Vol. 26, No. 1 ................................................................................................................. Jan 2007
Welcome to the online version of the Odom Family News, official family newsletter of the Odom Family Association, dedicated to bringing you news about your kinfolk all over the nation. If you are an Odom (Odam, Odum) or a descendant of an Odom, this is YOUR family newsletter. It will contain current news, obituaries, engagements, wedding notices, anniversaries, births and other special articles. We will later add a section on "Know Your Cousins", featuring a different cousin every issue.
We NEED YOUR HELP to make this a success: when you hear about a death, wedding, engagement, birth or other news about an Odom relative, please let us know so we can preserve the information in our Family Library and write about it in the family newsletter. If you see an obituary, wedding, engagement, birth, etc. in your local newspaper, please clip it out, along with the name and date of the paper from the top of the page and send to us.
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If you don't get an answer to your emails or regular mail right away, please be patient. Our Editor suffered his fifth heart attack a while back and is still catching up on all the family history.
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Does anyone have any information about the Naval Ship ODUM, APD 71, US Navy that served in the South Pacific against the Japanese during World War II? We would appreciate any kind of information about the ship, its career, military engagements. The ODUM was named for Joseph Roy Odum, born 9 Feb., 1913 in Jacksonville, Fl. who enlisted in the US Navy 20 June, 1934 and was still serving in the Navy when World War II broke out. He served as a gunner aboard the USS Meredith in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. When his ship was attacked by the Japs 15 Oct., 1942, it was heavily damaged and began sinking. The crew was ordered to abandon ship but Joseph remained aboard at his post, continuing to fire his gun at the attacking Jap aircraft in an effort to protect his shipmates. The Jap planes strafed the American sailors in the water and Joseph tried to save them--when his ship went down, he was still firing his gun at the attacking Japs.
Fireman First Class Joseph was awarded the Navy's Silver Star posthumously for his heroism.
The USS ODUM was named for him. The ship's keel was laid down 15 Oct., 1943 at the Consolidated Steel Corp. shipyards in Orange, Texas. It was launched 19 Jan., 1944, sponsored by Joseph's mother, Mrs. Katherine Odum. It was converted to a high speed transport and redesignated the APD-71 on 27 June, 1944. It was commissioned 12 Jan., 1945 with Lt. Commander John A. Comly in command. Following a shakedown cruise off Bermuda, the ODUM sailed through the Panama Canal and headed to San Diego, Calif. From there, she sailed to Hawaii where the crew completed amphibious training off Maui. It took on underwater demolition gear and headed west. Its cargo was discharged at Guam and she then proceeded to Ulithi. From there, she sailed to Leyte in the Philippines.
The ODUM also made trips to Hollandia and back to Leyte until the Japs surrendered. At the end of the war, the ship began ships carrying former American prisoners of war from Japan to the Philippines. The ship remained in the Far East supporting the occupation of Japan until late November, 1945, when she headed back to the US. The ODUM was then assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and operated off Cuba and Puerto Rico until she went to Charleston, SC for inactivation 26 July, 1946. She was decommissioned at Green Cove Springs (Jacksonville), Fl. on 15 Nov. The ship was later transferred to the Texas Group and remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until it was sold to the Republic of Chile under the Military Assistance Program and struck from the Navy List on 1 Dec., 1966. The ODUM was renamed the "Serrano #20" and remained active in the Chilean Navy until it was stricken in 1982. It was later broken up for scrap. Only a handful of World War II military ships remain active today. Our thanks to Dan Toohey, whose father served aboard the ODUM, for the above information about the ship.
Can anyone help us identify who the father and grandparents of JOSEPH ROY were?
HATTIESBURG, Miss.--Jan Odom has authored an article in the September issue of Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. Her article, entitled "Conscious Sedation in the Ambulatory Setting", is the latest item written by Jan in her professional field as a clinical nurse specialist at Forrest General Hospital here. She has also written chapters in three nursing textbooks used by operating room nurses, postanesthesia and ambulatory nurses across the nation.
