Pryor Scrapbook Clippings, 1955-1980

< 1 • • VerQon Presley will be buried at Grace– land al 11 a.m. tomorrow between the graves of Elvis, his rock-and-roll son, and Gladys, his first wife. Presley, 63, died in Baptist Hospital at 9:20 a.m. yesterday of a heart condition at had troubled him since 197S. A private funeral, featuring recordings c.f his son's gospel songs, will be held in the living room of Graceland muston where the body of Elvis Presley lay in state 22 months ago. Elvis' former wife, Priscil– la, his daughter, Lisa Marie, and his man– ager, Colonel Tom Parker, were on their w1ty yesterday toMemphis for the services. Like his son, Presley will be buried in a seamless copper casket in the Meditation Garden south of the house. It was Vernon Presley who designed the garden and al– lowed it to become a national shrine fol– lowing Elvis' death. Although Graceland will remain closed until sometime after the funeral, fans were beginning to gather outside the gates within hours after the news of Pr8'lers death was· announced. Their mood was somber and they were asking how,,lo he had .been sick and whether he suffe The answer was that he'd been serio ill for a long time, l>ut that, in the en death came swiftly. It wu the announcement that wu slow. egend that began in 1948 when the three leys - Vernon, Gladys and Elvis - loaded their belongings into a 1939 Dodge and left their home in Tupelo, ~ss., bound for Memphis and what they ho~ would be better times. ·· It did not come until about 10:30 a.m. when Steve Reynolds, a hospital spokesman, en- r tered a room filled with reporters and cameramen and handed •out ·a one-para– graph statement that read as follows: "Mr. Vernon Presley was readmitted to Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., on May 29, 1979, and he experiencE!9 increasing difficulty with an irregular heartbeat. He was comfortable and alert during this hospitalization and was in good spirits. Mr. Presley died at 9:20 a.m. on June 26, 1979, following a severe attack of irregular heartbeats." Later, under questioning, Reynolds said Presley's ,death was due to "ventricular fibrillation." This is a condition character– ized by twitching of the ventricular mus- • . cles, causing impulses to traverse the ven– tricles so rapidly that coordinated contrac– tions cannot occur. \ Presley was in the subcoronary care unit on the 12th floor of the hospital's Madison East section at the time. His fiance, Mrs. Sandra Miller, a nurse, was with him. She said his condition bec~e critical about 10 p.m. Monday. The condi– tion worsened yesterday morning. An eme~ncy team of doctors was called in · abou a.m. and worked for more than an hour n an effort to resuscitate him. Fr$ Baptist Hospital, the bocly WU . mov to Memphis Funeral Home on Unio which has charge of the services. Vernon Presley bad.been in and out of the ho.,pital so often that when death final– ly came it was no rprise. It was, however, tory,. For it ended a None dreamed how good those times could get - that Elvis would become a movement, and, in the process earn more money than anybody could possibly count. At his death, his estate was valued at S7.6 m lion and Vernon Presley was named the executor. . In the almost two years since his son's death, Presley had been more than that - he'd been the keeper of the shrine and the protector-Qf u,. legend that had become _a way of life for members of the family, $()me whom worked and lived at Grace– Ian _l.Vemon Presley leaves his mother, Mrs. Minnie Mae Presley, and a sister, Mrs. Del– ta Mae Biggs, both of whom live in Grace– land; two other sisters, Mrs. Nashville Lor– ene Pritchett, who lives in a residence on the Graceland gro~. and Mrs. Gladys Dowling of TallahaSSee, ~ a brother, Vester Presley, the Graceland ga~; and a granddaughter;Lisa Marie, 11,Elvis' only child_who lives in Be,ver~y !ID18, Ca. lif., with her mother, Mrs. Pr1sc1lla Pres; 1 y, Elvis' former wife. Presley hacl been in ancl out of the hospi– t 1 at least a half-<iozen times in recent ars. A diabetic, he was admitted to Baptist · 1 osptial twice in February, 1975,.for treat– (Continuecl on Page A14)