Blog 157 Best by…Use by…Goodbye…and other musings

Grocery stores have it right. Some items you pick up have a Best By date stamped in tiny letters that are hard to find. Other items have a Use By date.

Best By: My idle mind wondered what it would mean if we all had a Best By stamped on us at birth. When was I at my best? Definitely not my twenties—too callow—or my thirties, when maturity was just setting in. Forties was once considered middle age, though it is probably late fifties these days. When has my life been fullest, and I felt that I that I was giving my best to my family and giving back to humanity? This is something I continue to ponder.

Use By: Perhaps we should maybe have a Use By date attached to us. Does there come a time in our life when we are all used up but we hang around anyway? What more do we have to give. I live in a retirement community. While it is a vibrant place, I look at those around me and think that at this age, we are just hanging around waiting for the next chapter. I am pleased with the life I have lived, although I read the obituary of a friend this morning and thought that I have contributed very little to society in comparison.

Goodbye: With the spate of returned emails after the last email blast to the class, I spent a little time online searching for news of lost classmates. Here is what I found.

Bettye Sue Conrad Dube: Died 8-21-2020. No other information was available. I do know that she had been in an assisted living or memory care unit after Billy Dube died unexpectedly early that year. To my knowledge, she had no close living relatives when she died.

Patsy Brown Hutchinson: I knew Patsy from third or fourth grade, as we both grew up in Travis Park Methodist. Patsy was one of our nine graduates with a perfect straight A record. She was not a “big” name in our class—rarely saw her at parties or dances. She surprised a lot of people when she and Val Hutchinson (Jeff ’53) were married. It made the newspaper, as they hired a small plane and held the ceremony while circling over the city. Someone told me that in addition to Patsy and Val, there was the minister (possibly Paul Medley) and the pilot present. Val was a doctor, and they lived in Amarillo or Borger. Her obituary is here.

Patricia Hutchinson

(November 20, 1935 – July 26, 2020)

Patricia “Patsy”  Hutchinson went to the arms of her Lord, July 26, 2020 in Borger.

Patsy was born November 20, 1935 in San Antonio, Texas to Raymond Kenneth Brown and Emma Lou (Grona) Brown.

Patsy was an office manager in the medical field. She was a member of St. music and children’s ministry. She was a Sunday School teacher and played the handbells at her church.

Preceding her in death were her husband, Dr. Val Hutchinson, Jr.; a son, Val Hutchinson,III and her parents.

Left behind to cherish her memory are 2 daughters: Kathi Dixon and husband Duncan of Boerne, Texas and Neva Gage of Borger; grandchildren: Kenneth and Justine Sharp of Lorton, Virginia, Hallie Angenend of Borger, Keely and Ricardo Valdez of Boerne, Texas and Keith Dixon of Boerne, Texas; great grandchildren: Elise Blakemore of Borger, Sabrina Valdez of Boerne, Texas and Wyatt Sharp (to be born in October) of Lorton, Virginia; a special daughter, Tammy Wilson of Pert, Texas; special sons: Brandon Blakemore of Borger and Michael Nowak of Amarillo.

A Memorial Service will be held August 3, 2020 at 11:00 AM at Brown’s Chapel of the Fountains, 206 W. 1st Street, Borger.

Dorothy Kaak: I don’t recall knowing Dorothy at Jeff. I am sorry I have no memories to relate.

Dorothy Howard

Feb 21, 2022

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SPRING BRANCH — Dorothy Kaak Howard, 85, of Spring Branch, Texas passed away on February 14, 2022. Dorothy was born on July 8, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas to parents Albert and Dorothy (Hicklin) Kaak.

Dorothy worked at a chemical refinery.

She is preceded in death by her parents and daughter, Denise Howard.

Left to cherish his memory is her daughter, Donna Jackson and husband, Bruce Alexander; granddaughter, Samantha Copeland and great grandson, Talom Gutierrez

A visitation will be held at Crowder Funeral Home in Dickinson on Friday, February 18, 2022 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

There will be a graveside service on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 1:00 pm at Forest Park East Cemetery in Webster, Texas.

