Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1973: Funeral rites were under way for Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, who had died of a heart attack the day before at his ranch near Austin, Texas.
The "tall Texan" was 64 years old. He became president of the United States on Nov. 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and won re-election by a landslide in 1964 over Barry Goldwater.
Although he would have been eligible to run for re-election in 1968, he chose not to, in part, because of criticism surrounding the ongoing Vietnam War. He completed his presidency on Jan. 20, 1969, and was succeeded by Richard M. Nixon.
He was buried in the family cemetery in Stonewall, Texas.
1958: Odessa Stebbins of Clovis received a two-week all-expenses-paid trip to Hollywood, California, to be a guest on Ralph Edwards' television show, "It Could Be You."
Stebbins' husband, Calvin, had been a patient at the Veterans' Hospital in Albuquerque for four years. Edwards heard about the many trips she had made between Clovis and Albuquerque over the years, and invited her to be a guest on his show.
Odessa Stebbins was flown each way by Trans-World Airlines, and was a guest at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood for her stay.
Odessa and Calvin Stebbins had owned the Magic Steam Laundry in Clovis until his health forced him into the hospital.
Pages Past is compiled by Betty Williamson. Contact her at: [email protected]
