Dallas Morning News
Monday, 2 August 1948, Page II-4
LAYDEN
Peter John Sr., 516 E. Sixth St., passed away Saturday. Survived by wife, Mrs. Frances B. Layden; three sons, Peter John Layden Jr., Robert Lawrence Layden, Joseph B. Layden; granddaughter, all of Dallas; four brothers, Mart and D.L. Layden of Forney; Mike Layden, Dallas; Tom Layden, Houston; two sisters, Mrs. Margaret Corbitt, Miss Mary Layden, Forney. Services Tuesday 9 a.m. Bless Sacrament Catholic Church. Rosary Monday 8 p.m., Weiland Funeral Church. Interment Calvary Hill Cemetery. Pallbearers: Dr. G.A. Schenewerk, Ed Maher, Mott Larkin, Jim O’Connor, Vince Layden, Art Campbell.
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Driver Killed, One Injured as Car Hits Tree
Dallas Morning News
Sunday, 1 August 1948, Page IV-1
The splintering crash of a car into a tree at Lawther Drive and Mockingbird Lane Saturday night killed Peter John Layden, Sr., 53, of 516 East Sixth and injured a companion, Isaac Lathan, 49, of 4703 1/2 Columbia.
Layden’s death was the second city traffic fatality Saturday. Earlier in the day Lawrence Walker, 31, of 2322 Macon, had died in a Dallas hospital of injuries received in a collision July 8 near the same spot.
Layden, and employee of the Ford Motor Company, was fatally injured when he lost control of his car while trying to make a left turn from Mockingbird onto Lawther Drive. The car slid through loose gravel 283 feet and finally wrapped itself around a tree. Layden was dead on arrival at Parkland Hospital, but his companion suffered only minor injuries, was treated there and released.
In the July 8 accident, which occurred on Northwest Highway 300 yards west of Lawther Drive, Walker lost control of a truck pulling a trailer loaded with iron and crashed into another truck. The other driver, Woodrow Wilson Ables of Garland, was not injured.
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Funeral Rites Announced for Peter Layden
Dallas Morning News
Monday, 2 August 1948, Page II-11
Funeral services for Peter John Layden, 53, killed in an auto accident at Mockingbird Lane and Lawther Drive Saturday, will be held at 9 alm. Tuesday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Burial will be in Calvary Hill Cemetery.
The Rosary will be at 8 p.m. Monday at Weiland Funeral Church, 2909 Live Oak.
Layden had been an employee of the Ford plant in Dallas for the last twenty years and was the father of Pete Layden, Jr., former University of Texas football and baseball star. The son now plays center field for the San Antonio Missions in the Texas League.
Layden was born in Kaufman County and had lived in Forney before coming to Dallas. He was a student at the old University of Dallas, where as a 135-pound end he sparked his team to victories over a larger Southwest Conference teams.
After college he returned to the farm at Forney. In the early 1920’s, the small Forney school found itself without a football coach and Layden took on the coaching chores. His small teams toppled high school teams from the cities, including the Oak Cliff High School eleven and a Shreveport, La., high school team that had won the Louisana state championship. From Forney, he came to Dallas to work in the Ford plant.
A son, Lt. Thomas Frederick Layden, was killed over Germany as the pilot of a pursuit plane.
Surviving are his wife; three sons, Peter John Layden Jr., of Edna; Robert Lawrence Layden and Joseph B. Layden, both of Dallas; a granddaughter; four brothers, Mart Layden and Den Layden, both of Forney; Mike Layden of Dallas, and Tom Layden of Houston; two sisters, Mrs. Margaret Corbitt and Miss Mary Layden, both of Forney.
Pallbearers will be Dr. G.A. Schenewerk, Ed Maher, Mott Larkin, Jim O’Connor, Vince Layden and Art Campbell.
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Dallas Resident Killed in Crash
Unknown Newspaper
August 1948
DALLAS – Peter John Layden, Sr., 53, of 516 East Sixth St., was killed Saturday night, July 31, when his car skidded on loose gravel and crashed into a tree at Mockingbird Lane and Lawther Dr. His companion, Isaac Lathan, 49, of 4703 1/2 Columbia, is reported to have sustained minor injuries, for which he was treated at the Parkland Hospital, but Mr. Layden was dead on arrival at the hospital.
Requiem
Funeral services, with Requiem Mass, were held the following Tuesday in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. Burial took place in Calvary Cemetery. Dr. G.A. Schenewerk, Edward Maher, Mott Larkin, James O’Connor, Vincent Layden and Arthur Campbell served as pallbearers.
Mr. Layden, member of a prominent pioneer Texas family was born in Kaufman Co. He attended the University of Dallas, conducted by the Vincentian Fathers; and then as a 135-pound end he sparked his team to victories over larger Southwest Conference teams.
Coach at Forney
After college he returned to the farm at Forney. In the early 1920’s, the Forney school found itself without a football coach and Layden took on the coaching chores. His small teams toppled high school teams from other cities, including the Oak Cliff High School eleven and a Shreveport, La., high school team that had won the Louisiana State championship.
Twenty years ago Mr. Layden came from Forney to Dallas to work in the Ford plant where he remained until his sudden death.
Survivors include his widow; three sons, Peter John Layden, Jr. of Edna, former University of Texas football and baseball star, now playing centerfield for the San Antonio Missions in the Texas League; Robert Lawrence and Joseph B. Layden, both of Dallas; a granddaughter; four brothers, Martin Layden and Dennis Layden, both of Forney; Michael Layden, of Dallas, and Thomas Layden, of Houston, and two sisters, Mrs. Margaret Corbit and Mary Layden, both of Forney.
