Living in town, 1945 to 1955
When Minnie and her family moved to Stockdale, her mother began working in a cafe and cleaning houses or whatever work she could find. As soon as the children were old enough, they began working as well and helping with the family finances. Neighbors and relatives also brought produce from their garden or farm. Her father did what he could but cancer soon became too much to deal with. Minnie wrote, “From 1945 to 1949 our house was quiet a lot as my father was sick a lot, but he still loved having relatives and friends visit. We had lots of cousins and we played outside games.” (J.13)
School and work
When they first left the farm, they lived where the children needed to ride the school bus but later they moved closer to the school and after that they always walked to school. (J.49) Third Grade was Minnie's first year in town and the next year she was very ill for a long time. She wrote, “When I was in 4th grade I had the whooping cough. The other children had it also, and they all got over it, but I just kept coughing. I got to where I couldn't keep food down and lost a lot of weight. I was already thin. My big concern was that I would have to repeat 4th grade since I was out of school for over two months. When I felt strong enough, I started doing my school work. Taking cod liver oil was something I remember. As I got stronger and went back to school, I soon caught up on my work and did fine.” “I remember different neighbors cooking food they thought I could eat. The illness did scare me and I was weak for a long time.” (J.2)
Minnie's first job for pay was when she was in 5th grade and she worked for her fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Mills. “Mrs. Mills had three young children and she lived with her parents. She hired me to stay with them and help with the children. I would read to them, give them their baths and help with dinner. She had a lot of Christian books that I read. The summer between 5th and 6th grade, she went to summer school so I stayed there and helped the grandparents with the children. I cannot remember how much she paid me as I gave the money to my parents. Mrs. Mills and her parents read the Bible aloud after dinner and we all talked about what we read.” (J.42)
Minnie was still 10 years old when she began her first full-time job in a cafe. She wrote, “When my 6th grade year started I was working from the time I got out of school until almost 10 PM. My homework was done between washing lots of dishes at the cafe or after I got home at night. Not doing what was assigned was not an option. My teachers described me as being very responsible. When I was in 7th grade some students didn't have their homework and my teacher said, “If Minnie could work until 10 PM and have hers done, there is no excuse for you.” I remember talking to the teacher and asking her not to use me as an example as the kids teased me and called me Teacher's Pet.” (J.54)
Holidays
“Before my dad died in 1949 lots of his relatives would come to our house [for Thanksgiving]. They would get there early in the day and the women would spend the complete morning cooking. Pies had been baked in advance. All of the cousins would play outside, but we were sometimes called in to help.”
“The men usually sat on the porch and talked. When we lived in the country, they would look at the animals and whatever was growing.”
“Turkey and corn bread dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied sweet potatoes, salads and pumpkin, apple and pecan pies were all delicious. Sometimes all the kids took their plates out under a shade tree to eat.” (J.16)
Minnie's close relationship to her father
Knowing that his death was impending, Minnie's father grew even closer to the Lord and very close to Minnie. His life and his premature death left a major impact on her life. She wrote, “We were always in church, and as his illness progressed, he became closer and closer to his Lord. He spoke of how he didn't want to leave mother and his 5 young children but he was ready to meet his Lord in heaven.”
“I admire the fact that he loved family—not only his wife and kids but the extended family—and his Biblical views of living. He felt strongly about purity, modesty, and honesty. “The year I was eleven, I would get home from work at almost 10 PM. Daddy was very ill, but usually awake. I treasured the advice he gave me in those night talks. He died well!” (J.9)
Minnie wrote just a few months before she died, “My father died when I was still eleven years old – I was very close to him and I missed him and his wise counsel. I treasured all he taught me about the Lord.” (J.165)
Elsewhere she wrote in more detail about her relationship with her father: “I didn't get to know him when I was an adult, but I knew him well. When I would get home from work, I would sit by his bed and we would talk. He would tell me that he was going to heaven and would not get to see me grow up. I remember him telling me what kind of person he wanted me to be. He wanted me to love the Lord, never smoke or drink or have sex before marriage. Honesty was very important to him and family – He thought his brothers would help Mother [she drew a sad face] they didn't. He would also tell all of us to obey, love and respect our mother. He often reminded us that the Bible said God would be a husband to the widows and father to the fatherless! How true this was in our family.” (J.85)
Death of Minnie's father, age 39: Elmo Carroll West, March 19, 1949
Minnie was working the night her father died and when she saw her Uncle Mart West coming in the cafe door with a very solemn look on his face, she realized what was happening. Her father's children gathered around his bed and God gave him enough strength to say yet a few more words to them and to commit them to the care of the Lord. He passed away peacefully and his funeral was conducted by the two preachers who had visited him in his illness so often, the Assembly of God minister and the pastor of the local Church of Christ. He was buried in the Steel Branch cemetery in the Pleasant Valley area.
