FOURTH GENERATION

49. William Perry PRIER was born on 20 Jan 1916 in Arkansas. He was buried in Feb 1965 in Lee's Chapel Cemetery, Independence Co., Arkansas. He died on 18 Feb 1965 in Batesville, Independence Co., Arkansas. William never met his father and died before this research revealed that his father's first name was Fred. He always believed that his father's name was William. He was separated from his mother when he was seven or eight years old and lived the remainder of his childhood years with his foster parents, John and Mary Coles of Sandtown.

William served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from April 19, 1944 to January 11, 1946. He was trained in Amphibious Landing Craft at Coronado, California and saw action during the invasion and occupation of the Japanese island of Okinawa. This was an especially dangerous time because the island was the scene the Pacific theater's largest amphibious operation and a bitter air, sea, and land battle in which Japanese kamikaze pilots took a heavy toll. He often told stories of encounters and attacks by suicide planes.

He was married to Geneva Clydella LESLEY (daughter of Joseph Clyde LESLEY and Bertha Hester Adaline SMITH) on 26 Aug 1938 in Sandtown, Independence Co., Arkansas. Geneva Clydella LESLEY was born on 15 Sep 1920 in Independence County, Arkansas. William Perry PRIER and Geneva Clydella LESLEY had the following children:

+61 i. Charles Adean PRIER.
+62 ii. Bertha Elwese PRIER.
+63 iii. Clydella Dianne PRIER.

Return to Table of Contents