1. Athlete: 1982, State Champion football @ Brownwood, Texas High School.
Residence in 1910: Maxwell, Pontotoc, Oklahoma
Residence in 1930: Morse, Okfuskee, Oklahoma
1. Marriage License No. 9-5653-397
2. Henry Franklin Jones lived 77 years and 4 days.
3. TRIBUTE TO HENRY BY THIS WRITER.
HENRY FRANKLIN JONES was born January 6, 1905 at Bebee, IT, Oklahoma and was the third child of John Milo Jones and Louvinnie Pallastine (Roberts) Jones. He was named for his grandfather, Franklin Travis (Tabby) Jones, who died on Henry's birthday. His siblings were Minnie Lena, Pleas Edward, Bert, Elva Milo, Arthur Willis (Oss), Lester, Esther, Robert Lee and Ted. Lester and Esther were twins who died within one day of each other at just under three months of age. The other children lived to adulthood and raised families.
Henry completed approximately six years of formal education at Bebee, Egypt, Byng, Hickory, Colbert and possibly other area schools, then helped on the farm to provide for the large family. All the Jones' were avid fishermen and hunters...whether for sport or food it mattered not. Life was not easy for this group and existance was "barely".
At the age of nineteen, Henry had fallen in love with a pretty young lass from the Worstell community by the name of Argie Beatrice Hayes, however, she was only seventeen years old and Mr. and Mrs. Hayes didn't approve of their getting married at this time. But love could not be deterred..a plan was devised, on November 30, 1924, for Henry to bring the "preacher" and Argie would run off (elope) and meet and get married anyway. So, it was done...they met approximatedly one half mile North and one half mile East of Worstell School down near Buck Creek and were married under a large pecan tree that still stands and bears fruit as of this date.
Speaking of bearing fruit...there were five children reared by this union, namely, Katherine Mayetta, Buell Ulman, Mona Jean, Earl Lee [this writer], Glenda Faye, all of whom have families of their own.
I always liked to hear the old stories of the how and where they lived. Some of the times and places were not always under the best of circumstances. Cash crops were not very profitable and living conditions were not very comfortable. But, almost everyone else in and around the communities were somewhat in the same boat.
Henry was always willing to work at whatever jobs were available to provide for his family and he would never squander off any funds for his own pleasures...in fact he would do without so that any other member of the family might have something. For instance, if he ever made some extra money he would delight in bringing home a sack of bananas or other fruit and food-stuff that might not be in the ordinaire.
Henry and Argie were "church going people" and the family was brought up in an atmosphere of love and care of their fellow man. He was one who would tell a joke or story using his own name as the butt of the story rather than hurt or offend someone else and then laugh the loudest! His greatest attribute was that he never met or saw a child or a dog that didn't like him. Adults respected him too, but, the youth he came into contact with especially liked his company, stories, jokes and tricks.
We children may not have had so much in monetary "things", but, we were blessed with a loving and caring father. He was not mushy and was not eloquent with words, but, it was very evident by his twinkling eyes and tender touches that he loved his wife, kids, and grandchildren. He would have readily given his own life for any one of us if need be.
Some of daddy's jobs consisted of share-crop farming, picking cotton, hoeing, hay baling, cooking at the Aldridge Hotel in Ada, running the laundry at the Aldridge Hotel in Ada, two different stints of driving a bus for Ada Bus Line, pipe fitter in the Kaiser Shipyard at Richmond, California during World War II, (he bought and paid cash of over $4,000.00 for a farm* out Southwest of Worstell with the money saved while working in the shipyard), garage owner, mechanic, help-your-self laundry owner in Allen, Oklahoma. *This farm was the same one that his brother Arthur and wife Sybil, along with their three children lived on for a number of years. He drove a truck for Waples Platter and delivered food products to the outlying towns around Ada. His last employment covered many years...that of being a well service rig operator for Elliott Well Service of Ada.