Minnie's widowed mother's family leadership
“Mother felt very strongly that children should show respect to adults, never talk back to her and be obedient and honest. She would not take welfare and she taught all five children to work hard to support our family. My dad had not paid social security - so we learned to trust the Lord, be frugal and work hard.” (J.10)
“After Daddy died, we all worked. I remember the boys riding on the back of the ice truck and carrying the blocks of ice into people's ice boxes. The boys did a paper route, hauled hay, Buddy learned to run the projector at the local movie theatre. I remember Billy washing dishes in a cafe - Patsy worked as a waitress and we both helped Mother clean houses – We were taught to work hard and to appreciate having work to do as we needed to work together to support our family – Mother helped us develop a strong work ethic.” (J.68)
“Family was very important to my mother. She was only 31 when my father died. She was left with 5 children – no money – and he had been a tenant farmer and had never paid social security, so her future looked bleak.” “She said, 'we have each other and we will all work hard to stay together.' My father's brothers wanted her to put the three boys in an orphanage! She told them that she would never ask them for anything – and that if we starved we would do it together.”
“We all worked hard and many in our community helped us by bringing fresh produce. . . . She taught us to trust the Lord and to be thankful.” (J.84)
Christmas, 1949
The first Christmas after Minnie's father died brought some joy and excitement into the family's life. Holidays had always been spent with her dad's family, the Wests. Now more time would be spent with Ruth's family, the Marcrums who lived in Austin. Minnie wrote in her journal, “We loved Christmas as it was a time to be out of school and home with our parents. We were very poor, so we didn't get a lot of presents. Mother would sew new outfits for each of us – often using fabric from feed sacks or her younger sister's cast-off clothes – we didn't mind, they were new to us. She was a good cook and made pies, cakes & cookies. Our Christmas meal was a lot like Thanksgiving plus a ham – and we always had fruitcake. There would be a Christmas program at church – we loved getting the mesh stocking filled with nuts, candy and fruit.” “We often opened gifts on Christmas Eve as extended family came for Christmas Day. Christmas of 1950 [I'm sure she means 1949.] was the first one after Daddy's death and the first one we spent in Austin with Mother's family.” (J.17)
“I remember our first Christmas in Austin. The day after Christmas Mother, Grandmother and some aunts decided to go downtown to see what was on sale. Granddaddy said he would take all the kids to an afternoon movie. After the ladies left, we all went to town on a city bus. We saw a double feature. Then he took us to the soda fountain in a Kress store for ice cream. We got on a city bus and started home. At the next bus stop, we saw all the ladies. Granddaddy told us to pretend we didn't know them, so we were all giggling when they got on.” “Granddaddy had a great sense of humor. He told silly jokes that made all the kids laugh. He enjoyed being with us. He died in 1953 – and I missed him a lot!”
“I only had one grandmother, Pearl Marcrum. She got married when she was only 14 years old – and she was 37 years old when I was born. She had a son only 5 months older than I and one 2 years younger, so she didn't make being a grandparent a big deal. She had ten children and I always felt she was a bit stern and strict. And I didn't like my middle name – Pearl – which mother gave me since grandmother wanted a name sake.”
