Eyewitness recalls fallen officers at pancake festival - Examiner.com
Buddy Kelly recalled being an eyewitness to the death of two Wichita Falls Police Department officers while serving pancakes at the annual University Kiwanis Club Pancake Festival Saturday.
"It was 1968 and I was working for Carnation Milk Company on Ohio Street here in Wichita Falls when I happened to drive by the old Gem Theater which was on fire," said Kelly, who is a veteran of more than twenty of the pancake events.
All the proceeds go to children's charities from the annual pancake festival.
"It was incredibly sad. The fire had already engulfed most of the rest of the theater. Only the front facade of it was still standing when the two policers arrived to rescue people from the burning blaze. Just a few minutes after the police car was parked, the front of the theater also collapsed. Unfortunately, it fell on top of the police officers' car, killing both of them."
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The officers killed that tragic day on August 22, 1968 were Robert Fellows and Walter Rappolee.
Kelly remembered Saturday that the fire enguled at least two buildings on Ohio Street in downtown Wichita Falls that day.
The event Kelly was recalling Saturday at the Bridwell Ag Building is one that is commemorated annually each May at a Fallen Officers' Memorial.
The most recent Wichita Falls police officer killed in the line of duty was Lt. Walter "Tommy" Collins who charged a sniper in the line of duty in the summer of 1989. His heorism saved the lives of two of his officers that sad day. His daughter Vicki Collins continues in his footsteps as an investigator for the Wichita County District Attorney's Office. Son J.T. Collins works as a police officer for the Wichita Falls Police Department.
Other officers who have been killed in the line of duty in Wichita Falls include C.S. "Doc"Carlisle on June 6, 1993, Hugh Fuller on OCtober 22, 1927 and Russell Scott on November 28, 1958.
Wichita Falls police officer Chad Nelson attended the pancake festival and it was his appearance that triggered Kelly's recollection of the event 43 years ago.
Other law enforcement people attending the pancake charity for children included Wichita County Assitant District Attorney Kyle Lessor and his beautiful wife Paige along with her equally pretty mother Beverly.
Kelly has worked many years for Midwestern Mud Services, Inc. in Wichita Falls and is a popular member of the University Kiwanis Club.
He has previously served as President of the club as well as Chairman of the Pancake Festival.
An estimated 56, 520 pancakes were served along with about 36,000 sausage patties Saturday. Pancakes and sausages were served from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. by Kiwanis members and countless volunteers from Sheppard Air Force Base and other orgnizations.
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