At the age of fifty eight (58), Henry had a heart attack while driving the pulling unit out North of the Canadian River coming in from a well location. Several operations followed but he didn't give up...even though it did hurt his pride that he could not work as a gainfully employed person again other than janitorial work at The Assembly of God Church East of town. [Now the LDS Chapel] He lived on for several years and raised large truck gardens of which he freely shared his crops with friends and relatives alike. He even tamed and raised a few young raccoons for pets. He had several dogs over the years and I think every one of them was named "Suzie". LOL
On January 10, 1982, the world lost a "great man", not a man that had amassed great worldly wealth, but rather a man that knew what life was all about...God, family, fellowmen and himself last.
Oh.....how I loved my Daddy!
By: Earl L. Jones
1. Argie was second child of Wallace & Nettie Hayes.
2. One of her first long trips was back in 1909 in a covered wagon train at about age 2-l/2 years with the Hayes families that left Stratford, Oklahoma, for Elida, New Mexico seeking better living conditions. Ironically, it was in 1968, that momma and daddy returned to Elida, New Mexico, but under different circumstances. Jane & I had purchased a NEW 1968 Volkswagon for them with the understanding that they would have to ride the bus from Ada to Elida to pick it up and drive it home. So, we sent them money for bus fare and they did and that was one of the best investments we ever made. Daddy was actually "cranky" about their new car and kept it clean and the oil changed regularly. I remember one time that momma told me that they could drive from Ada to Tatum some 485 miles for just $6.00 of gas.
3. She was a very active member of the Church of God of Prophecy.
4. When I was about 5 years old momma took us all to church at the Church of God at Worstell in the "big ol Nash" and upon leaving she ran into and knocked off the Southwest corner of the church house. Momma just never could get the hang of driving an automobie, so, she was dependant on others to take her to church or other places.
5. She was an excellent wife to daddy, superb mother, & a kind neighbor.
6. Her cooking speaks for itself....look at us!
7. Argie lived 75 years and 27 days.
Marriage Notes for Henry Franklin Jones and Argie Beatrice HAYES-11
1. Application for Marriage License: 28 Nov 1924 --- married 30 Nov 1924 by Rev. W. E. Walker
1. BLESSING: Aaron was blessed 9 Oct 1966 by Elder Thomas Poole McFarland, Sr. @ the Artesia, New Mexico, Branch Chapel.
2. LIVE-LDS-BAPTISM: Aaron was baptised 2 Nov 1974 @ the Hobbs, NM Chapel by Elder Albert Lee Amyx amd was confirmed by Elder Mark Alan Fish.
3. On 25 Dec 2000 Aaron told Earl & Jane that they were going to be grandparents again in May 2001. [Victoria "Tori" Elizabeth was born 11 May 2001].
4. Aaron has had his own live rock band and traveled from East Coast to West Coast and all points in between.
5. He went to work for the Lea County Sheriff's Department as a Deputy in 1995 - 1999.
6. He was in Los Angeles, California, in "security services" until the Summer of 2002, when he moved back to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be near his two daughters.
7. He was employed by the Valencia County Sheriff's Department as a detective until 2011 when he resigned to take care of his own business, International Protective Service.
8. He had his own home that he kept spotless inside & out.
9. Aaron, Isa, Tori, Earl, & Jane went to Kauai, Hawaii for eight days [June 27 - July 5, 2004] and stayed on the North Shore in a private home, Animi Beach Hale.
10. He really loves his daughters and is a good father.
11. Aaron & Olivia's divorce was final 28 Jul 2004 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
12. Aaron is now living in a new home in the Rio Rancho district with a beautiful East view of Albuquerque.
13. President & CEO of International Protective Service (IPS) headquarted in Albuquerque with many office in different cities.
1. MARRIAGES: Olivia had been married prior to this bond to Ray A. Guiterrez on 28 Mar 1995 in Albuquerque, New Mexico with no issue from that marriage.
