Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Help update the info in the Three Couples -Lottie

I have posted a document David sent me from Aunt Lottie about when she and a bother and sister got married and moved to Oregon in 1948.

The trip to Oregon yielded more results than expected. Namely me, and two of my cousins, Lynda and Wayne. Wayne wasn't born till they returned to Texas. I am guessing the trip must have lasted the better part of a year.

Please read The Three Couples at Ragknot@blogspot.com if you are interested. I want to get this updated to include the families and children of the The Couples at least. And if possible please add more of Lottie's brother's and sisters. Add your own Chapter if you can. This is a good beginning, but I could tell Lottie was running out of wind near the end.

For those who don't know, Lottie was one of the youngest of a dozen brothers and sisters.

Please forward to other members of your family. I need all the help I can get.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Three Couples

This is a short document my aunt wrote about herself, her sister and brother. It begins over 60 years ago, when they got married and moved to Oregon, around 1948. I wish I could format this better. I am inviting my cousins to edit and update. Add notes about your family, birthdays, where you lived and anything else you want. I will keep everyone who wants to help updated and repost this as progress is made. (Request a document via email, update it and email back)
/ Harrell Joe

Ragknot@gmail.com


The Three Couples
By: Lottie Brown

In Loving Memory
Charles “Sonny” Brown (Lottie’s Husband)
Harrell & Evelyn Geron (Evelyn was Lottie’s sister)
Billy Mark Geron (Fourth son of Evelyn, killed by lightning at the age of six)
Harvey & Myrtle Young (Harvey was Lottie’s brother)



Typed by David K. Geron and David Josh Geron, March 6, 2010
Edited by Harrell Joe Geron

On October 5, 1948 Three Couples of the Young family left Roscoe, Texas to seek a better opportunity for making a living.
One couple was in a pick-up truck with some kitchen appliances and some household goods in the back with a tarp over a wooden frame covering it. A bed was as atop other belongings. The other two couples were traveling in a sedan with earthly goods packed in and mattress over these in the back seat for bedding. California was our destination. Evelyn and Harrell Geron were leaving a drought-stricken crop of cotton in Mitchell County on a rented farm with high hopes for an improved livelihood to provide more for the child she was finally bearing after six years of marriage. Harvey D. and Myrtle were also expecting a child. They had only been married a couple of years. He had worked Oil Field related jobs around Abilene. Lottie and Sonny (Charles) Brown had only been married five months.

The first night we camped and made open fires and cooked simple meals near Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the second night we were near Flagstaff, Arizona. When we got to Salinas, California, we stopped at a Post Office to find the location of our sister's address. None of us had telephones.

A distinguished gentleman leaving the post office (which was already closed for the day) was kind enough to explain how to get to the area the address indicated and offer some efforts. We found Verna Ruth and Carl's house. It was a partially completed house in the sand hills north in a community called Prundale. After a few days a tent was secured and parts of our ''stuff'' was unloaded. Evelyn's butane cook stove was set up and food items inside the tent with mattresses on top of other boxes of clothes, etc. Harvey D. and Myrtle slept in the back seat of the car, Evelyn, Harrell, and Sonny and me sharing the tent. . The weather was damp compared to dry West Texas and there were sand fleas which attacked our flesh and seemed to relish Harvey's body or blood. He suffered their bites after a few days with little rest he and Myrtle decided to take another move and went to another sister’s place in Oregon.
Temporarily before we and Evelyn and Harrell also headed to Oregon on November 1. . Harvey had gotten a job driving a truck on a maintenance project where Clarence (brother-in-law),our sister's husband worked but the Winter weather caused a ''shut down'' of it. He and Myrtle were living beside Valeta and Clarence in a mobile home where they continued to live as long as they were in Oregon (to my knowledge). . Valeta and Clarence were renting a large (32' X 16') Tent with half of it floored. They had already bought a lot near it where they later built a house of their own. The unfloored half became a bed room for Evelyn & Harrell & Sonny & me as well. Thanksgiving brought J.B. and Grace with our parents (Joseph Bruno and Ollie Young) to visit at this tent location. By this time I was vomiting and nauseated constantly due to pregnancy. Before Christmas Evelyn & Harrell purchased a lot and Sonny and I put up a 9 'X 9' tent on their lot and they in time put up a house with outside walls, enough to live in. Most families had wood burning heat since wood is plentiful however the butane for Evelyn's apartment range was very expensive. Sonny and I bought a two burner kerosene cook stove for our tent. No electricity until February for Evelyn & Harrell.

When Evelyn’s labor pains began, Harrell took Evelyn in a row boat across the river to St Joseph Hospital where Harrell Joe Geron was born. Jan 21, 1949. On February, 19, 1949 Lynda Young was born to Harvey D and Mrytle Young.

