Born: January 12th, 1912
Died: March 9th, 2008
Services at First United Methodist Church Grand Prairie, Texas
The Baker Chapel
By: Paul A. Rowntree, Lucky Number Seven
“THE PICTURE ~ A Memory That Cannot Be Taken Away Because of this day.”
Good afternoon, my name is Paul Rowntree, Lucky Number Seven. I have always said that I’m lucky; I have always been lucky, true statement. Today, I want to alter that statement and say what I have always known. I am very blessed to have been born into the wonderful family.
For those in this room that have lived awhile, and have experienced this day, you understand. This day, a day in your life when you lose someone that is so dear and special to you. That day in your life when you lose someone that loved you, nurtured, and counseled you. That day in your life when you lose someone that you identify, they have influenced what you are and what you have become as a human being. That day in your life that you lose someone that has sacrificed for you and you know it. That day in your life that you lose someone that has said a prayer for you along your path. That day, that day in your life that you lose a parent, it penetrates the heart and sole. We are grateful to have a friend with us today.
This day for me has brought about a rush of memories, a flood of memories, hundreds of them, memories of Mother coming at me rapid fire. I want to make the distinction that they are my memories. I say that because I know my brothers and sisters, the grands and the greats, all have their own memories of Momee. That’s what we called her, our Momee, the Momee. I decided to share a couple of my memories with you today, as I think these memories will tell you what our mother meant to us and clearly reflect on who she was as a person. I ask that you look through these memories to the picture that resonates about our Mother. The picture of a strong, intelligent, independent woman/mother, a person of character, and values. Look for the picture that details what she meant to the family, and what she did for this family. Please hear the picture of my mother through my memories.
One of my earliest memories of Mom was as a 6 year old boy, a first grader. The family lived in Lampasas, Texas, central Texas. The family was home that evening and I was curled up in Mother’s lap. I had a permanent reservation for that lap, you see, I was the baby. I had looked up at Mom and said, “Mom, Mom, did you know that next week is open house at my school.” I remember, she smiled and said, “Sweetie, I knew that. I am planning on going to your open house, and I just can’t wait to meet your teacher.” I learned later she had known my teacher for years. I said, “Mom, would you wear your red dress? You know, it’s that red dress that you look so beautiful in. It’s the one you wear to church sometimes.” I remember that she squeezed me tight and leaned down and gave me a kiss; just a peck on the cheek. As she raised up, another peck on the forehead, and as she held me to her, she whispered in my ear. “Sweetie, how’d you know I was planning on wearing that red dress?”
I say to you all, it is a slice of time. As for me, it is the most special moment, the most special memory, a memory of a baby boy that simply adored his beautiful, beautiful mother. It is a memory that can not be taken away because of this day.
How about a memory of high school days? Everyone remembers something about high school days. You remember 16, 17 years old, that time in your life when your confidence exceeds your capacities, you just don’t know it. Well, when I was living here in Grand Prairie on North West 9th Street, I was sixteen, seventeen years old, and I would leave the house. I was leaving the house to go on a date, to be with a friend, just leaving the house. There was Mom! She would stop me at the front door, every time it seemed. I would turn around at the front door, and there she was. She was approaching me, she was addressing me, she was walking up to me, she was standing in front of me. There she was, short in stature. She would stop me for just a second, it did not take but a second. She would do and she would say the same thing every time; it did not vary, not a word. She would put her hands on my face, on my cheeks and she would look me square in the eyes, flash that precious smile, and then she would announce, “Son, you know son, Rowntree boys…. Rowntree boys are gentlemen.” I remember wanting to say,” Mom, I’m sixteen years old, I don’t want to be a gentleman”, but I would not say it to her, not to Mom, not a chance. It is just a sweet memory about a mother that expected good things from her children, a memory that cannot be taken away because of this day. You see the picture?
