Person Page - 7042

     Infant Pruett was buried at Reynolds Family Cemetery, Roanoke Co., Virginia.¹ She was born on August 14, 1933 at Roanoke Co., Virginia.¹ She died on August 17, 1933 at Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia.¹

     Her Social Security Number was 230-34-1351.² Vivian Inez Lee was born on February 7, 1931 at Daleville, Botetourt Co., Virginia.^1,2,4,5,3,6 As of June 22, 1968,her married name was Pruett.¹ She married Melvin Lee "Buddy" Pruett, son of Blane Crawford Pruett and Lillie Annie May Hall, on June 22, 1968 at Roanoke, Virginia.¹ Vivian Inez Lee died on August 29, 1987 at Glendora, Los Angeles Co., California, at age 56.^4,6 She Vivian Duvall Wampler was born February 7, 1931 in Troutville, Va., and passed away August 29, 1987 in Glendora, Calif. She worked at Rowe Furniture Company in Salem, Va. for 13 years. Vivian moved to Azusa, Calif., in 1973. Vivian loved her home, family and being around people. She was an Avon Representative and a member of the First Baptist Church of Glendora where she was a teacher and cared for the youth. Vivian enjoyed raising beautiful flowers for her friends and family. She loved gardening, sewing, crotching and knitting. But most of all, she will be remembered for her honesty, caring for other people serving the Lord. Vivian is survived by a loving husband, Donald Wampler; three sons, Douglas Duvall, Pineville, N.C; Howard Duvall, Roanoke; Dennis Duvall, Covina, Calif; one daughter, Bonnie Koscis, Azusa, Calif; one stepson, Bryan Wampler, Pomona, Calif., 14 grandchildren, her mother, Lillie Lee, Salem; four brothers, Johnny Lee, Fred Lee, Amos Lee, Buddy Lee; five sisters, Agnes Ratcuff. Frances Drewry, Juanita Duvall, Shelby Jean Secrets, and Glenda Jennings. on August 31, 1987.⁶

     Her Social Security Number was 231-56-9734.⁵ Joyce Catherine Moses was buried at Cedar Lawn Memorial Park, 5070 Cove Road N. W., Roanoke, Virginia.^2,6,3 She was born on September 9, 1943 at Montgomery Co., Virginia.^1,6,3,5,4 As of October 7, 1962,her married name was Pruett.¹ She married Melvin Lee "Buddy" Pruett, son of Blane Crawford Pruett and Lillie Annie May Hall, on October 7, 1962 at Chesterfield Co., South Carolina.¹ Joyce Catherine Moses and Melvin Lee "Buddy" Pruett were divorced on September 22, 1964 at Roanoke Co., Virginia.¹ Joyce Catherine Moses died on July 10, 1983 at Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia, at age 39.^2,6,3 She Joyce Catherine Kessinger, age 39, of Route 1 Elliston, died Sunday in a Salem hospital. Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Darlene Witt, Elliston; Miss Dreama Pruett and Miss Sandra Pruett, both of Salem; one son, Joseph Thomas Pruett, Roanoke; her mother, Mrs. Gertrude Moses, Ellison; grandfather, Willie G. Moses, Elliston; and one grandson. Interment will be in Cedarlawn Burial Park. on July 12, 1983.²

     Ralph Lynn Pruett was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, 1300 Mountain View Road, Vinton, Roanoke Co., Virginia.^1,2,4 His Social Security Number was 224-98-7234.⁵ He was born on July 20, 1954 at Bedford Co., Virginia.^1,5,3,4 He died on April 21, 1979 at Colonial Heights, Virginia, at age 24.^1,2,4 He Ralph Lynn Pruett, age 24, of 2647 Puckett Circle, Salem, died Saturday in Colonial Heights, Va. He was a Muscular Dystrophy patient and is survived by his mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Pacetti, Salem; four brothers, Clifford L. Pruett, Lampasas, Texas; Alan Joe Pruett, Richmond; Neil D. Pruett, Marion; Carl A. Pacetti, Jr., Salem. Burial will be in Mt. View Cemetery, Vinton. on April 23, 1979.²

     Alan Joe "Joey" Pruett was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, 1300 Mountain View Road, Vinton, Roanoke Co., Virginia.^1,3 His Social Security Number was 224-98-5721.⁵ He was born on April 20, 1956 at Roanoke, Virginia.^1,2,3,5 He died on January 12, 1982 at Richmond, Virginia, at age 25.^1,3,4 He Joey Pruett of The Virginia Home died Tuesday, January 12, 1982. He is survived by his mother, Janet Pacetti: his stepfather, Carl Pacetti; three brothers, Clifford and Neil Pruett and Carl Pacetti, Jr. on January 14, 1982.⁴

