52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Week 3: Longevity

What did my grandmother, Pansy Louise (Lancaster) Johnston have in common with her uncle, William Hutson “Hutts” Loveless?

Living long lives.

Hutts lived 104 years.[1] Pansy lived to just one month short of 100 years.[2]

A party was hosted by Hutts’ daughter, Dorothy on his 100th birthday in Seminole, Texas.[3] Shortly before his death, the Seminole Sentinel had another article about Hutts. From the interview, we learned he drove until a year before, read the bible daily, loved writing poems and songs, and eating pizza and Mexican food.[4]



















My Mam-ma, Pansy, tried really hard to live to 100. We were planning a 100th Birthday Party and [5] even had a congratulatory letter from the President. But just a month and a half short of her birthday, her kidneys started failing and she went on hospice, passing away a couple of weeks later.

At the home where she lived, Pansy enjoyed playing bingo, handing out candy to fellow residents and staff, and embroidering designs on T-shirts, visits from her grandchildren. In her 60s and 70s, she had enjoyed playing tennis, playing cards with friends, and traveling. She bowled well into her 90s.


I will be pleased if I live as long!


[1] “Hutts Loveless,” Lubbock Online, http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/052598/044-0994.shtml, 25 May 1998.  
[2] California Department of Health Services, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, 001026075, Pansy Louise Johnston, Contra Costa Co, 2013.
[3] “W.H. Loveless Celebrates His 100th Birthday,” Seminole (Texas) Sentinel, 6 Mar 1994.
[4] “Still Running,” Seminole (Texas) Sentinel, 
[5] Pansy Louise "Joni" Johnston, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, California, 15 October 2013.

Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2018 at 8:36 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shelly Crossland ListerApril 22, 2019 at 2:29 PM

    Hello - I've read several of your posts and my daddy (Grady Crossland, son of Lynn Crossland & Dorothy Nell Loveless Crossland Lamm) found them very interesting. William Hutson Loveless, aka WH, Hutts, Hutsie (great Grandkids called him Grandpa Hutsie) & Josephine Hazel Lancaster Loveless, aka Jo (great Grandkids called her Nannie Jo) - we all loved them very much.
    Shelly Crossland Lister

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa S. GorrellApril 22, 2019 at 2:41 PM

      Thank you very much for visiting my blog. My grandmother, Pansy, was Dorothy's double cousin and she spoke lovingly of her. I am happy to hear what you all called Uncle Huts and Aunt Jo. Would love to hear more!

      Delete
  3. Shelly Crossland ListerApril 22, 2019 at 6:40 PM

    Hi Lisa - I believe you were interested in a photo of my Nanny Jo. This is on Ancestry & I believe it is her wedding photo (I will search for more photos). She was always such an elegant, proper and beautiful lady. Such a lovely soul - everyone loved Nanny Jo. Check out this photo I found on the Ancestry mobile app
    https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/16388034?h=c8243d


    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All comments on this blog will be previewed by the author to prevent spammers and unkind visitors to the site. The blog is open to other-than-just family members particularly those interested in family history and genealogy.

Popular posts from this blog

Last One Standing: Reginald F. Lancaster

Image
It is important to document the lives of those who left no descendants. I have been researching and writing as much as I can about family members who either never married or who married but had no children. They have no descendants who will do the research or even take DNA tests. But they will not be forgotten. Reginald F. Lancaster, my second great-uncle, was the son of George Wilson Lancaster and Martha Jane Polly. He was born 22 July 1887 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, the fifth child of six. [1] His parents divorced when he was five. [2] His father moved back to Texas and Reggie probably never saw his father again. Reggie’s mother married Noah Flood Parks in 1893 and he grew up with two younger half-sisters. Sometime in the early 1900s, the family moved to Imperial County, California, to do farming. When Reggie registered for the draft, he was working at ranching. At age 29, he was of medium height and weight and had blue eyes and brown hair. He was still single. [3] I have
Read more

John Coor of Copiah County Made an Agreement with Joel Hoggatt

Image
This week at RootsTech 2024, FamilySearch announced a new feature that an every-word search was available for U.S. deeds and probates. It is still in the trial mode and can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/ . This is the search screen. It clearly states it is for US land and probate records and Mexico notary records. You can do a keyword search or if you click on the “more options” you can add a name. My Find I immediately gave it a try and searched first for records of the COOR family using the keyword search. Up first came deeds from Wayne County, North Carolina.  At the top, you can filter using record year, record type, record place, and collection. For the past few days, I have mainly filtered by record place. I filtered down to Mississippi. You can even filter to the county. The first entry was a document I had not seen before. It was an 1826 agreement between John Coor and Joel Hoggatt to build a set of grist and sawmills. John Coor is my 4x-great-grandfath
Read more

Locating the Comic Book that Named My Great-Uncle

Image
Have you ever thought to look for an ancestor in a comic book? Many years ago, while speaking with my grandmother, she told me that a comic book had been written about her brother, Rayburn D. (R.D.) Lancaster while he was serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II. I thought that interesting and tried several times to locate this comic book in comic book stores. However, none of the proprietors knew what I was talking about. These stores were more focused on superhero comics. R. D. Lancaster enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 14 January 1942 as an aviation cadet. He was twenty-one years old. [1] He trained in Chickasha, Oklahoma. When he wrote home, he said he had acquired the nickname “Rip.” During his first solo flight, in checking his parachute, he noticed a string and upon pulling on the errant string, caused him to be lifted several feet off the ground. [2] Fast forward in time, a fellow volunteer at the History Center where I volunteer is an avid fan of comic books, so
Read more