Marguerite was born on May 23, 1910 in Hico. She passed away on February 12, 1920. As I understand it, she died in a great diphtheria epidemic that took many lives at that time. I don't recall many stories about Marguerite, although I know her loss was devastating to the family.
Irvin was the oldest boy. He was born on January 26, 1912. Irvin never married. He served in the South Pacific in the army during World War II. Once he told me about the sinking of a ship he was on. He was in the water several hours before he was rescued. He acted as if it were a small thing.
I especially remember him coming to our house, when we lived at Elmdale, shortly after the war. He was looking for work in Abilene and I think he probably did work there a short time. He told us stories about the South Pacific.
I remember Irvin bringing home a bottle of rum one night. I don’t know where he got it. Abilene was dry at the time, but I suppose it wasn’t too hard to find a bootlegger. Anyway, I was curious about the taste of the rum. He let me taste it and I thought it was about the awfulest thing I ever put in my mouth and it pretty well cured me from ever wanting to drink anything alcoholic. To this day I’ve never liked the taste of any alcoholic drink. It’s just as well. It’s one temptation I don’t have to deal with. Irvin worked as a night watchman in Fort Worth after World War II.
I don’t think Irvin ever knew it, but he helped me get my first full time preaching job. Upon graduation from Abilene Christian, I received an invitation to interview for a pulpit opening at Rosebud, Texas. Mama thought it would be a good time to visit her parents. Hico was on the way so I took her down on Saturday, planning to leave early Sunday morning for Rosebud. When I got up on Sunday morning, I realized that I didn’t have a tie. I had a nice suit, but I needed a tie. These were the days when people still dressed up for church, and you weren't going to get a preaching job without a tie.
Irvin was neither a churchgoer nor a fashion trendsetter but he came to the rescue. He told me that he had some ties and I could pick out any one I wanted. He brought out several four-inch wide ties that had been in style in the late forties. This was 1957 and thin ties were in. But I didn’t know what else to do. He had a brown solid tie that seemed to match my suit, so I thanked him and headed for Rosebud. I felt like I was probably getting off on the wrong foot, but I got the job and nobody said a word about the tie, then or later. I drove back to Hico after the Sunday evening service and spent the night. When I returned the tie to Irvin, he very graciously offered to let me keep it. I accepted his gift but I never wore it again.
Irvin died of Lung cancer at the VA hospital in Temple in July 6, 1972.
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