When I remember Mother, I think of how much fun she was, how funny she was, she just had a way about her. I remember that she made it clear to you when you reached adulthood, she made it clear, it is your deal. Mom put it to me like this. “Son I don’t have any interest in getting into your business, and I am not going to be trying to run your affairs. I can assure you that I will not be giving you advice at every turn, but I want you to always remember, Son, the Methodist Church has always served me well in my life, been there for me. I won’t be getting into your business, won’t be trying to run your affairs and won’t be giving you a lot of advice, but I believe that hot tea in the morning just might extend your life. Son, I won’t be getting into your business, won’t be trying to run your affairs and certainly won’t be offering a lot of advice, but I have learned that the smartest people,” she started laughing, “the smartest people”, she laughed harder, “the smartest people embrace the values of the democratic party” and then she just died laughing. It is just a sweet memory of a mother that had a way about her. The truth is other than those three things, it is your deal, you figure it out, it is time for you to fly. That’s the way she ran it, that is the way she did it. This is a memory that can not be taken away because of this day.
When I remember Mom, I think of the fact that she extended herself to them; more than that, she embraced them, more than that, she loved them. She loved them. The spouses, the spouses of her seven children, she loved them. They knew it, they felt it, they sensed it, and they loved her back. When I think of the Momee I remember how much the Momee loved my Beverly,…. like she was her own. And I know just how much my Beverly loved the Momee. I ask each of you. How lucky am I? A sweet memory that can not be taken away because of this day. You see the picture.
Mother was aware that time was growing short. Recently, maybe two years ago now, Mother and I were in her home, just the two of us. She said to me, “Son, I don’t have many contemporaries left, but if I have a few friends that want to come to my service, I want you to promise me now, that you want keep them too long. I remember that she sighed deeply that day, a long exhale, she shook her head in front of me and said, “I have had a long time to think about this one, Son, and I can’t think of another person that has lived a more charmed, a more blessed life than I have, …not one. And then as if to comfort me, she reached out and patted me on the arm, and said, “ After all son, do you know anyone else that is approaching 95 years old and living in their own home, sitting here talking to their baby of seven? Oh no,Son, you hear me now, when my day comes, I want no long faces, I just want you to get together. I want you to hold each other, I want you to love each other, and I want you to have a party. Son, your mother has lived one wonderful, wonderful, wonderful life.” Ladies and gentlemen, we intend to honor that request today.
Before I leave this podium today, I want to describe my mother to you. This is my description of her, my terms, my words, my phrases, my nouns, my adjectives, my description. I say that because I have not shared this with my brothers and sisters, but I know that they will agree with this description of our Momee.
Lucile Rowntree, in her heart, was one of the most loving, most caring, most sensitive people. She was so, so, gentle, so incredibly sweet, a compassionate soul, always. When you would see my mother, it made no difference when, always on her tongue, she wanted to talk about someone, it was always someone, someone, someone, someone else. It was always about someone else for her, someone in this community, someone else that was down, someone else that was troubled, someone else that was sick, someone else hurting, someone else ill, someone else that just needed a friend, that day. But it was always someone else for her. I tell you true, when I say the word self-centered simply did not apply to her. An incredible quality for sure.
Lucile Rowntree was so smart, so intelligent, unbelievably well read. She could talk to you about anything, anything. You pick the subject. My bet is that she knew a good bit about it. I always said she was just tuned in. She was, indeed, tuned in.
Lucile Rowntree was depression raised, that is the Great Depression raised. She was clearly tuned in politically. She was a life long, flag waving, back-slapping, parade leading, Yellow Dog Democrat. In her heart, in her soul, down to her toes, in her bones, she was clear and definitive about what government should be for the people. That sweet gentle natured sole, oh my, I have seen her become Clarence Darrell a few times. She was just too cool, too fun, she just had a way about her.
Lucile Rowntree loved a hat. She looked precious in a hat. Hot tea in the morning, every morning, cold Dr. Pepper on a hot summer day, regular, green cake, and M&M’s. I should have bought stock in M&M’s.
Lucile Rowntree was our family leader. Proud she was, proud of her roots. If she was here, she would say, ranching roots. Mother was born in Central Texas, north of Austin, Burnet County. Mother was born on the banks of the Rocky, ole Rocky she would call out, a beautiful rock bottom creek meandering through central Texas. Spectacular. Mother was born on the banks of the Rocky Creek. Just down the road is a one horse town called Oakalla, Texas. Do not blink, you will miss Oakalla, Texas. Our favorite nick name for Momee was Oakalle Lu, Oakalle Lucile. She would beam every time, as it would take her back, back to her roots, back to Rocky.
