Flags to be lowered for Lee native Military funeral planned for staff sergeant found dead in Texas

LEE – Flags will be at half-staff Thursday in Carroll Plantation, Lee and Lincoln by order of Gov. John Baldacci to honor an Air Force airman found dead in Texas earlier this month.

Baldacci ordered the flags lowered Thursday upon request from state Rep. Rod Carr, R-Lincoln, to honor the service of the late Michael Leslie Severance, a staff sergeant at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. The order came Monday.

Severance, 24, formerly of Lee, was deployed six times overseas as a C-130 crew chief, including stints in Iraq and three tours of duty in Afghanistan, said Joy Leach, Baldacci’s deputy communications director. Severance served with the 317th Airlift Unit.

Severance’s father, Leslie Severance, said he was touched by the honor and by Baldacci’s telephone call to him on Monday.

“That’s respect for a soldier that did his part and more,” Leslie Severance said Monday. “We need to show our GIs more respect like that.”

Severance’s body was found March 6 at the bottom of a San Angelo, Texas, pond weighted down with cinder blocks. He was reported missing by his wife, Wendi Davidson, on Jan. 16. No cause of death has been determined.

Davidson, 26, of San Angelo was charged March 5 with tampering with evidence for hiding her husband’s body. According to police, she told her brother she had found her husband dead in bed on Jan. 15 and feared that someone in her family had killed him. She remained held Monday on $500,000 bail.

Baldacci might attend the funeral or would send someone, Severance said.

Baldacci’s decree comes in the wake of a benefit dance held Saturday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Lincoln by Severance family friends. More than 250 people attended. No fund-raising totals were available Monday.

The event was a mix of mournful remembrance and people having a good time dancing, with large photo collages dedicated to Severance and a thumping dance beat provided by a disc jockey spinning tunes.

“It was a strange situation because we have a funeral we are going to on Thursday, but Michael loved to dance. It was more of a celebration of all of his friends and the community. It was probably good for me, too,” Leslie Severance said.

“The outpouring of people, it was overwhelming. Holy cow, there were so many people there. It was really impressive,” Heather Whitney, one of the event’s organizers, said.

“It was awesome,” Leslie Severance said. “It went really well. I’ve never been hugged so many times in my life. It was scary at first, but once I got relaxed, it was fine. It was good for me to see the support that I have, and that Michael had. It was pretty overwhelming, really.”

The money raised will help Leslie Severance with court costs and other bills associated with his attempt to get custody of Shane Michael Severance, his 6-month-old grandson.

Davidson’s parents, San Angelo residents Robert Lloyd Davidson and Judy Kay Davidson, filed for custody of the baby eight days ago. Severance’s court action came in response to this.

Severance’s funeral is 1 p.m. Thursday at Clay Funeral Home with burial services to follow at Stevens Cemetery in Carroll Plantation. Full military honors will be observed.

His body was en route to the funeral home Monday with an escort from Randy Pelfrey, a fellow staff sergeant at Dyess who was one of Severance’s friends in Texas. Pelfrey said Sunday night that he is due to make it to Lincoln by Tuesday afternoon.

Whitney and Nicole Leighton, Michael Severance’s stepsister, are planning another fund-raiser, a dinner, sometime next month. No date has been set. They will be asking local businesses for raffle donations over the next few weeks, Whitney said.