Jan is a graduate of Mississippi College in Monticello, Miss., where she received her bachelor's degree. She received her master's degree in nursing from the University of Southern Mississippi here. Jan is a past president of the American Society of Post Anesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) and received ASPAN's "Outstanding Achievement award for 1997. The organization is comprised of more than 10,000 members from all states and Canada. She was also named Mississippi Nurse Specialist of the Year in 1993.
Jan was born in Columbia, Miss.
GOLDSBORO, NC-- Republican Glenn Odom won the primary 5 May and will face Democratic primary winner Marshall Minchew for the office of Clerk of Court of Wayne County in the upcoming elections.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC--Dave Odom is taking the Demon Deacons basketball team of Wake Forest University to the top of the NCAA this year with another winning team. Wake Forest, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has been consistently ranked in the top 25 in both the Associated Press (AP) poll and the USA-ESPN Coach's poll.
Dave became the 18th head basketball coach at Wake Forest in April, 1989. He has taken the Demon Deacons on an upward road during his coaching tenure. Last year, he took the Deacs to the NCAA championship tournament, losing to UCLA in the second round.
Dave is a native of Goldsboro, NC, where he graduated from Goldsboro High School in 1965. As a senior at Goldsboro, he was named captain of the basketball team and honored in his senior year as the "most outstanding athlete". He attended Guilford College, where he was a football quarterback for three years, as well as a member of the basketball team for four years.
After he graduated from Guilford, he began his coaching career at his alma mater, Goldsboro. While working at this job, he was also a student at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC where he earned his masters degree in 1969. A year later, he became head basketball coach at Durham High School. While at Durham, he was named "coach of the year" for five years during a very successful effort. He left Durham to become assistant coach at Wake Forest under head coach Carl Tacy for three seasons, 1977-1979. The Deacons went 53-33 during that period, including a 22-8 year in 1976-77 when they went on to the NCAA Midwest Region finals. This matched the school's best season in the last 35 years.
In 1979, Dave became head coach of the East Carolina Pirates where his first team went 16-11, the school's best season since 1975. In 1982, Dave rejoined the ACC as assistant coach at the University of Virginia and he led the Cavaliers through their most successful period ever. During his seven years at Virginia the team compiled a record of 142-81 and made postseason tournament appearances every year except 1988. They went on to the Final Four in 1984.
Coaching is running in Dave's family now. He and wife Lynn have two coaching sons. Their son Lane is now an assistant basketball coach at East Carolina University and son Ryan is on the coaching staff of Furman University.
HAMILTON, Ga.-- Kelly Odom of Harris County, Georgia was named as one of the winners of the 23rd annual "Page One Awards" for 1998. The Page One Awards program is sponsored by the Columbus, Georgia newspaper, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer to honor outstanding achievements by high school seniors and teachers. Awards are presented for outstanding achievement in such fields as mathematics, science, music, foreign language, general scholarship, journalism, art, English-literature, social science, drama and others.
Kelly is a senior at Harris County High School. She won an award in the foreign language field. Sorry, we don't know who her parents are yet.
NATCHITOCHES, La.-- Kevin Odom has been named to Louisiana's Northwestern State University's Honors Roll. Kevin achieved an academic grade average of between 3.5 and 3.99 (out of 4.0) to rank him among the highest of Northwestern's Demon athletes. Kevin is on the Demon's golf team. He was among more than half of Northwestern's 230 student-athletes who carried a 3.0 grade point average or better and who earned honor roll status for at least one semester during the past year.
"This combination of excellence in academics and athletics is truly a noteworthy accomplishment," said athletic director Greg Burke. Congratulations, Kevin!
If your branch of the family is planning a reunion, please send us complete details so we can write a story. Tell when and where the gathering will be held and if in a rural area, give full directions from the nearest town. Give information on planned activities and entertainment. If it is an annual affair, tell us some history, such as when and where it began, how it began, where all it has been held and other details. If you have a reunion committee, give their names and hometowns. Give the name, telephone number and mailing address for someone to contact for further information.
After the reunion, let us know such details as how many attended; what cities and states were represented; the oldest and youngest relatives who came; give the names and hometowns of any officers elected; programs and entertainment held; awards given, etc.
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Our Editor is a
descendant of the Odom branch from Sampson County, NC
who settled in Seminole County, Ga.
His hobby since childhood has been family history.
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