| Wouldn’t this be a nice place in which to live? So thought Charles
Morrison and Eunice Blanche (Holmes) King while driving through the city
of Coleman in August of 1944. We were so impressed with the wide
streets and the neat appearance of Coleman that we stopped to inquire about
vacancies in the school system. Charles was elected principal of
South Ward Elementary School, which included grades one through eight at
that time. I was assigned grade five on the West Ward campus.
There were thirty-five lively fifth-graders in my home room. We had
moved there from Barnhart where we had taught for one year. Before
that, Charles had taught at Mereta his first five years. After one
year at West Ward, I moved to South Ward, remaining there for seventeen
and a half years.
In 1954 Charles became principal of the Junior High School where he
remained until his resignation in May 1967. During our twenty-three
years of residence in Coleman we became parents of two children, Janis
Adelle, born November 2, 1946 and Damon Charles, November 29, 1953.
In February 1965 Janis married James Edward Lawrence, son of W. H. and
Prebble (Dixon) Lawrence (see H. N. Lawrence). Damon married Pamela
Kay Prothro in June 1977. They make their home in Garland.
Charles, Damon and I moved to El Paso in June 1967 to teach in the schools
there. After a bout with cancer, Charles died January 28, 1972, his
body was laid to rest in Coleman. I retired in May 1979, after thirty-five
years as teacher and librarian. In September of that year, I returned
to Coleman. This is a great place in which to live. There are
so many opportunities for volunteer service in the community. Sometimes
I wonder how I ever found time to work!
Charles was born in Runnels County, near Norton, July 12, 1917, son
of Bennett Rueben and Mattie (Yarborough) King, both deceased and buried
in Comanche. Eunice Blanche was born in Sweetwater, Alabama, December
16, 1918. She moved with her parents, five brothers and one sister
to Comanche County in 1922. The sixth brother was born in the Duster
community. Her parents were J. D. and Callie Elizabeth (Ford) Holmes
who are now deceased and buried in De Leon.
(Images to be added)
Eunice, Charles, Janis and Damon King, July 1962.
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