Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-02-19
TWOTOWNSTO
PAY TRIBUTE
OMALLERNEE
Funeral of Youthful
Valley Aviator to be
Held at Rio Hondo
Sunday

~ w Ah " alA aAh@
feel the wind whistle past the wings
Of a plane.
His body lies at Rio Hondo. A
quiet group of relatives and friends
gathered today as it reached the city.
A grief-stricken family stay awake
tonight, thinking Of what might have
been.
The funeral will be held Sunday
afternoon. San Benito will join Rio
nondo in paying the last respects to
the intrepid boy flyer.
Laverne Mallernee could not resist
the call Of the air. His mother fire.
quently pied with him to give up
flying. He had many narrow es-
capes. He was in crashes before,
and did stop at times, for periods Of
several months. But he always went
back.
He had not been flying long before
the tragic crash in Dallas Wednes-
day: For almost a year he had
worked in a garage in San Antonio.
Then he went back to the air. and TO
one Of the most dangerous parts Of
the game-testing new planes. He
vas testing one when it crashed with
him.
Youngest Aviator
He started flying when he was IL
years old, when he went TO a flying
school in Dayton, Ohio. He showed
such natural ability with machinery
and in flying that the following year
he was licensed TO fly. He was at
that time the youngest aviator in the
world, and his record has never been
surpassed.
He was not in the war, rs he was
too young.
When the Mallernee family came
to the Valley, six years ago, the
youngster bought an old wreck of a
plane, tied 1t together in places with
baling wire. tinkered with the en-
CINE until it would run, and hoped
off serenely on the flight of two
thousand miles from Ohio to the
Valley. He made the trip, with
many stops, but without serious
mishap.
Laverne had another urge which
was about as strong as that OF fly
ing-music. He picked the instru-
ment OF his time in music, as he did
in adventure, and was one of the
best saxophone players in this part
Of the state.
He Joined the Gulf Coast Seven,
q jazz orchestra. and played in Hous-
ton, San Antonio and other parts of
Texas. A little later he Joined
Bobby Warren's ten show, and toured
Texas and other states. His parents
rested easier. when they knew that
ne had given up flying for a time.
Back in the Game
But not for long. Soon he was
back In the game, flying for pleas
ure, and a little later for CONNER
cial concerns. He returned TO Rio
hondo occasionally, always making
the trip in an airplane, and flew
over the Valley many times.
He had a close call at Point Isabel
at ore time, his gas line stopping
on him when near the sea coast,
Laverne made a forced landing
without damage to his plane. A
friend drove down with his car and
some parts for the plane-or parts
for some other motor. He tinkered
with il a while, and soon was in
the air again.
Laverne's worst crash besides the
fatal one at Dallas was in Dover,
Ohio. in 1924. He was flying an
old DeHaviland Six, and something
went wrong. II crashed into the
ground, nose first, but the young
flier escaped without injury. He
managed to keep the plane partly
horizontal, so the crash was not en-
tirely downward.
His extreme skill and daring under
any critical test was shown in an
other instance in Ohio when he
piioted a commercial plane safely
: to the ground from an altitude OF
o than 1000 feet after one wing
had broken off. The plane carried
several passengers.
The accident which caused the
youths death was not blamed on
the plane. but on the low altitude
ut which q stunt was tried by Law
erne.
Owned Three Planes
People in this section who have
flown with the youth said he vas
one of the best, but most daring.
aviator they ever knew. He had
three planes at one time, and had
different planes at his home near
Rio Hondo. One plane he bought
for 500. II was an old, discarded,
two-seater biplane. He patched up
the wings, spiiced the fuselage with
barbed and bailing wire, overhauled
the motor; and had it In the air
in q short time.
1T worked simply fine he was
ouoted as saying. although he had
difficulty in p~ersuaaing his friends
10 go up in the old wreck.
About two years ago he was ut
Rio Hcndo for one OF his longest
stays. But he could not stay long.
His restless blood urged him to
other places, and always, always back
in the air. He flew for a time, and
then went 10 San Antonio ard work
ed as a mechanic for almost a year.
Then TO Dallas. and was flying
planes in that section when he met
his death.
Laverne had n lovable character,
all of his friends here state. He
had q great affection for his par
ents, and for his friends, and he
made many efforts to give up fly
ing. But always he was forced back
to 1t. in answer 20 the restless spirit
which stirred his blood. even as
he watched birds sailing through
the sky.
And when he felt the controls in
his hand. and the air humming past
his head. he could not resist the
temptation to snake the old boat do
her stuff
He was the adventurer. the ex-
plorer.- the artist-and IL cost him
his life when he was just beginning
to live.
With the body from Dallas came
a tribute-one significant Of the
feeling his comrades had for him. A
tiny a~irplane. made carefully OF
flowers. Sweetpeas. woven bv the
hands Of friends into the frame Of
that symbol Of freedom, speed.
daring and thrill in which Laverne
Naliernee spent his life, and met his
death
STORE SOLD
PAYMONDvTLLE, Feb. 1s.-The
an" System store here changed
- - A.. w~-a-