1. Birth: Isabel "Isa" Marie Jones was born 13 Oct 1997 @ 4:59 A.M. in the Hobbs Lea County Regional Hospital and weighed 7 pounds 5.8 Oz.
2. Just the "Labor Day" weekend [2002] Isa remined me that she was now four and a half years old years old.
3. Grandpa does a pretty good job of "spoiling".
4. She is learning to play the violin in Second Grade.
Victoria Elisabeth "Tori" JONES
1. Aaron called this Grandpa at 6:15 A.M. to say I was the first person he had called to announce the arrival of my second granddaughter who was born at 5:36 AM on 11 May 2001...
2. Looks like I have some more "pay back" spoiling to do.
1. Lance had surgery at age 3-weeks for pylouric stenosis.
2. BIOGRAPHY: Lance graduated from Portales, NM High School.
3. He graduated from Southwest Acupuncture College, Sunday, July 30, 2000, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Lance L. Lee, Doctor of Orential Medicine.
4. He & Leesa moved to Plano, Texas and later opened up an office in Seminole, Texas, to apply his new found trade for several months while waiting for his New Mexico license to become effective.
5. Most of the year 2001 has been setting up his own private practice in two offices: (1) Hobbs, New Mexico (2) Clovis, New Mexico
6. The business has really grown and is now located in their own building located at 2800 North Grimes, Hobbs, New Mexico 88240. 1-505-392-2712. E-mail leeneedleman@aol.com.
7. A quiet, soft-spoken gentleman...my son-in-law!
1. BIRTH: Leesa was born to the biological parents of Frances Evangilene Cordova and Joseph Stanley Norton. The parents were not married so Frances gave up her baby for adoption without ever seeing her. Frances was killed in a tragic car accident under the overpass of I-25 & I-40 in Albuquerque on 9 Jul 1986, having never had the opportunity to see her offspring in this life. Leesa has a fairly complete family history of the Cordova Family in a seperate database.
2. BIRTH: Her father was a married man who had a 4-year old at the time of Leesa's birth. He was a military man in the Air Force (Vietnam War) @ Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and was supposedly from California at the time. Leesa would like to meet her Norton extended family.
3. Biosketch:
Frances' Baby Came Back
November 1995It all began some twenty five years ago....A beautiful baby girl was born to Frances Cordova in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 18, 1970. This was a loving mother who placed her child up for adoption and a mother who never had the pleasure of seeing her off-spring in this life. Frances was killed in a tragic auto accident near the loop of I-25 on I-40 in 1986.
Earl and Jane Jones of Tatum, New Mexico, were the fortunate and lucky adoptive parents of this child. It was a glorious day in August 1970 when we were allowed to pick her up and she was immediately given the name "Leesa Marie Jones". What a pleasure to have such a sweet bundle of joy in our home.
Leesa was a "papa's girl" and papa could do no wrong....papa could fix or do anything....at least in the eyes and mind of this little sweetheart.
We had always told Leesa that if at all possible, someday we would help her find her biological family. Then it happened....after a court order to have her records opened, Leesa was put in contact with her biological mother's family. After a few days of anxious preparation a family luncheon reunion was set up for Saturday noon November 18, 1995, at Furr's Cafeteria off I-40 at 2nd Street.
On the way to the reunion Leesa quietly and sadly asked the question, "what if they don't accept me"? I assured her that there would not be one soul there that was not just as excited about this great day as she was.
Well, the time had come and we had arrived at Furr's. It was a nice, warm, clear, sunshiny Fall day. When we got out of the vehicle we could see the many curious eyes and faces looking out of the windows. No mistake about it....that lovely family thought they were seeing a ghost because Leesa, in her six foot frame, stood out as a living image of her parent. Tears of happiness, hugs of great warmth, and tender feelings were the order of the day.
After managing to eat our meal, we departed to KRQE TV (Q-13), where we all were greeted warmly by the friendly staff out in front of the studio. Gwen Scott had so graciously set up this "public service" interview, so, now it was Mark Horner and cameraman time. The setting was ideal...outside in the court-yard. For about an hour or more it was questions and answers....Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, all had a good time sharing pictures, mementos, stories, and awe. The only "sad thing" of the day was that mother and daughter didn't get to meet. But, this we know, "Families Can Be Forever".
