Wilbur Francis Newton was one of 2,335 military personnel who died at the attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The ceremony to finally inter his remains will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday May 28, 2022, at the United Methodist Church, 317 E. 27th Street, Mound City, Missouri, followed by a military service at Mount Hope Cemetery, Mound City.

Wilbur Francis Newton, the oldest of six children born to Earnest and Josie Leona Deeds Newton, was born on September 23, 1912, in Polk, Nebraska. Two sisters soon followed as did twin brothers Ronald and Donald who died on the same day when they were three months old. A third sister joined the family in 1922. Wilbur was the first grandchild born to his maternal grandparents William and Martha Jane Deeds of Bird City, Kansas.

Earnest was a photographer and moved his family several times before settling in Mound City, where he opened his own studio. Wilbur’s name first appeared in the Mound City census when he was seven years old. He was baptized in the Mound City Methodist Church where he, his parents, and three sisters were members. He attended school in Mound City and graduated 1931.

After graduating from high school, Wilbur worked at the newspaper office. According to an article published in the Mound City News, he was well liked by the news staff and often brought the staff a “sack of hot popcorn.” He was adept at cracking coconuts which he gladly shared. Wilbur was known as a hard worker and was sometimes called on to do various odd jobs. He worked at the Kee Café in Mound City. Eventually Wilbur joined the Civilian Conservation Corp in Leavenworth, Kansas, and later was employed by The Works Progress Administration in San Francisco, California. On May 9, 1940, Wilbur joined the US Navy at Oakland, California, for a term of enlistment of six years. He was stationed at San Diego, California.

Twenty-nine-year-old Wilbur F. Newton was assigned to the USS Oklahoma Battleship. On December 7, 1941, the mighty battleship was moored at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, ready for inspection the next day. The watertight covers on the torpedo blisters (protruding hemispherical objects welded to the hull and designed to cause torpedoes to explode outside the ship) were open to allow for easy inspection for rust or holes. That Sunday morning church was just winding down as the sermons were concluding and the closing hymns being sung in Mound City and Bird City when the drone of the approaching planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy was heard in Pearl Harbor. The skies quickly filled with airplanes. The attack was a complete surprise. Among the attacking Japanese airplanes were torpedo bombers equipped with specially modified torpedoes.

A group of these airplanes descended below 100 feet and released their bombs on the Oklahoma and the other six battleships lined up at Ford Island. The accuracy was devastating. While reports vary, the first torpedo dropped by a Japanese torpedo plane hit the Oklahoma broadside between 7:53-7:57 a.m. Hawaii – Aleutian time. The explosion, followed by fire, rocked the ship. She sustained five or more torpedo hits. As soon as the Oklahoma was hit, she started to list. Water gushed in as the open blisters encountered the seawater. The ship rolled over 130⁰ as her mast touched the bottom trapping hundreds of men inside and underwater. Within 12 minutes after the first torpedo hit its target, the Oklahoma was a tomb.

Soon Pearl Harbor was aflame with injured and sinking ships. A few of the men on board the Oklahoma survived. Wilbur, and 428 other sailors and officers, who were on board that day, perished. They never had a chance to evacuate the ship. Two thousand four hundred and two civilians and military personnel were killed by the attacking Imperial Japanese Navy at Pearl Harbor. As President Roosevelt said the next day, “December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.”

No one alive knows when Wilbur’s family first became aware of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the fate of the Oklahoma. It was possibly on the radio or in a news reel at the local theater. Records show that on December 20, 1941, a telegram addressed to Mrs. Leona Newton, 212 Sixth Street, Mound City, arrived. It read:

THE NAVY DEPARTMENT DEEPLY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON, WILBUR FRANCIS NEWTON, SEAMAN FIRST CLASS US NAVY IS MISSING FOLLOWING ACTION IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTY AND IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY X THE DEPARTMENT APPRECIATES YOUR GREAT ANXIETY AND WILL FURNISH YOU FURTHER INFORMATION PROMPTLY WHEN RECEIVED X TO PREVENT POSSIBLE AID TO OUR ENEMIES PLEASE DO NOT DIVULGE THE NAME OF HIS SHIP OR STATION

It was signed by Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.