When I think of Mom, I remember the underpinning of love that she had for her siblings. Oh, my! Her big brother, just 5 years older, E. Babe Smith, Edgar Babe Smith, that would be Uncle Buddy to us. Mom always said,” Son ,your Uncle Buddy loved me so much, he took me everywhere with him, he took such care of me when I was young.” It was a life time of devotion and love for a big brother, as it should be.
I will suggest that the best friend of her life was her baby sister, just two years younger than Mom. Dorothy Smith, Dorothy Smith Lewis, Dottie Lewis, that would be Aunt Dottie to us. Mom and Aunt Dottie got such joy from being together. It was a lifetime of loving one another, of supporting one another, of dreaming, of praying, of hoping, of working , of living. It was just a loving family. Impressive.
If I had only four words to describe my mother, just four words to sum up a soul, four words that would encase what she was about at a core level, and if I could open up my Mothers heart and look inside, I believe that deep down in the lining and the fabric of her heart would be stitched these four words……SHE LOVED A CHILD. My mom’s life was about a child, always a child, any child, anywhere, anytime, any child, not just my children and not just the children of this family. My mother’s heart would shutter at the site of a child not loved, not tended, not cared for. Oh how many times have I heard her say? “Son, let’s talk here. What about the children, Son? Just what about the children?” I have always known that this family was the beneficiary of this priority in her life, and grateful for it.
And finally, my father, my daddy, John Thomas Rowntree married Annie Lucile Smith in October of 1930. Thirty-three Years of marriage and seven children, Dad left this world in his late 50’s, I was in high school. Mom had been widowed for forty-four years. He has been gone so long. Dad was a school teacher. I don’t think my father ever drew a breath as an adult that he did not shoulder the pressure, the strain, the stress of trying to make a living for this large family. While he has been gone a lifetime, I have never forgotten the way my father referred to my mother, his wife, his bride, the love of his life, the mother of his children. He did it the same every time when he would say, “Lucile Rowntree, she is my Grand Lady.” I hear that word and I think of her every time, you see, .she was. That she was.
I want to close today with one final memory that I believe completes the picture, the picture of the importance of our mother in our life. The setting occurred about ten or twelve years ago. Mom was suffering osteoporosis and back pain. My sister, Mary Kuhn and I delivered Mom to an orthopedic specialist to get her some relief, some help. My sister, Mary Kuhn went with Mom to the examination room. I stayed in the waiting room. The waiting room of a doctor’s office, you have been there. My eyes found the eyes of the people waiting for service and attention. You know the window. That is when I saw it, that is when I spotted it. Just to the left of the window in that room, there was a sign, a big sign, a huge sign, triple spaced, bold fonted. The sign had a title. I read it carefully, and slowly. It stuck for me. The title read, “Three Things That Will Insure Success and Happiness In Your Life”.
I remember it read, “Marry the Right Spouse”, I remember it said, “Work, Work at Something Worthy Of Your Time and Talent.” Ladies and gentlemen, I do not recount and recall this story, because of those two things, not at all. The reason that I tell this memory today, was that third thing, that third thing written on that wall that day. That third thing that set me back in my chair and brought tears to my face. That third thing that was reported to insure success and happiness in your life, read, “Don’t Ever Do Anything That Would Not Make Your Mother Proud.” I don’t mind saying that I sat there that day, a grown man, with tears rolling down my face. You see, I don’t know how many times, I have no way of knowing how many times, my precious mother looked me square and said to me, “Son, you just make me proud of you. Son, you just make me proud of you.” I have spent a my life trying to live up to that call. That always had value for me. It is crazy that at my age I would say that I still work at it today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t you see, my family sitting here, we have been stamped, stamped, stamped by the Momee. She would look us square and say, “Sweetie, you just make me proud of you, make me proud of you.”
HERE’S TO YOU MOMEE, HERE’S TO YOU. FOR WHAT YOU MEANT TO US AND FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR US.
Posts