Yes, Thanksgiving came a few days early this year....and it was nice to be as a "fly on the wall" and observe this great event! After all, "Frances' Baby Had Come Back"!
1995: Earl L. Jones
P. O. Box 736
Tatum, NM 88267
1-505-398-5466 Home & Office2012: Earl L. Jones
1112 Mesa Verde
Hobbs, New Mexico 88240
575-370-4269
earlj@leaco.net
4. Leesa was recruited by Coach Jerry Isler and received a full basketball scholorship at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, New Mexico.5. Leesa is on her fourth pacemaker as of 2011.
6. Leesa now helps her husband, Dr. Lance Lee, in the family business [acupuncture] with offices in Clovis and Hobbs, New Mexico. [2001-2012]
7. They moved into a new home built in Hobbs.....Summer of 2005
8. Leesa claims she was baptzed on her 8th birthday which would have been May 18, 1978. ???
Logen Makayla "Snicklefritz" LEE
1. When Leesa told me that I was going to be grandpa again to a grandaughter that was being named Logen Makayla I told her it didn't matter what name was on the birth certificate...she would be known to me as "Snickelfritz" to me. Ha!
2. This writer "Pampa" had the honor of giving a blessing to this child on Sunday, March 8, 2009, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hobbs, New Mexico during the Sacrament Meeting as so instructed by Doctrine and Covenants 20:70, which reads: "Every member of the church of christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.
1. Grandpa Jones did some farming, domino playing, fishing & hunting.
2. This writer remembers well one time when my cousin Farrell Jones and myself walked from our houses in Ada with our home-made backpacks "bum rolls" out to his house South of Oil Center to spend the weekend with Grandpa and he knew we were coming because he had invited us out. But, he decided it would be funny if he just stayed up at Uncle Berts and left us to fetch for ourselves. Well about the second day we began to run out of things to eat so I decided that since I had watched Momma make buscuits that I would try my hand at it. Got out the pans and ingredients but apparently I put too much baking power in because they came our sort of green, hard as "hocky pucks", and they were so bad that the dogs wouldn't even eat the ones that were left over. Three days and nights were all we could take of that.
3. Later on Grandpa acted like he never knew we were even there, but Daddy & Uncle Oss finally "fessed up" and told us it was a put up deal all the way. We were survivors!
4. He died @ Aunt Minnie's house at 421 West 10th in Ada, Oklahoma with Arteriolosclerotic Heart Disease.
5. Daddy, Momma, & Aunt Bess said he gave his life to God on the "death bed".
6. His funeral was at the Oil Center Pentacostal Holiness Church and 7 Feb 1959 @ 2:00 PM.
7. John Milo Jones lived 76 years, 8 months, and 25 days.
8. Marriage License No. 1086...
Louvinnie Pallastine "Pallie" ROBERTS
1. Grandma was a rather large boned lady, an excellent cook...of course, she had to be with the size of family she had.
2. Pallie endured many hardships in life...she very seldom ever left the old home place because she was tied down with taking care of her mother, my Great Grandma Mary Jane Roberts who was bedfast.
3. Grandma Jones' one vice that I knew of was "dipping and sniffing snuff". I suppose that was considered the only luxory she ever had. Grandpa kept her supplied with "Garrett Snuff" and I remember well how she would keep the can in her apron pocket. You could see the results from the use of snuff by the corners of her mouth and she also sniffed a little up into her nose on occasion. WHEW!
4. Pallie lived 61 years and 21 days.
5. Pallie was the Grandmother of this writer, Earl L. Jones..
6. Grandma came down with cancer in the early 1940's and had at least one operation and lived in our home [Son Henry Jones] on East 4th Street, Ada, Oklahoma for a short period of re-cooperation.7. Daddy & I had spent the night with Grandma & Grandpa just prior to her death in a house just North of Shag Booth's service station at Oil Center. I was a young lad of about 10 years of age at the time.