A second telegram arrived on February 17, 1942. It read:

AFTER EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH IT HAS BEEN FOUND IMPOSSIBLE TO LOCATE YOUR SON, WILBUR FRANCIS NEWTON, SEAMAN FIRST CLASS U S NAVY AND HE HAS THEREFORE BEEN OFFICIALLY DECLARED TO HAVE LOST HIS LIFE IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY AS OF DECEMBER SEVENTH NINETEEN FORTY ONE X THE DEPARTMENT EXPRESSES TO YOU ITS SINCEREST SYMPATHY

It was also signed by Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs.

Wilbur Francis Newton’s death certificate is stamped February 28, 1942.

Proceeding Wilbur in death at that time were his twin infant brothers, Donald and Ronald, his paternal grandparents Barrett and Amanda Newton of Polk, Nebraska, and maternal grandfather William E. Deeds of Bird City. He was survived by his parents, Leona and Earnest Newton, three sisters, Bertha and Edith Newton of Kansas City and Mable Newton of Peru, Nebraska, grandmother Jane Deeds, and aunts Ethel (Roy) Deeds Query, Tyra (Elwin) Deeds Seymour and uncles Ray (Elsie) Deeds of Bird City, and W. A. Newton of Polk, Nebraska. Also mourning his death were his cousins Lowell, and Virgil Query, Lucille (Maynard) Query Wright, Wayne, Harold, Carol, Don, Edwin, and Lorraine Deeds, Ralph (Vivian) and Lyle (Dora Lee) Seymour all of Bird City, and Elmer (Maxine) Query of Brewster, Kansas, and young second cousins Clair and Sharon Query of Brewster, and Garry Seymour and Gerald Wright of Bird City.

In a letter dated December 6, 1946, the Chief of Naval Personnel had the honor of forwarding two of Wilbur’s posthumous medals to his parents. The medals are: “The American Defense Service Medal” and “The World War II Victory Medal.” Other awards Wilbur received include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, Navy Rifle (Marksman), Honorable Service Lapel Pin, Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, and the Gold Star pin.

It took several months to raise the Oklahoma and recover the remains. Wilbur was buried in a mass grave in Honolulu, Hawaii, and his remains were moved several times during the ensuing decades after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Sometime prior to her death on December 25, 2012, Lucille Query Wright, a maternal first cousin, and her two sons Gerald and Don Wright, submitted samples of their DNA per request of a representative of the US Navy. The Wrights understood that these samples were going to be used to assist in the arduous work of identifying the remains of those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor and possibly those of Wilbur. The beginning of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) search is dated July 1, 2015.

Late in October 2021, Wilbur Newton’s oldest known living relative Edwin Deeds was contacted by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) personnel to make arrangements to receive Wilbur’s remains. When given the option of several sites to bury the remains Ed said, “All those boys talked about was getting home.” Due to medical concerns, Ed’s son, Robin handled the necessary paperwork and contacts to move arrangements forward. In December the family became aware of the Newton headstone that included Wilbur’s name. It is located in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Mound City. The decision to return him to the place he called home was easy. Wilbur’s parents and sisters, Bertha Newton and Edith Newton, are all buried in the family plot. Mable Newton Daggett is buried at Lake Forest Park, King County, Washington.

Edwin Deeds of Goodland, Kansas, and Lorraine Deeds Brethower of Buffalo, Missouri, are the only grandchildren of William and Martha Jane Deeds living today. Each is a first cousin of Wilbur.

Those wishing to pay their respects to Mr. Newton may do so Thursday, May 26, and Friday, May 27, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at Pettijohn & Crawford Family Funeral Service, 1405 Nebraska, Mound City.

The memorial service is Saturday, May 28, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in the United Methodist Church in Mound City. A military ceremony follows at the Mount Hope Cemetery. Active and retired military are welcome to wear their military uniforms. Numerous extended family members plan to attend the memorial service. Jacob Brubaker (Carol Deeds Brubaker’s grandson) is the lay minister conducting the memorial service. Additional details will follow as details concerning Mr. Newton’s return to Northwest Missouri become available. Services under the direction of Pettijohn & Crawford Family Funeral Service, Mound City. Online guestbook and obituary at www.petijohncrawford.com.

The family requests memorial donations to the Mound City United Methodist Church, Mound City American Legion cemetery fund, or the Mound City Kiwanis Club. Forward all donations to Pettijohn & Crawford Family Funeral Service, P.O. Box 174, Mound City, MO 64470.