Thomas Merrill Beecher ^{1 2 3}

   Another name for Thomas was Tommy Beecher.⁴

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Newspaper: Rome News-Tribune: Mrs. Beecher, Victim of Fire, Dies in Atlanta, 15 Jan 1952, Rome, Floyd, GA. ⁵ The heroic story of a young mother rescuing her two young children from their blazing Atlanta home early Saturday, ended today in the death of the mother, a former Roman. The father perished in the flames.

Mrs. Josephine Eubanks Beecher died in an Atlanta hospital at 11:30 a. m. today of the severe burns she received in the fire.The condition of nine-months-old Thomas Merrill Beecher, saved when his mother kicked out a glass door, was described as improved today. The three-year-old daughter, Sharon Lee, was in fair condition and apparently she was on the way to recovery.

Claire Leroy Beecher, a Lockheed Aircraft Company engineer, died in the flames which consumed his surburban Atlanta home, 2116 Briarcliff Road, N. E., early Saturday.

Funeral services for the young couple, who both served in the Navy during World War II and who were wed in 1947, will be held at 11:30 a. m. Wednesday at the chapel of H. M. Patterson and Son Funeral Home in Atlanta. The Rev. Earl Strickland will officiate and interment will be in Trayer, Iowa.

Mrs. Beecher is survived, in addition to the children, by three brothers, Thomas J. Eubanks Jr., Asa and Ira Eubanks, all of Rome. She was preceded in death by her parents several years ago.

In addition to the children, Mrs. Beecher is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Beecher, Trayer, Iowa; two brothers, Wesley and Richard Beecher, both of Trayer.

2. Cause of Death: Thomas and his mother died in an Atlanta hospital from a house fire in their Atlanta home which also killed their father., 20 Jan 1952, Atlanta, Fulton, GA.

3. Newspaper: Iowa City Press-Citizen: Girl, 3, Left Alone After Fire, Will Come to Iowa, 26 Jan 1952, Iowa City, Johnson, IA. ¹ ATLANTA (AP) -- A three-year-old girl, who still does know that a fire which burned her severely also took the lives of her parents and baby brother, will fly alone today to reach her grandparent' home in Traer, Iowa.

Red-haired, blue-eyed Sharon Lee Beecher will be discharged from a hospital today. She was burned in a fire which destroyed her home and took the lives of her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Claire Beecher, and her 10-month-old brother. Thomas Merrill Beecher, January 12.

Members of the Shrine mounted patrol of Atlanta's Yaarab temple learned that Sharon had no relatives here. They made arrangements to send her to her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Beecher, in Traer.

Sharon will leave Atlanta at 5:55 p. m. (CST) today in the care of an airlines stewardess. Shriners and their wives will meet her in Chicago, keep her overnight and put her on a westbound plane Sunday morning.

"She's a shy little thing," said Shriner Fred Cannon. "We didn't want to frighten her more so we gave her a fez to play with all day Friday so she would not be afraid when Shriners come out along the route to help her."

Her father was an engineer at Lockheed Aircraft Corp. He was burned to death in the fire. The mother kicked a panel of glass from the front door to carry her children to safety. She died two days later and the baby shortly afterwards.