Sheriff Bill J. Cauthron 01 FEB 1927 - 11 SEP 1989
Southwest Times Record Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas Tuesday, 12 SEP 1989
BILL J. CAUTHRON
Bill J. Cauthron, age 62, of Route 5, Box 423 in Fort Smith, died Monday, September 11, 1989, in his Little Rock, Arkansas, apartment. He served as Sebastian County sheriff for 15 years and was serving as the director of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory. He was a member of Eastside Baptist Church in Fort Smith and a member of the Sebastian County Masonic Lodge No. 706. He was a veteran of World War II.
Funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 13, 1989, in Grand Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Smith. Burial will be in Liberty Cemetery in Greenwood, Arkansas, under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home of Fort Smith.
He is survived by his wife, Norma; a daughter, Kathy (Cauthron) Rayburn, of Little Rock; two sons, Jim Bill Cauthron of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Brad Cauthron of Ashdown, Arkansas; four sisters, Lou Ella (Cauthron) Walker of Little Rock, Arkansas; Maudie (Cauthron) Deloge of Santa Ana, California; Bobbie Jean (Cauthron) Boatright of Austin, Texas; and Charlene (Cauthron) Jones of Barstow, California; a brother, Robert Leon "R.L." Cauthron of Apple Valley, California; and four grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be Bill Moran, Ross Pendergraft, Bob Nunley, Orville Bittle, Bill Knox, Gary Grimes, Henry Oliver and Bill Vickery.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Sebastian County Sheriff's Department.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sebastian County Heart Association, P.O. Box 17007, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 72917.
Arkansas Gazette Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas
Tuesday, September 12, 1989
BILL CAUTHRON DIES AT 62, HEAD OF ARKANSAS STATE CRIME LAB
Bill J. Cauthron, age 62, director of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, since August 1988, died Monday, September 11, 1989.
Cauthron, who had undergone open heart surgery in recent years, was found at his Little Rock apartment about noon, according to a spokesman for Edwards Funeral Home in Fort Smith. The coroner's office said he died of natural causes, apparently while sleeping.
Before being appointed to the crime lab post by Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, Cauthron had served 15 years as Sebastian County sheriff, making him the longest serving sheriff in the county's history.
"He was a very dear, close friend of mine and this is a great personal loss," Clinton said. "He was also a fine public servant, a strong director of the Crime Lab and one of the best sheriffs Arkansas ever had. I share his family's grief and extend to them my sympathy."
Clinton said he got to know Cauthron "like a brother" during the months of problems associated with holding Cuban refugees at Fort Chafee (near Fort Smith) in 1980.
The presence of the Cubans became a key issue in the 1980
gubernatorial campaign, when Republican Frank White defeated Clinton. Shortly before the election, Cauthron and other local officials defended Clinton's handling of the Cubans.
Cauthron, a Democrat, also was remembered as a shrewd politician. "He really had an insight on his people, and that means he knew the pulse beat and was thus very sharp in politics," recalled Lilburn "Lib" Carlisle of Benton, Arkansas, former head of the Arkansas State Democratic Party.
Cauthron's year as crime lab director was marked by controversy surrounding rulings by State Medical Examiner Fahmy Malak.
Cauthron had been president of the Arkansas Sheriff's Association. Cary Gaines, executive director of the association, credited Cauthron with changing the history of the group by pushing to hire full-time staff.
He was a veteran of World War II.
Survivors are his wife, Norma; a daughter, Kathy (Cauthron) Rayburn of Little Rock; two sons, Jim Bill Cauthron of Little Rock and Brad Cauthron of Ashdown, Arkansas; four sisters, Lou Ella (Cauthron) Walker of Little Rock, Maudie (Cauthron) Deloge of Santa Ana, California; Bobbie Jean (Cauthron) Boatright of Austin, Texas and Charlene (Cauthron) Jones of Barstow, California; a brother Robert Leon "R.L." Cauthron of Apple Valley, California; and four grandchildren.
Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 13, 1989, at Grand Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Smith. Burial will be in Liberty Cemetery in Greenwood, Arkansas, under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home of Fort Smith.
Memorials may be made to the Sebastian County Heart Association, P.O. Box 17007, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 72917.
Note: Billy "Bill" Joe Cauthron was the son of Rufus Lucien "Fluge" Cauthron and Willie "Bill" Lucille Bryant and grandson of Charles Cleburn Cauthron, Sr. and Jessie S. McCaslin and William Henry Bryant and Charity Anna "Annie" Hicks, all of the Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas area.
Rufus Lucien Cauthron
B: 10 DEC 1891 near Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
M: 26 SEP 1924 Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
D: 04 AUG 1958 Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
Buried in Carolan Cemetery near Booneville, Arkansas.
Willie "Bill" Lucille Bryant
B: 20 AUG 1906 near Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
M: 26 AUG 1924 Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
D: 05 SEP 1976 Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas
Buried in Carolan Cemetery near Booneville, Arkansas.
Rufus Lucien Cauthron and Nola Warren were the parents of 4 chilren:
1) Charles Cecil Cauthron, husband of Rose Peden.
2) Maudie Mae (Cauthron) Deloge, wife of Melvin Edwin Deloge.
3) Lou Ella (Cauthron) Walker, wife of Hedrick Gordon Walker.
4) Ruby Nola Cauthron (Died in Infancy.)
Rufus Lucien Cauthron and Mary Bane Brown were the parents of 2 children:
1) Robert Leon "R.L." Cauthron, husband of Mary Catherine Monroe.
2) Charlene Maine (Cauthron) Jones, wife of John Henry "Sam" Jones.
Rufus Lucien Cauthron and Willie "Bill" Lucille Bryant were the parents of 2 children:
1) Billy "Bill" Joe Cauthron, husband of Norma J. Amos.
2) Bobbie "Corky" Jean (Cauthron), wife of Harmon Russell Boatright.