“When I was about thirteen, I started spending a week in Austin most summers. Mostly I went places with my two young uncles. We would take a bus to the capital to see grandaddy – and that was great fun. Grandmother died in her sleep in December 1956.” (J. 24-25)
House fire, 1950
Disaster very nearly struck that young family with a widow and five children during the cold early months of 1950. Minnie always believed that her mother was protected by the Lord on a winter day in 1950 when she lit the kerosene stove to cook supper and then went outside to take the clothes off the clothes line while the stove was heating up. While she was unpinning the clothes from the line, the stove suddenly blew up and engulfed the kitchen with flames. The house they were living in was across the street from the fire department and the volunteer fire department was immediately called and the men came running to help only to discover that the keys to the building were on someone's farm not far from town. By the time the building was opened and the fire truck available, the house had burned to the ground with everything in it. All was lost—but no one was injured. Just think what a tragedy was avoided simply because Ruth was outside instead of inside that kitchen inferno.
Minnie was in school in the 8th grade and hearing the fire alarm, she jumped up and cried out, “That's our house!” and without waiting for a response, ran out the door and ran home. Pat joined her very soon and they stood watching their house burn to the ground, so thankful that their mother and the whole family was safe. Minnie and Pat stood with their arms around each other on that cold winter day with the crowd gathering around and people trying to fight the flames the best they could. Minnie looked back at the porch room where she and Pat slept with only ducking as shelter from the cold. The girls had always had to go to bed in a very cold room (although their mother often heated bricks to help keep their feet warm.) When Minnie saw that porch room burning, she whispered to Pat, “Our room is warm!” and both girls burst out laughing to the consternation of their mother—until Minnie told her what she had said! Then she, too, could barely control her laughter.
The generous people of the community and the extended family rallied to this poor widow and her children and did what they could to supply places for them to stay and food for them to eat and clothing to replace what was lost in the fire. Minnie stayed with Janet Chapel and her family. She wrote, “I loved going to their house because it was very quiet.” but “Janet loved the activity of our busy house.” And Patsy married Janet's cousin that very year while she was only 15 years old. (And Minnie was 13.)
One of the local store owners opened her store that evening just for Ruth and her children and had her pick out clothes for each one of them as her gift to help the family. Many years later Minnie recalled that bleak winter night: “So there we stood on a cold December afternoon with mother and the clothes we had on. Brownie opened her store and outfitted all 6 of us – Everything – panties, socks, & new outfits! A gift! The next day many families brought clothes. We stayed with wonderful friends – The 5 of us and their son all slept on the living room floor and shared the outhouse.” (J.11)
A new home
The family again saw God's providential care of them when a lot of people in the community got together to raise funds to purchase property so that the men of the town could build a house for this widow and her children in their midst. There was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of hard work. But volunteer work and contributions built a house for the family. “The men of the town told Mother they were going to build us a house. They had rodeos, fish fries – all kinds of fund-raising for a house for Ruth and her 5 children. We were amazed. They bought the lot right next to where we were staying and built a modest little house—the first home we ever owned! Later mother bought the back lot for a garden and added on a bathroom and extra large back bedroom. In her later years she added on a room for her quilting. No wonder the family feels such an attachment to the Stockdale community. This little place was home to Minnie until she married and it was home to her Mother until she died in April, 1996, while we were missionaries at Christ's College in Taipei. It is presently owned by our son Timothy. (J.11)
School, Work, Church, Family, Friends
Minnie's life was filled with work and responsibilities but also with happiness. She was always such a cheerful, helpful person and people loved her greatly. She made many friends and the adults of the community respected her greatly. She wrote, “Since I was at work, I enjoyed the times when the coffee shop wasn't goo busy. Talking with people that came in was neat. I was friends with all the grown ups in town. Sometimes friends would come in and just hang out. I liked having time to just be a kid.” (J.51)
“I have always liked people and been blessed with lots of friends. Being popular was never very important to me, but being respected was. My mother often pointed out that a good reputation was very important – she loved to tell me to avoid all appearances of evil!” “Since I started working in a coffee shop when I was eleven, I knew all the adults in town and they liked me. That meant more to me than what the kids at school thought about me.” (J.30)
Minnie was very intelligent and a hard worker, always dependable. Of course she excelled in school. Math was her favorite subject. Looking back at her life as an adult, she wrote, “From the time I was in 6th grade until 9th, I thought it would be fun to have my own coffee shop. Then in 9th grade, I took Algebra I and decided being a math teacher would be much better. Helping other students with their homework encouraged me as they would tell me that it seemed easier when I showed them how to think about the problem. I felt that many of them were not making connections with things they had already learned.”