8. I remember well, the funeral for Grandma...it was held out at Oil Center at the Pentecostal Holiness Church and every seat was filled plus standing room only inside and outside with family members, other relatives, and kind friends. I especially remember how hard it was on my Daddy, Henry F. Jones.
9. Pallie & John were sealed 24 Sep 2005 in the Lubbock Texas Temple
1. Lester was a TWIN who died one day after his other brother Esther.
1. Esther was a TWIN who died one day prior to his brother Lester.
1. Wallace Raymond Hayes's Social Security No. 441-18-0808...
2. Sources: Family Bible of Wallace Raymond Hayes & his personal knowledege to Earl L. Jones...
Family members personal knowledge...
Ada Evening News Obituaries..
Freewill Baptist Church Deacon's Certificate and Ordination. Marriage License No. 2022.3. Bessie Jones, Niece, wrote a heartfelt note after his passing, which this writer has a copy.
4. In 1909 Grandpa took his family which consisted of a wife, son Ardel, daughter Argie, on a wagon train to Elida, New Mexico with some 17 or 18 other Hayes family members with the intention of homesteading there. However, the "dust and wind" storms that next spring didn't suit him so back to Stratford, Oklahoma they went. Other Hayes families still live in New Mexico. Sure wish I had paid more attention to the details as he related that story to me.
5. Grandpa sure liked to sit on the edge of his couch and listen to "The Lone Ranger" on his little box radio...and he didn't really want anyone to bother him while that was going on either.
6. He smoked "Kool" cigarettes and would have me cross the street to the corner grocery to get him a pack nearly every time I showed up at the house.
7. I cannot remember Grandpa and Grandma living anywhere except at 411 West 7th Street, Ada, Oklahoma, and how they would walk to the Aldridge Hotel early and work all day in the laundry room. [The only exception being the couple of years in Richmond, California during WW II]
8. He was white headed when I was just a small boy and he still had a full head of "white hair" when he died.
9. I remember a large pecan tree in his backyard [garden] area that Daddy had helped graft some different limbs into and that tree produced three different kinds of nuts. And another sapling was planted in the front yard that made a large pecan tree also.
10. It was always pleasant to go see Grandpa and Grandma and sit out on the front porch in the swing in a cool breeze.
11. Daddy, Henry Franklin Jones, gave him a "Case" pocket knife one year for Christmas back in the 1940's. Grandpa never ever put a blade to a whetrock, but always sharpened it on the heels of his shoes like a razor strap...and I might add it was very sharp. When Grandpa died, Grandma gave the knife back to Daddy as a memento. Well, to say the least that knife didn't last long because he sharpened it on a stone, grinding wheel, and used it as screwdriver, pry bar, cleaning fish, and other uses that would come up.
12. Wallace Raymond Hayes lived 85 years, 11 months, & 21 days.
WALLACE R. HAYES
Wallace R. Hayes, 422 West 7th, retired farmer, died in an Ada hospital at 12:55 a.m. Friday. He was 85. A native of Arkansas, he was born March 5, 1879, son of Albert P. and Eliza Stone Hayes. He came to Ada in 1936 and was a deacon in the Free Will Baptist Church of Ada.
Survivors include the wife, Mrs. Nettie L. Hayes; three sons, Ardal A. Hayes, Holdenville, R. J. Hayes, Fort Bragg, California; and Raymond C. Hayes, Sapulapa; two daughters, Mrs Argie Jones, Ada and Mrs. Delena Roberts, Cushing; a brother, Don Hayes, Lordsburg, N.M.; 26 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Free Will Baptist Church. Rev. Vard Wood and Rev. Lynn Wood will officiate. J. O. Kirby, Early Collins, Haskell Dighton, J. W. Dighton, John Wood and Virgil Hunt will be casketbearers.
