Rice, Glenn, 1917-1918

Born: 1917
Died: 1918

Note the circle of Irises, probably planted at the time of the burial.
Photo taken 29 March 2014 by the excavator, Eugene Stidham.

This child and his twin brother Lonnie (or Loanie) died as infants in the flu epidemic of 1918, which killed 50 to 100 million people across the world between 1918 and 1920. A third Rice child who died in 1922 is believed to be buried with them, making three burials marked by an outline of field stones. At the top right appears the base of a broken marker.
      They are the sons of William Augustus "Gus" Rice (1878-1951) of Kentucky and Addie B. Stone (1879-1952) of Arkansas, who lie under a common stone in Chandler's Oak Park. Gus and Addie were the parents of Lennie Loudella Rice, who in 1918 married James Henry Stidham of Lincoln County and left many descendants, including their second son Ray Stidham. 

Ray, a lifetime resident of Chandler, identified the twins' stones in 1992. He remembered the cedar trees and the sandstone markers. He gave his notes to his son Eugene Stidham, who shared them with me. Twenty years later the stones were not readily identifiable, but Eugene has persevered. After the Dec 2013 cleanup he was able to identify the Rice stones.