     Neil Dwayne Pruett was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, 1300 Mountain View Road, Vinton, Roanoke Co., Virginia.^3,1 He was born on January 31, 1958 at Virginia.^3,1 He died on March 3, 1983 at Powhatan, Powhatan Co., Virginia, at age 25.^3,1 He Neil Dwayne Pruett died by hanging in an isolation cell at Powhatan Correctional Center Tuesday, leaving as his only legacy a court record of a neglected, abused childhood. Over the years, Pruett seemed to come to recognize death as his only alternative to life in prison, his family and authorities said. Tuesday afternoon, just before supper, about a month after his 25th birthday, he apparently exercised that option. He had tried before to kill himself, his mother said. Last year at the Powhatan prison he set his mattress on fire, injuring several other inmates with the smoke. "He told me if he ever done it again, he was going to make sure," the mother said Friday after viewing his body at a local funeral home. "I just wish to God I could have done something a long time ago." According to Roanoke County Circuit Court records, Pruett was born Jan. 31, 1958, into a Roanoke family with a history of mental and physical illness. His father was an itinerant carpenter who, according to court records, was too immature to provide for the family. When Neil was 4 months old, juvenile court officials determined he and his three brothers were being kept without adequate parental care. The father was convicted of "subjecting children to vicious and immoral influences, and of carnally knowing a juvenile," for which he received a suspended jail sentence. Court records depicted Neil's mother as a nervous young woman, who like his father, was from a large family with a background of mental disorders and strange ailments that killed seven of her brothers in childhood. There was an absence of happiness in the marriage almost from the start. As if the situation weren't bad enough, two of Neil's older brothers were stricken with muscular dystrophy. The father drank heavily, and the mother suffered from depression. They fought frequently, and at one point, he fired several into the house where she and the gunshots children were staying, a crime that sent him to a state road gang for two years. With no financial support from her husband, the mother in desperation signed her four sons over to the Roanoke Welfare Department in June 1960. Neil was placed in a series of foster homes where, according to court records, he was repeatedly abused over a seven-year period. The two afflicted brothers were sent to live in the "colony" at the old Lynchburg Training Center. When the mother visited Neil in his homes, he told her of the abuse. She wanted to do something, but she was afraid that if she did, the foster family would stop her visits. While in foster care, he failed both the first and second grades. Although he seemed slow, juvenile officials couldn't decide if he was retarded or simply suffering from neglect. In 1967, his mother remarried, and the 9-year-old Neil was returned to her custody. He arrived home in August, about the time his mother was returning from a six week stay in a mental hospital. He was often belligerent, difficult for his mother to manage. Then in February 1969, he was charged with sexually abusing a younger child, and later, phoning in a bomb threat. He was sent to Eastern State Hospital. He seemed to thrive in the hospital's controlled setting. A social worker there noted that because the child had been shifted through so many homes "he was constantly seeking attention from any source in which he could get it." Six weeks later, Neil improved and was sent back to his family and enrolled in a special education class where he did well, according to records. But probation officers said his mother was so caught up in her mental problems, she seemed unable to give him minimal care. He told court officials he was unhappy at home because he was made to work all the time. The parents responded that keeping Neil busy was the only way to keep him out of trouble. He ran away and asked authorities to send him back to the hospital. They sent him home. Then in April 1970, 12-year-old Neil stole the family car and ran it into a ditch. His mother told court officials she wanted Neil out of the house. He was sent to a state learning center and then to a special school in Florida. He ran away from the school and stole another car. He was caught and returned there. For the next four years the school kept him by giving him 200 miligrams of Thorazine, a tranquilizer, each day. When he was sent home to his mother in Salem in July 1975, school officials described him as schizophrenic and paranoid but in a state of remission. In October, records showed, Neil, then 17, ran away and fell in with a 29-year-old man. Together they robbed Mountain Trust Bank in Roanoke and a convenience store. He claimed to be an accomplice but was convicted of bank robbery. Although sentenced to prison, a federal study showed that he was eligible for treatment in a facility for the mentally ill or retarded. He was sent to a federal mental health center in Butner, N.C. There, for the first time in his life, he blossomed, according to court records. He began attending church and working on his high school diploma. But Roanoke County authorities indicted him on an armed robbery charge for stealing $65 during the holdup of the convenience store in 1975. He was returned to Salem and tried as an adult. Hoping that he would be allowed to serve his sentence at the mental health center, Neil pleaded guilty. But state law didn't allow him to return to federal prison. Circuit Judge F.L. Hoback Sr. sentenced him to 10 years in the state penitentiary. Ray Hill Jr., a West Virginia man who had befriended the boy while he was in the North Carolina mental health center, wrote to Hoback and offered to take the boy into his home and help him find a job. Hoback replied that Neil's fate was up to the parole board. But he wouldn't be eligible for parole until he served three years. Neil, a slight young man about 5 feet 5, entered prison in 1977. From there, Neil's records are closed. He was turned down for parole in 1980 and 1981. His parole hearing in 1982 had to be postponed because he was being transferred from one prison to another. Norris Vassar, parole board chairman, said Pruett's record of assaultive behavior in prison had prevented his parole. Pruett was serving a 15-day sentence in an isolation cell for assaulting another inmate when he was found hanged. Pruett's mother says she wants his death investigated because he had told her of being treated "like a dog" by guards. Prison officials said Pruett had been well treated. His mother said she viewed his body at a local funeral home and found a large gash in the top of his head. The undertaker told her gash must have come when the guards cut her son down, she said. "His head was just sewed up with a piece of twine. I couldn't believe it when I seen it." Muscular dystrophy killed the two other sons, and the fourth son lives and works in the Roanoke area. It's terrible to see Neil down there like that, she said, adding that if only she were richer or smarter she might have done something to prevent what happened. on March 5, 1983.⁴