Ed Price, Elmer Chandler, Clyde Wilson, Ted Pate, Albert Crow, Clyde Bennett, Willard Hickey, Audie Nelson, Robert Johnson and Lester Henry will be honorary bearers. All bearers, both activer and honorary, are deacons of the Free Will Baptist Church. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, Smith Funeral Home is directing the services.
Residence in 1910: Stratford, Garvin, Oklahoma.
Residence in 1930: Morse, Okfuskee, Oklahoma
1. Sources: Information from Family Bible of Wallace & Nettie Hayes...
Family members personal knowlege...
Ada Evening News Obituaries...
Freewill Baptist Church Deacon's Cetificate of Ordination...
Marriage License...2. Nettie Louisa Hollingsworth Hayes's Social Security No. 441-10-2475...
3. Nettie is Earl L. Jones's Grandmother...a beauty in looks and a beauty in her heart!
4. Nettie lived 85 years & 25 days.
5. OBITUARY: Nettie Lee Hayes
Funeral services for Nettie Lee Hayes, Rt. 3, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Free Will Baptist Church of Ada.
Mrs. Hayes, 85, died Thursday at a local hospital.
She was born to Duncan and Martha Baker Hollingsworth Jan. 16, 1887, in Texas. She married Wallace Hayes in 1903 at Roff. He died in 1965. Mrs. Hayes was a Baptist.
Her survivors include a son, Raymond Hayes, Sapulpa; two daughters; Mrs. Argie Jones, Ada, and Mrs. Delena Roberts, Cushing; 26 grandchildren; 39 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.
Services will be conducted by the Revs., Delbert Akin and Vard Wood. Interment is to be at Memorial Park Cemetery, with Mrs. Hayes' grandsons serving as bearers. Smith Funeral Home is making the arrangements.
1. The date of Oline's death may have been 6 Dec 1920...
1. Birth Certificate: 64608, and may have been born on 7 Oct 1923, but, the SS Death Index shows his birth as 13 Mar 1923.
2. Marriage: Slim had been married prior to this bond and later married Mrs. Bonnie Jackson wife of Charles "Chuck" Jackson...sort of a swap-out.
3. SSN: 560-24-9323 issued in California
1. Katherine was the first of six children of Henry Franklin Jones and Argie Beatrice Hayes.
2. This writer [brother Earl L. Jones] remembers Katherine as always being a very quiet and kind person. She was a good daughter, sister, wife, mother, and neighbor and is still living (13 Jul 2004) in Ada, Oklahoma.
3. The following is a typed and edited copy of her hand written "Life's Story" in 2001:
I am Katherine Mayetta Jones [Gray][Jackson] born to Henry Franklin Jones and Argie Beatrice Hayes [Jones] on November 22, 1925 at Worstell, Oklahoma in a one room cabin.
I began school at Sandsprings, Oklahoma, a small community between Weleetka and Okemah. I don't know how old I was when we moved there. My Grandfather & Grandmother Hayes lived there also in a red rock house with a well house to match and a big red barn, all about a mile North of the school house. We played in the barn loft a lot and ate peanuts where Grandpa had them stored.
There was a "black" church across the street (road) from them and we liked to listen to them sing and they were always having dinner on the ground where they spread their food.
All of our Social activities took place in the school. We had a lot of singings there plus we had church there. My little brother, Earl, was born there. He had a habit of coming into the school room in his diaper. Momma would come after him which always embarrassed her for she was really timid. He slipped off lots of times though & the teacher would set him on her desk until momma came for him.
We always picked up pecans on the "halves" in the Fall for a man who owned a pecan orchard. Daddy farmed and we raised most of our food and Momma canned everything so we had food through the winter months. When we had to have supplies we took a wagon and went to Weleetka or Okemah. We didn't get to go very much so that was really a treat!
Momma had a sister "Arcie" who married Bud Bowman. They took a cotton wagon to Okemah to get married. She was killed in an accident when the car they were riding caught fire and she jumped from the car.
