Obituary submitted by Margaret Dawson Taylor

Die in Crash
LEWISVILLE, Texas - Six persons, including five members of a Dallas family, were killed early Sunday near this Denton County community in a shattering head-on collision. Authorities said it was one of the worst highway crashes in the county's history.
The Texas Highway Patrol listed the dead as:
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Larry James, both 33 of 1342 Bee Street in Dallas, their three children, Larry James, 9; Robert James 3, and Tommy James, 1 and the driver of the second car, Paul Anthony Montgomery, 25, of Whitesboro.
A sixth member of the James family, Mary Alice James, 7 and a rider in Montgomery's car, Dean Shields, 26, of Whitesboro, were admitted to Flow Memorial Hospital in Denton in critical condition.
The cars collided about 12:55 a.m. on a level stretch of U.S. Highway 77, about two miles south of Lewisville and only a short distance from the Dallas County line.
Five of the six victims apparently were killed instantly. The 3-year-old James boy died in the Denton hospital six hours later. Justice of the Peace John L. Burch of Lewisville pronounced James, a Dallas machinist, and Montgomery dead at the scene. Mrs. James and the two other sons were dead on arrival at the hospital.
The smashup occurred as Montgomery was passing a third car. The driver os which apparently did not stop, investigators said.
Another motorist traveling a short distance behind Montgomery's north-bound car witnessed the crash, raced up to the wreckage, then drove into Lewisville to summon ambulances.
The witness, whose identity was withheld by the Highway Patrol, told Patrolman G. R. Blankenship, investigator:
"It happened so fast I wasn't expecting it. Dust flew everywhere when they hit."
The motorist said he saw Montgomery crossing into the opposite lane to pass the car ahead of him as the James car appeared.
Blankenship said the stretch of highway on which the crash occurred is 2-lane. The shoulders have been widened in preparation for a divided, 4-lane road. Only two miles north of the crash scene, the highway enters a 4-lane stretch already opened to traffic.
"If Montgomery had waited only a few minutes more to pass, he probably would have been on the 4-lane section," Blankenship said. The James family, headed south towards Dallas, only minutes before had cleared the 4-lane section.
A sister of James and her husband, whose names were not immediately known, were traveling in another car behind the family, but out of sight when the crash occurred. The couple came up to the scattered wreckage minutes later.
Blankenship said the cars hit with such force that the engines were shoved back into the riding compartments, crushing the occupants. Both vehicles remained upright, Neither caught fire.
Ambulance crews from Carrollton and Lewisville said all but one of the riders were penned into the wreckage.  One was thrown out onto the pavement.
The James family was returning home after a brief fishing trip to Lake Dallas.
A boat on a 2-wheel trailer being towed by the James car was hurled into the air.  It struck the pavement and scooted about 40 yards without overturning.
James was an employee of Otis Engineering Company in Dallas.
Montgomery was employed by a supply firm in Whitesboro. His companion, Shields, also is associated with the firm.
Funeral services for the five James family members will be held at 3 p.m. Monday in the College Avenue Baptist Church at Carrollton with the Rev. H. O. Moore, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Hilltop Cemetery, Carrollton.
Besides 7-year-old Mary Alice James, James is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. A. James of Carrollton, and three brothers, Marion James of Nara Visa, N.M., and Doyle James and Harvey James, both of Carrollton.
Mrs. James is survived also by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Chumley of Farmers Branch and two sisters, Mrs. Vera Russell of Irving and Mrs. Mildred Brown.
Funeral services for Montgomery will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Dannel Funeral Home Chapel in Sherman. Burial will be in the West Hill Cemetery, Sherman.
Montgomery is survived by his wife, Mrs. Margaret Jeanette Montgomery and two sins, Michael Ray and Larry Charles, all of Whitesboro, and his mother, Mrs. Bessie Sinclair of Wichita Falls.

The Dallas Morning News, March 11, 1957

The Dallas Morning News, March 11, 1957