Father, Son Died in Texas House Fire

Jan. 11, 2014
Aging wiring in a Burleson County home is suspected as the cause of a fire that claimed the life of a 70-year-old man and his 49-year-old son.

Jan. 11--James Suehs and his adult son had planned to move to Bryan at the end of the month before their Burleson County home went up in flames on Monday night.

The bodies of 70-year-old James Suehs and 49-year-old James Suehs Jr. were discovered as firefighters battled the blaze around 11:30 p.m. on County Road 101 in Deanville, 10 miles southwest of Caldwell.

A preliminary autopsy found that their deaths were fire-related.

The State Fire Marshal's Office has not released the cause of the fire, but Kenya Suehs, James Suehs Jr.'s daughter, said investigators told her it was an accidental fire that had to do with wiring in the aging home.

Kenya Suehs didn't see her father often but talked on the phone several times a day and had been looking forward to driving down from the Tyler area to introduce her father to a daughter he had never met. She described both father and son as "homebodies" who loved to make jokes.

James Suehs Jr. enjoyed spending time with his 11-year-old grandson and was always with his chihuahua named Little Bit, who died at his side during the fire, Kenya Suehs said.

"If he loved someone, he loved them with everything he had," she said of her father.

Having suffered a heart attack recently, her father had shared his last wishes during one of their last conversations, Kenya Suehs said. He asked that Ozzy Osbourne's Mama I'm Coming Home be played during his service in honor of his mother.

Services for James Suehs Sr. will be handled by Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home in Caldwell. James Suehs Jr. will be cremated and taken to Hilliard Funeral Home in the East Texas town of Van with a memorial service scheduled for 4 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Church of Garden Valley.

Copyright 2014 - The Eagle, Bryan, Texas

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