When I had the measles I stayed with Grandma & Pa because Delena had the measles too.
I don't remember how old I was when we moved from there back to Ada [Oil Center] an oil community. Daddy still farmed and worked in the oilfield some when they needed him. My Uncle Bert [Dad's brother] lived on the oil lease there and took care of the wells.
I went to school at Summers Chapel, a small country school. We had to walk most of the time which was probably three miles [just a guess]. Some times we would catch a bus that came from Maxwell going to Vanoss High School if we got to the corner in time.
I played basketball there but moma wouldn't let me play in the tournaments because we had to wear shorts. One time I slipped off [or she let me spend the weekend with my girlfriend] and we went to Stratford and played in the tournament there. Momma didn't find out. I played guard.
We moved to the Worstell Community when I was in the 7th & 8th grades. I attended the Worstell School which is no longer there, until I graduated from Grade School and started to Vanoss. We moved to a house where a woman had committed suicide and there was a little room at the back of the house where she died. It was always a scary feeling when we had to go through that room but we finally got used to it. Some of her things were still there.
This was a happy time because we knew everyone in the community. We all walked to and from church and the whole road would be filled with people. We had a lot of fun walking to and from church.
We finally got a big old Nash car and momma decided she was going to learn how to drive...daddy didn't go to church all the time. This particular time she drove us to church and knocked the SW corner of the church house off. Brother Dee Smith was Pastor of the Church. When we started home she didn't make the corner just up from our house and ran into a ditch and daddy had to come get it out. She gave up trying to drive after that.
Daddy still farmed [share-cropped] and we went to Okemah in the Fall and picked cotton to buy our school clothes. We would hoe cotton or corn for people for $1.00 a day also. It was during the depression [30's] and every body was poor as "church mice" but we survived.
We moved to Latta when I was a Junior in High School. We lived in a house that had cracks in it wide enough you could see daylight. We didn't have radio or electricity and we had to carry water from an artesian well about 1/4 of a mile for every thing....to wash, bathe, and cook. We didn't have a refrigerator so we kept our milk and butter in the "dug out well" as it was good and cold. Momma even made her own lye soap and we hung our clothes on the barbed wire fence to dry. Daddy farmed there too until he got a job in the Aldridge Hotel kitchen. He used to bring us left over rolls from there. They were so good! Momma also worked some in the hotel laundry with Grandpa and Grandma Hayes. They ran the laundry there in the Summer time when there was no school. I took her place and you talk about "hot", it was down in the basement with no ventilation and was next to "Hell". The bell boys there got Grandma to iron their white shirts for 10 cents each and every once in a while and she would let me earn the dime. I thought that was a lot of money.
I sang in the Glee Club at Latta...and sang Alto. Latta was the fun part of my schooling. Bill & I took a 1/2 Semester of Aeronautics during my Senior year. We got to learn the mechanics of flying an airplane. At the end of the class they took us up in a small Piper Cub and wouldn't you know it...I was the only one who got sick! I felt like my head was lying on the floor board of that plane. There were only eight (8) students in my Senior Class.
I graduated in 1943 and went to work in Woolworth's 5 & 10 Cent Store at $10. 00 a week. We had moved into town on East Gardinia at that time and then we moved into a house on East 4th Street near the church. This was across the street from what was known as "Colored Town" We even visited one of their churches. This house is still standing today.
Daddy & Bill went to California to work in the ship yards in 1943 and to get us a place to live. We rode the train out there. I thought we would never get there.
We got an apartment in what was once Army Barracks. I was just 17 years old and could not go to work in the ship yards until I was 18 years old, so I worked in a bakery until then. When I became 18 years old, I went to work in Ship Yard #1 as a welder. I had to take six (6) weeks of welding school first before I could work in the yard. I helped build "Victory & Liberty Ships". It was a fun job.
Brace yourself....this is where my "soap opra" begins!