     Clifford Lee Pruett Clifford Lee Pruett, Aug 19, 1951 - Dec 10, 2023. Clifford Lee Pruett, 72, of Elliston, passed away on December 10, 2023, surrounded by the love of his family. He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia; devoted son, Benjamin (Whitney), and their two cherished daughters, Olivia and Skylar; and his brother, Carl Jr. Clifford was a man of unwavering work ethic, and his diligence left a lasting legacy. He found joy in the simple pleasures of life, especially in activities like fishing, hunting, and engaging in constructive endeavors that kept him happily occupied. Alongside his wife, he opened his heart to a furry companion, Tobey, whom they rescued as a kitten, making him an integral part of their loving home. A true craftsman, Clifford played a pivotal role in building a beautiful home, and he nurtured a family that reciprocated his care, especially in his final days. His departure leaves a void in the hearts of all who knew him. Clifford's role as a good friend, caring husband, and devoted father will be deeply missed, but the memories of his kindness and warmth will forever be cherished. May he rest in eternal peace in God's loving hands.⁶ He was born on August 19, 1951 at Roanoke, Virginia.^1,2,3,6 He married Evelyn Elaine Patterson on February 5, 1972 at Lampasas Co., Texas.⁵ Clifford Lee Pruett married Linda Inez Bisbee on January 18, 1976 at Honolulu, Honolulu Co., Hawaii.³ Clifford Lee Pruett and Linda Inez Bisbee were divorced on March 27, 1985 at Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia.³ Clifford Lee Pruett married Patricia Ann Starkey on July 6, 1985 at Salem, Roanoke Co., Virginia.² Clifford Lee Pruett died on December 10, 2023 at Virginia at age 72.⁶

     Travis Lee Pruett was buried at Straley Cemetery, Adamsville, Lampasas Co., Texas.^2,4 His Social Security Number was 462-85-1049.³ He was born on December 15, 1972 at Lampasas, Lampasas Co., Texas.^1,2,3,5,4 He died on June 14, 1998 at Lampasas Co., Texas, at age 25.^2,3,6,4 He Travis Lee Pruett, 25, died Sunday, June 14, 1998, in a local hospital from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Burial in Straley Cemetery in Adamsville. He was born Dec. 15, 1972, in Lampasas. He was a grocery stocker for H-E-B. Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Elaine and Billy Craig of Kempner; his father, Clifford Pruett of Elliston, Va; two sisters, Tracie Tucker and Mandy Craig Pruett, both of Kempner; three brothers, Kevin Craig of Wichita Falls, T.J. Tucker of Victoria and Benjamin Lee Pruett of Elliston; and his grandparents, Dorothy and R.B. Patterson Jr. of Lampasas and Carl and Jan Pacaitti of Roanoke, Va. on June 16, 1998.⁴