“My math classes were always my favorites—I did numbers better than spelling! I liked the logic of math and the exactness of it. Since our school was small, I had the same teacher for Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Her name was Mrs. Williams—and she was an excellent teacher. I liked her strictness. She encouraged me to become a math teacher. Geometry was my favorite. I loved doing proofs. I still think the formal proofs are a great way to teach logical thinking. I found symbolic logic very easy after geometry.” (J.44-45)
Minnie also enjoyed home economics since it was a double period class and they had time to do some serious sewing and cooking. She enjoyed both and learned most of her skills from her mother at home. Minnie particularly appreciate Arlena Luker, the PE and Science teacher because she “had a lot of influence on all the girls. She would talk to us about modesty and sexual purity. We all respected her as we knew she really cared about our welfare – and she had a great sense of humor. An advantage of living in a small town is that teachers know your parents and when I was a child, the teachers wanted us to honor our parents' standards of behavior.” (J.47)
“When you grow up in a small town of 1,000 life is pretty simple. We lived near a river so we would sometimes take a picnic and swim in the river. We also liked to go to the movies. Our little town had a movie theatre. We also went to all the activities at the local Baptist church.” “We also liked to go to Seguin, a town about 23 miles away. Seguin had a big park with a swimming pool, miniature golf and lovely walking trails. There was a drive-in restaurant called the White House where we loved to go to eat. And we loved to go to rodeos and football games.” (J.36)
Minnie never played organized sports but she wished later that she could have. She “liked watching football, basketball, volley ball and tennis. The only sport I enjoyed playing,” she said, “was volley ball. Since I worked after school from the time I was eleven years old, I didn't have to take P.E. As I needed to do my school work. They let me have study hall instead of P.E. Looking back on it, I wish I had gone to P.E. Classes and learned to play more sports.” (J.50)
“During my senior year I got off work on nights we had football games as I was one of the flag girls in the band. That was fun – but on the nights we had home games, I had to leave the game a little early, get back to the restaurant, change and wait on the crowd from the games.” J. 51
“Since I had skipped 11th grade, I graduated with students a year older than I. Since I liked school, leaving was a bit sad, but I knew that as soon as I turned 17, I would begin working in San Antonio at Kelly A.F.B. This was a very good job and I was excited about earning a decent salary and being able to help Mother support my 3 younger brothers. Also I would have my evenings free. Mother had arranged for me to have a room at her good friend's home. She did not want me to have an apartment with friends until I was 18 years old. I respected her judgment.” “My cousin, Sarah, also skipped 11th grade so I wasn't alone in the new class. We are both invited to class reunions of 1954 and 1955.”
Jubilee Queen, 1955
“Each year our home town had a Watermelon Jubilee. The Chamber of Commerce selected 4 to 6 girls—usually seniors—to run for Queen of the festival and to represent Stockdale in the other local celebrations. I was very disappointed when I was not asked to run the year I was a senior. A few days after the girls were selected, the president of the Chamber of Commerce told me that I would be asked to run the next year since they felt sure one of the town official's daughters would be selected in 1954. Besides that, I had skipped grade 11, so should have been a senior in 1955. Sure enough, I was selected to run in 1955—and I won. There was a big meeting at the Community Building. Anyone that paid $2.00 to join the Watermelon Association could vote. This was all a lot of fun. My mother was so happy that I was selected.”
“We were invited to be on some T.V. Shows to promote the festival and I remember being on a show where the Texas Top Hands were playing and singing—the Bob Wills Show. He sang and played the mandolin. I remember they teased me and wanted me to sing with them but I cannot sing. I remember that they announced me as 'Pretty Little Minnie Pearl West from Stockdale.'”
“During 1955 my court rode in several parades and were in several other festivals. When you are 17 and 18, this is all lots of fun. Winning meant a lot to me since I was elected by the adults in town—and I was the first girl from a family without political ties or money to win. My picture was on the front page of the Flying Time Paper for airmen at Kelly A.F.B. The young airmen kept coming through the office I worked in to see me and say hello!!”
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