedy struck. In 1968, they were killed in an automobile accident four miles northwest of Polo, Ogle County, Illinois.

Lloyd Wakenight

Born: 29 MAY 1918 in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois

Father: Sylvester McCosh Wakenight (1884 to 1979)
Mother: Vernie Mae Barnhart (1879 to 1954)

First Spouse: Mary Rozella Wragg (1919 to 2007)

Married: 27 MAR 1940 in Clinton, Clinton County, Iowa

Child:

James W Wakenight (30 NOV 1942 to 24 AUG 2015)

Second Spouse: Mary E Hambley (1925 to 1968)

Married: 18 SEP 1949 in Dixon, Lee County, Illinois

Children: None

Died: 9 JUL 1968 in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois

MT MORRIS TIMES 7-11-1968

FIVE KILLED IN TUESDAY CRASH

Polo – Five persons, including two children, were killed Tuesday night as the result of a two-car collision four miles northwest of here. Another person is reported in critical condition at Dixon Public Hospital this morning.

Killed in the crash were Thomas Joseph McCue IV, 12, and his sister, Carol Ann McCue, 15. The two McCue children were riding in a car driven by their mother, Mrs. Miriam E. McCue, 34, who was injured and take to the Dixon hospital. The McCue family recently moved to Sterling from Freeport.

Dead in the second car were the driver, Mrs. Wayne (Gloria) Ballard, and two passengers, Lloyd W. Wakenight, 50, and his wife, Mrs. Mary E. Wakenight, 43. all three people were Mount Morris residents.

State police said that the crash occurred at 9:15 p.m. at the intersection of Ill. 64 and a blacktop road. The junction is located in Ogle County about two miles from the intersection of Rt. 64 and Ill. 26.

According to the state police report, the accident was a “right angle collision.” Authorities have been unable as yet to determine the direction of the two cars involved.

Reports from the scene of the crash said that state police required almost two hours to remove the bodies from the wreckage. State police set the damage to Mrs. McCue’s auto at $1,500, while the care driven by Mrs. Ballard sustained $2,000 damage. The five fatalities make a total of seven auto accident deaths with in the last three days in the local area.

Burial: Oakwood Cemetery

Obituary:

Lloyd Wakenight of 202 W. Brayton RD., Mt. Morris, was born 5-29-1918 in Pine Creek Twp, son of Sylvester and Vernie Mae Wakenight. He married Mary Hambley on Sept. 18th, 1949 in Dixon IL.

Wakenight was employed by Kable printing as an assistant pressman and had been a lifetime resident of Mt. Morris.

He is survived by a son, James of Oregon, two grandchildren, his father, and two sisters.

Mr. And Mrs. Wakenight were members of the Church of Brethren in Mt. Morris. He was also a long time member of the Moose 1551, VFW, and American Legion.

Mrs. Mary E. Wakenight was born on 1-19-1925 in Polo. The daughter of Albert and Verna Smyth Hambley. She was also employed by Kable news as a secretary.

Besides her son and grandchildren, Mrs. Wakenight is survived by her father living in Freeport, eight brothers, Willard of Davis, Albert of Ovando MT, Lawrence of Milltown MT, Paul and Oscar of Freeport, Llewellyn of Davis, Earl of Oregon, and John of Dixon. Also eight sisters.

There will be a double funeral for the couple in the Church of the Brethren on Sunday at 2 p.m. Conducted by Rev. Warren Hoover with interment in Oakwood.

Obituary courtesy of Sharon Strow.

Timeline:

1920 Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois
1930 Mt Morris, Ogle County, Illinois
1937 Death of half-brother, Glen D Barnhart
1940 Marriage to Mary Rozella Wragg
1940 Mt Morris, Ogle County, Illinois
1942 Birth of son, James
1943 Enlisted in the US Navy
1946 Discharged from the US Navy
1949 Marriage to Mary E Hambley
1954 Death of mother, Vernie
1959 Death of half-brother, Clarence Edgar Barnhart
1968 Death and burial

Occupation: bowling alley pinsetter (1940), printing company pressman (before 1968)

Records:

1920 to 1940 US Census Records
Iowa, Marriage Records, 1923-1937
U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Dixon Evening Telegraph (Dixon, Illinois)
The U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Variations of Surname: None

First Spouse:

Mary Rozella Wragg:

Mary Rozella was born on 27 MAY 1919 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois. She died on 12 JUL 2007 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Mary’s father was Richard H Wragg. He was born on 12 JAN 1894 in Grand Detour, Ogle County, Illinois. He died on5 MAR 1945 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Mary’s mother was Gladys A Sell. She was born on 27 APR 1898 in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois. She died on 6 APR 1971 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Mary had two sisters, both born in Ogle County, Illinois:

Bernice C Wragg (1918)
Shirley Wragg (1939)

Sometime before 1946, Lloyd and Mary Rozella (Wragg) Wakenight divorced. On 11 FEB 1946, Lloyd’s sister, Nellie, divorced Harold Sigler for “extreme and repeated cruelty”.

On 23 FEB 1946, Mary Rozella Wakenight married Harold Sigler in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois. Two known children were born to this marriage, both in Ogle County, Illinois:

Harold Sigler (1946)
Vicki L Sigler (1949)

Mary Rozella’s Obituary:

Second Spouse:

Mary Elizabeth Hambley was born on 19 JAN 1925 in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois. She died on 9 JUL 1968 in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois.

Her father was Albert Hambley. He was born on 5 APR 1885 in Port Perry, Durham, Ontario, Canada. He died on 29 JAN 1969 in Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois.

Her mother was Verna Irene Smyth. She was born on 5 DEC 1897 in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois. She died on 9 AUG 1964 in Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois.

Albert Hambley married Verna Irene Smyth on 28 MAY 1919 in Morrison, Whiteside County, Illinois.

Mary Elizabeth had 12 brothers and sisters, all born in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois:

Willard F Hambley (1919)
Myrtle Hambley (1921)
Ruth Joyce Hambley (1922)
Albert Hambley (1924)
Lawrence Hambley (1927)
Isabelle Hambley (1928)
Grace Hambley (1930)
Edith Anna Hambley (1931)
Ernest Hambley (1933)
Betty Jean Hambley (1935)
Paul Hambley (1936)
Eleanor Pearl Hambley (1937)

To make this family even larger, Albert had previously been married to Verna’s sister, Bertha May Smyth. They married on 2 Jan 1908 in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois.

Bertha May Smyth was born on 27 MAR 1890 in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois. She died on 2 MAY 1918 in Dixon, Lee County, Illinois.

I do not have a copy of the death certificate, but Bertha could have died from the 1918 Spanish Flu. Yet, none of the children died. My next guess would be that she died of complications of childbirth.

To this marriage, five children were born, all in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois:

Oscar Hambley (1909)
Llewellyn Hambley (1911)
Esther Mae Hambley (1913)
Earl G Hambley (1914)
John Orley Hambley (1916)

Ancestry.com has a collection of High School Yearbooks on its site. The photo of Mary Elizabeth Hambley was taken in 1942 in Polo High School.

Lloyd and Mary Elizabeth (Hambley) Wakenight were married for almost 20 years before tragedy struck. In 1968, they were killed in an automobile accident four miles northwest of Polo, Ogle County, Illinois.

Notes:

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants of Daniel Wakenight.”

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