I met Slim [James Earl Gray] in the Yard. He first started whistling from another ship across the way and then he finally came to my ship and introduced himself. I didn't know at the time that he was married., but, separated from his wife. So, I finally agreed to go out with him. I went out with him for four (4) months before I found out about his wife. She got on the same bus that we were riding one night...we had been to San Francisco to the theater.
When we got off the bus she followed and liked to have pulled my hair out, until she found out I knew nothing about her. They both walked me home from the bus stop. I was about ten steps ahead of them for I was shocked and angry.
I didn't see him for a long time.
Meantime, he got a divorce and started coming around again. So, It all started again. Mom & Dad had decided to go back to Ada as the shipyards were closing down after the war ended. I didn't want to go back to Oklahoma and agreed to marry Slim. We went to Reno, Nevada and got married with another couple that we were friends with. They also got married. He was later killed in a car wreck. So, we [Slim & I] both worked in the shipyard until they closed down.
His mom and dad had moved to Tracy, California, so we went there too. Tracy was a railroad town. He went to work as a brakeman for the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Sharon was born in 1945, Diana in 1946, Jim in 1947, and Ronnie in 1953.
I also worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a telephone operator for several years until they closed up shop and then I did waitress work.
Jim & I were divorced in 1956. I met and married Charles Jackson and moved to Corpus Chiristi, Texas in 1956. This was also a disaster!
Charlene was born in 1957, Edwina in 1961, and Steve in 1962.
Chuck was a womanizer and finally left me & the children in 1962. I came back to Ada in 1963 at Christmas time. My brother Earl and his wife Jane came and brought me and the kids to Ada. Don't know what I would have done without them.
In April 1963 I went to work for Blue Bell, now known as Wrangler. I worked for them twenty-five (25) years until I hurt my back and had to retire in 1987.
After I recovered from my back injury I went to work for the Department of Human Services as a provider in 1988. I did this until December 2000, when I was no longer physically able to continue working.
I served as Church Clerk and Organist for the Church of God of Prophecy for many years. I am no longer the Church Clerk but still serve as organist.
I mostly crochet and piece quilts for my hobby. It is nice not to have to punch a time-clock anymore or have any deadlines to meet. I enjoy my family when we are together.
Katherine
Thursday, January 5, 2006 - Ada Evening News - Obituary
KATHERINE JACKSON
ADA ----Services for Katherine Mayetta Jackson, 80, Ada, are 11 a.m. Friday at Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, the Rev. Fred Huffman officiating. Burial follows at Rosedale Cemetery.
Mrs. Jackson died Jan. 3, 2006, at a local nursing home. She was born Nov. 22, 1925, at the Worstell Community, northwest of Ada, to Henry F. and Argie Hayes Jones.
She attended school at Sand Springs and graduated from Latta High School. Mrs. Jackson worked in the shipyards during World War II as a welder helping to build Victory and Liberty ships. Later, she was employed with Wrangler Company, retiring after 25 years of service. She also worked at Wal-Mart and was a home health nurse's aide. Mrs. Jackson was a member of the Church of God of Prophecy, where she served as church clerk and was the organist for the church for several years
She was preceded in death by her parents, a son, James Earl Gray, in September 1994, and a brother Buell Jones, in August 1982.
Survivors include four daughters, Diane Miller and husband Al, Ada, Sharon Palmer and husband Brooks, Allen, Edwina Dely and husband Chuck, Oklahoma City, and Charlene Brown, Fort Smith, Ark.; two sons, Ron Gray and wife Andi, Corona, Calif., and Steve Jackson and wife Kathy Ross, Ada; two sisters Mona Jean & her husband Floyd Morgan, Ada, Glenda Nessel, Wichita Falls, Texas; a brother, Earl Jones, Tatum, N.M.; eleven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Bearers are Ronnie Miller, Damon Hatton, Tyle Hatton, Brian Smith, Chuck Dely and Steve Timmons. Honorary bearers are Chris Hatton, Jason Guinn and David Miller.
Criswell Funeral Home .