Dorothy Lovelace Lay: Dorothy was a most interesting individual. Like Dorothy Kaak, Dorothy Lovelace and I were not acquainted at Jeff. From her obituary and from the notes she sent for our class history, she is someone I would have liked to know. I doubt few knew her because she was married as a sophomore and had a child. She said that T. Guy Rogers kept her from being expelled because of her child, allowing her to attend half days. She had a close relationship with her advisor, Mrs. Lloyd, saying she could talk about raising a child. I will include the bio she sent in 2015 here before her obituary. We have no photo available.

From our class history: 1974 Children: I became a school secretary after my children were all in school. Tommy was a career serviceman in the Air Force and we lived in Taiwan and Afghanistan, we
also lived in Washington, D. C., California and Georgia. I took college courses whenever available and hope to get a degree to teach high school English when I can find the time. I teach a college and career class in Sunday School, like to read and sing in the choir.” 1984 BA from SWTSU, MPA from UT. Married while a sophomore at Jefferson; traveled a lot as an Air Force wife; attended school everywhere I could. Worked for Consumers Union in Austin where I was involved in the SW Bell-PUC case. Currently an analyst in city of Austin’s budget office. I enjoy backpacking, canoeing, bicycling. Ambitions: fly an ultralight; become head of a city department or city manager, live to be
100

DOROTHY LAY OBITUARY

Dorothy Jean Lay (Lovelace) died peacefully in her sleep on 8/27/2018, aged 82. Dorothy was a strong, keen, willful, charming, risk taker. She hiked the Appalachian Trail (2,174 miles), paddled solo up the Big Bend’s Santa Elena Canyon at flood stage, and was an avid cyclist. She had lived in Taiwan and Afghanistan. Dorothy eloped and was married at age 14 because, as she said, “Saint Paul says it’s better to marry than to burn and I was burning.” She had her first child at 17. Dorothy never graduated middle or high school. She attended The University of Maryland. She finished her Bachelor’s degree at Texas State University. She was admitted to LBJ School of Public Affairs, where she earned her Masters. She had math anxiety so, naturally, she chose to study government accounting because “if it isn’t hard, it isn’t fun.” She and former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan became friends and traveled together for several years. Dorothy served as a budget analyst for the City of Austin and the Combined City and County Health Department. Between adventures, she volunteered with Meals on Wheels and built trails with the Texas Trail Tamers. Dorothy is survived by Vick Roling Hines, her husband of 37 years. She has two sons, Ralph and Andy, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Sandra. A reception in Dorothy’s memory will take place from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, Saturday, December 1 at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Dr., Austin.

Lois Fuller: I did not know Lois. The yearbook says that she was a member of the Homemaking Club, Tom-Tows, Girls Sports Club, and Student Council.

LOIS MACHEN OBITUARY

Lois Faye Machen, 85, of Amarillo, passed away on January 29, 2022. No services are scheduled at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of Cox-Rowley Funeral Home.
Lois was born on May 10, 1936 in Panama City, Florida. She loved to golf and spend time in the mountains. Lois was an adventurer and even enjoyed riding motorcycles.
Lois was preceded in death by her parents, Pete and Fay Fuller and one son, Don Collier and her husband, Deryl Machen. Survivors include her son, Clay Collier and wife Leslie of Amarillo; two grandchildren, Brian Collier (Amanda Westbrook) and Kyla Collier (Nicholas Raburn) all of Amarillo.
To send flowers to Lois’ family, please visit our floral store.

If anyone can share a memory of those listed above, please do.

Feeling Old In 2023? This might be the reason why…  

– The Beatles split 49years ago.
– The movie, ‘Wizard of Oz’ is 84 years old.
– Elvis died 46 years ago. He’d be 88 today.
– Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video is 41 years old.
– Mickey Mantle retired 54 years ago.
– The movie, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is 48 years old.
– The Ed Sullivan show ended 52 years ago.
– The Corvette turned 70 years old this year.
– The Mustang is 59.

Till next time….