In 1950 joining lots was purchased by Harrell & Sonny on Tonkawa Street in Sweetwater, a coin was tossed as who got the corner lot, Sonny did. While they were working & going to school each built a 2 room house on the property. Margie Geron was born in 1950 to Evelyn and Harrell. After the school was completed they rented a building and put in business for making car seat covers in Winters, Texas. The town was a oil town with housing scare. They commented on week-ends home for a time then Sonny withdrew from partnership & Evelyn moved into the back part of the business, they sold house in Sweetwater. From there i'm not sure of families history.
Harvey and Myrtle came back but I'm not aware of their years until they were back & Harvey was working at U.S.G. sometime later. Patsy Ruth was born November 25, 1950 Cathy Jean was born December 14, 1957e ach at Sweetwater. . Harrell & Evelyn had a a shop in Portales, New Mexico at some point then farmed near Muleshoe. Evelyn worked in town at one time there. Sonny worked for Blair's Upholstery shop, then Texas Electric then we moved to Odessa, he worked as a carpenter until the Polio epidemic they scared us, so we returned to Sweetwater. On December 16, 1951 Sonny went to work at Lone Star Cement. Doris was born in August 1952. We added 2 rooms to the house on Tonkawa & sold it and moved to Maryneal a while for 3 years, rented land joining U.S.G. and moved to to a little house near the Rocket drive-in theater. Then after Sonny quit Cement Plant due to lung problems he expected were related to cement dust. He worked at Tye Air Base a few months. In early 1957 Harrell rented a farm

Fourteen miles from Snyder, Harrell and Sonny bought a Ferguson tractor and we moved back to partner with them. We knew it was just a one year deal. By this time we had 4 cows, one was from our daddy's herd we valued, a registered jersey. The crops were good; however a storm when cotton was mature caused a lot of damage. Billy was born that year. . We moved to a rented Haney farm near Roscoe in 1958. Sonny worked at gins during harvest then bought farm South of Champion in 1960. Elaine was born in 1960 and Jeana in 1961. Each of the children graduated from Highland High School. Wayne married Danna Oglesby in December 1969. . In the early 1950's (Evelyn and Harrell farmed near Longworth a few years. I'm not sure when) Evelyn & Harrell bought a house at 2012 Douglas. Then moved to a farm (Sidney Johnson's) (spoken of above) David was born in 1953 in Sweetwater Billy in 1956 in Snyder. I'm not sure if Evelyn & Harrell moved to Sweetwater or Roscoe from Snyder. He worked at Lone Star Cement Plant, I think some at Webb Air Base. They bought a farm on the Dorn Road. Harrell Joe and Margie graduated from Westbrook High School.

Note to add:
Before I, (Harrell Joe) started school, we lived in Sweetwater in a home next door to Sonny and Lottie, somewhere in the South East of Sweetwater. We also lived in Roscoe for a time. While I was In the first grade, we lived on Douglas Street in Sweetwater. We moved to a farm North of Sweetwater, then to Muleshoe, then to Snyder then back to Sweetwater again, then to Westbrook when I was in the sixth grade. When we lived in Synder, it was a huge stone house an Harrell and Evelyn lived downstairs and Sonny and Lottie lived upstairs.


Evelyn passed away in May, 1969 Billy Mark was struck by lightning May 5, 1962.

Harvey and Myrtle had a house in Sweetwater, just one block west of Tonkawa Street, (Hiawatha Street). Patsy and Cathy was born in Sweetwater. Harvey moved with the USG paint plant to Euless. He passed away there and later Myrtle as well.

Lynda and Patsy both married there. Patsy divorced, is in living in Lubbock. Lynda had a son, divorced & married Kent and moved to California; Cathy followed where she married and lives now, Grass Valley. Lynda's son Craig.

Evelyn's children
Harrell Joe married Penny and live in Little River, Texas, They have five children, Evelyn (Eve) born July 19, 1972 in Dumas Tx, (mother was Pat). William Greenway (Bill) father was Brad, Christy Greenway (died of MS), Harrell Junior (Joey) Sept 4, 1986 and Lela Feb 6, 1987

Margaret Annette who married Mohammed Zaky

David Keith married to Carmen with four children David Adam, April Dawn, Christina Maria and David Josh

Carolyn Jane married to Randy Dean in Ingram, Texas and has four children Josh, Bo, Lacy, and Randi.


From Mohamed Zaky, Margie's husband
Harrell Joe,

First I really didn’t know about Penny’s daughter death until I saw your blog. Please pass my sorrows to Penny and Bill for their great loss.

Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.

My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.

I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.

On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.

The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.

I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.

In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.

My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.

In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.

In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.

In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.

In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.

Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.

Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.

Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.

Thanks

Mohamed Zaky