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Florine Hankla

Female 1920 - 2009  (88 years)


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  • Name Florine Hankla  [1
    Born 19 Dec 1920  Geneva, Sabine County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Female 
    Died 5 Dec 2009  Austin, Travis County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • Florine Hankla Ramsey

      Florine Hankla Ramsey was born in Geneva, Sabine County, Texas on December 19, 1920 and died December 5, 2009 in Austin, Texas. She was the third of four children born to Samuel Flournoy and Elma Smith Hankla.

      She found the love of her life when she married Ben Ramsey, an attorney and Texas State Senator from San Augustine, in 1943. They were married in Boulder, Colorado, where she was a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder. They honeymooned on a road-trip back to San Augustine through Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, using precious gasoline ration coupons given to them by friends and family as wedding gifts.

      While she loved Austin and resided there for most of her adult life, her roots were in East Texas. She maintained a home in San Augustine and continued to vote there for the rest of her life. She attended Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches, North Texas State College in Denton as well as the University of Colorado at Boulder. She taught first through third grade in a one-room schoolhouse in San Augustine County.

      Florine was a proud member of the Ezekiel Cullen Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and her ancestors were early settlers in Sabine County in East Texas.
      She grew up on a farm where every meal was made from scratch and learned from her mother to be a masterful cook and baker. She even gave renowned cookbook author and teacher, Helen Corbitt (director of food service for Neiman Marcus, the Driskill Hotel and The University of Texas), a few tips and recipes. To this day, a meat processing company in Austin still uses her recipe for making the best venison sausage ever. Florine loved to travel and for more than 50 years was part of a monthly poker group.

      For more than 30 years, Florine was a political wife: when Ben was a State Senator, Texas Secretary of State, Lt. Governor of Texas, and Railroad Commissioner for the State of Texas. She cut an elegant and stylish figure at the Capitol and was known throughout her life for being smart, witty and charming. You could just as easily find her beautifully attired in a ball gown or up on the roof of their home repairing a shingle. She was one of the lucky few able to call the Texas State Capitol home, living in the Lt. Governor's apartment for more than a decade with her family. She recalled having to haul groceries through the chamber when the Senate was in session. She was the longest serving member of the Senate Ladies Club having joined in 1944.

      She is preceded in death by her parents; by her brothers Randolph and Jim Hankla; and by her beloved husband of 41 years, Ben Ramsey. She is survived by her older sister, Ernestine Hankla Henry, of Nacogdoches; by her three daughters: Rita Ramsey Kreisle and husband Matthew of Austin; Ann Hankla Ramsey of San Augustine; and MariBen Ramsey and partner Karen Kahan of Austin; by her only grandchild, Claudia Ramsey Kreisle of Houston; and by many nieces and nephews.

      Services will be held at the First United Methodist Church in San Augustine, Texas on Tuesday, December 8 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Florine and Ben Ramsey Scholarship Fund at the San Augustine Scholarship Foundation, PO Box 671, San Augustine, TX 75972, to the Austin Community Foundation, P.O. Box 5159, Austin, TX 78763 (www.austincommunityfoundation.org) or to a charity of your choice.

      Arrangements by Wyman Roberts Funeral Home, San Augustine

      Published in the Austin American Statesman on December 6, 2009

      Published in The Sabine County Reporter, December 9, 2009

      Published in The San Augustine Tribune, December 19, 2009
    Person ID I34747  Strong Family Tree
    Last Modified 17 Aug 2014 

    Father Samuel Flournoy Hankla,   b. 22 Dec 1879, Sabine County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Jul 1966, Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 86 years) 
    Mother Lula Elma Smith,   b. 23 Sep 1895, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Jan 1964, San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 68 years) 
    Family ID F10937  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Ben T. Ramsey,   b. 28 Dec 1903, San Augustine County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Mar 1985, Austin, Travis County, Texas Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years) 
    Married Abt 1943  Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Living
     2. Living
     3. Living
    Last Modified 17 Dec 2009 
    Family ID F5805  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 19 Dec 1920 - Geneva, Sabine County, Texas Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - Abt 1943 - Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 5 Dec 2009 - Austin, Travis County, Texas Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Sources 
    1. [S336] The Sabine County Reporter, P.O. Box 700, Hemphill, Texas (Published Weekly), (Founded in 1883, The Sabine County Reporter (USPS 474-660) is published once a week on Wednesday. The Reporter is Published by Sabine County Reporter, Inc. Postmaster: Send change of address to P.O. Box 700, Hemphill, Texas 75948-0700. The Sabine County Reporter and The Rambler merged March 1, 1988. Member National Newspaper Association and Texas Press Association.), December 9, 2009 (Reliability: 3).