Living

Grover married Vivian Marybell Stafford on 19 Apr 1954 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. Vivian (daughter of Leonard Jesse Stafford and Belle Adeline Hills) was born on 29 Apr 1919 in Humble, Harris County, Texas; died on 3 Apr 1988 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Marybell S. Dismuke

Marybell S. Dismuke, age 68, of Austin, died Sunday, April 3, 1988, at her home.

Born April 29, 1919 in Humble, Texas, she was the daughter of Leonard and Bell Hills Stafford. After graduating from Pasadena High School and Sam Houston State University, she taught in Texas public schools for several years. Later, she held secretarial and administrative positions with Morgan-Lindsey Department Stores, the San Jacinto Monument and Museum, Greyhound Bus Company, the office of the late Governor Allan Shivers, and the Texas Legislative Council. Beginning March 1, 1963, she served as executive director of Texas Civil Judical Council and then became executive secretary of the Texas Office of Court Administration. She retired from the latter position on December 31, 1979, to glowing tributes from members of the judiciary and court personnel state-wide.

She was married to Grover Richard Dismuke April 19, 1954, and he preceded her in death March 27, 1986.

Survivors are a son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Steven, Janice and Cassandra Lynn Dismuke of Pflugerville; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Ralph and Wynnogene Stafford and Eulas and Sylvia Stafford, all of Pasadena; and several other sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

She was a member of Walnut Creek Baptist Church.

Services will be at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, April 5, 1988, in the Colonial Chapel of Cook-Walden Funeral Home, with Brother Kenneth Thompson officiating.

Pallbearers will be Anton Mogonye, John Bullock, Bob Delph, Harold Wells, Tom Harris, and Tommy Swearingen.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Walnut Creek Baptist Church, the American Cancer Society, or the charity of one's choice.

Arrangements by Cook-Walden Funeral Home, Lamar location.

(Obituary as published in the April 4, 1988 AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN).

Notes:

Art Peck writes that as a young married man, he farmed and raised cattle. Later he worked for Humbolt Oil in Humbolt, Texas. During World War II, he was employed at Todd Ship Yards. He returned to the Oil industry after the War, retiring from Shell Oil Company.

Volume 12 of the STRIFFLER-BENKELMAN BROADCAST, dated September 5, 1949, reported that he, along with his wife and youngest daughter, Marybell, attended the Spanish American War Veterans Convention on Amarillo.

The "Lowery plus" tree on Rootsweb instead has his place of birth as Marshall, Texas.

Leonard married Belle Adeline Hills on 20 Sep 1905 in Texas. Belle (daughter of Henry Cleveland Hills and Mary Magdalena Krapf) was born on 20 Sep 1887 in Lampasas, Lampasas County, Texas; died on 25 Sep 1969 in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

George married Lucinda Jane Belcher on 21 Jul 1854 in Calhoun County, Illinois. Lucinda was born about 1834 in Lawrence County, Illinois; died about 1882 in Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

His right arm was crippled due to being improperly set as a boy. He worked for a while as a teacher and as a house painter.

Henry married Mary Magdalena Krapf on 11 Oct 1873 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan. Mary (daughter of Johann Friedrich "Frederick" Krapf and Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman) was born on 18 Nov 1854 in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; died on 24 Mar 1934 in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Art Peck writes that Mary was the oldest in a large poor family, and early on went to work for others. She married Henry Hills when she was just 18, and didn't learn until years later that he was nineteen years older than she. He was a house painter when they met in Cass City. Due to Henry's poor health, they moved to the warmer climate of Texas. They moved about, and in 1902, they settled on a farm in Poinsett County, Arkansas. Henry died here, and Mary lived with various children throughout her remaining years. Her final years were spent with daughter Belle in Pasadena, Texas.