The Ellaville Sun Friday, Sept. 23, 1938 No. 13 SCHLEY SLANTS by Raymond Duncan A BROKEN DATE Miss Mandy Rooks won't be able to keep a date she made with me for May 8, 1943---her 100th birthday. She passed on peacefully late Saturday from Time into Timelessness. No girl in the glory of her teens ever made a date with more wistfulness than Mrs. Rooks did, this one on her 95th birthday more than four months ago. She hesitated----with a pause significant that she realized the sand in the hour glass was running low---and said she'd better not make it ............. for she "might not be here." I countered that no matter what the calendar claimed she couldn't be so very old because her eyes were "as bright as a school girl's." And they were----blue, clear and expressive. She laughed with feeling and said I was flirting with her ................ but the weight of the years seemed to lift a little for a moment and she said she would "try" to see me five years from that day. I wrote two stories about her. The first time I went for an interview and found myself making an old fashioned neighbor's visit. The next time I did not confuse the visit with an interview. She was that sort of person. And any one whose way of living calls for them to interview people in all walks of life understands the rarity of this. She recalled tender memories of a happy yesterday, expressed thanksgiving for a contented today and said brave words about the future. I asked her to talk about "the war" and she did for several unwilling minutes. What she wanted to talk about was her romance. Of a bitter December day in 1872 when she was married and of how gloriously happy they were. "We lived in a little house made of split logs with a stick-and-mud chimney for about a year, but I was happier then than I've ever been." She was rapt when she talked of not being afraid to die. I do not recall hearing anyone say such things with more sincerity. That is why long after that broken date is passed I shall remember her as typifying the spirit of the real people who have made our country what it is ......... people who share a genuine love that builds happy homes and never dies, people who are grateful for their infinite blessings, people who live close to God and die that way---the spirit of a people that I hope shall never perish from the earth. BIRTHDAY REGARDS Birthday greetings to Sarah Wilson, Sept. 12; the Rev. J.E. Channell, Sept. 23, Walter Jones, Jr., Sept. 24. FINAL TRIBUTE PAID MRS. W.A. ROOKS, 95 Funeral services for Mrs. Amanda Rooks, who died peacefully late Saturday afternoon at her home in County Line community in her 96th year, were conducted from the Ellaville Methodist Church Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Burial was in the local cemetery. The aged woman, who became 95 years old on May 8---Mother's Day, had been ill for two weeks and in declining health for an extended period. "I just sit here ...... but I feel no misery, no pain," said "Miss Mandy" on her last birthday. She walked with difficulty requiring assistance of a cane and a companion, but enjoyed fine health. Lack of appetite was her chief complaint. A native of Chambers county, Alabama, she was born in 1843----when John Tyler was president, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Lunsford. Her father was a captain in the was of 1812, and her maternal grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. While she was still a child her parents moved to Sumter county, Georgia, now a part of Terrell. She was married to Timothy Rooks, a veteran of the War Between the States, on Dec. 10, 1872. He died in July, 1930, being active in farming until the time of his death. Mrs. Rooks united with the Methodist church when she was 24. Infirmities prevented her attending worship during her last years but she enjoyed the radio services. She kept her clock on daylight savings time to avoid confusion with the radio programs. The Rev. L.D. Shippey, pastor of the County Line Methodist church, and the Rev. W.S. Johnson, pastor of Ellaville Methodist church, officiated at the funeral. Pallbearers were grandsons-in-law: Jake Smith, Joseph Duke, Ernest Hutchins, Howard Greene, Elton Robinson and Clarence Smith. Surviving are five children, three sons and two daughters---Mrs. Dora Young, with whom she made her home, and Mrs. Sallie Salter, Plains; W.A. Rooks of Birmingham, Ala., Joe Rooks of Andersonville and John Rooks of Georgetown; 33 grandchildren, including a set of twins, and 26 great-grandchildren. GILL THREAT FOR CROWN Ellaville Boy May Fight District Champion Julian "Possum" Gill, hard-hitting Ellaville boxer who has risen from obscurity to a top flight scrapper in four fights, today stands in line as the logical contender for the 135-pound "Golden Gloves" district crown held by W.T. Johnson of Americus. Victorious in his first fight a few months ago, Gill was impressive in winning what was billed as a "grudge" fight with George Whitten of Americus. Following in the wake of this victory, he won a knockout decision in Americus and a close three round decision in Atlanta on an amateur card. Gill's most recent conquest is a one-round knockout over T.C. Tidwell, highly touted Cordele fighter, last week. Showing plenty of speed and snaky lefts and rights, "Possum" worked the Cordeleian into position for a devastating right cross that floored him instantly. The bell saved Tidwell on the count, but he failed to return for the second round. Unable to find an opponent who could cope with the hard-hitter from Ellaville and being in the same fix with Johnson of Americus, promoter Tommy Hooks III has decided to attempt a match of his two best scrappers in an intra-camp fight. MR. J.A. CHAPMAN IS HONORED ON EIGHTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY Mr. J.A. Chapman celebrated his eighty third birthday anniversary Sunday and was honored with a surprise birthday dinner. The guests assembled in the back yard where the table was placed. Centering the table was a lovely white birthday cake decorated with pink candles. The guests enjoying the picnic lunch were Dr. and Mrs. Horace Yarborough and daughters, Rosa and Marily, Mrs. Grady DeVane and daughter, Virginia, of Columbus, Mrs. Lily DeVane and Mrs. Bill Watkins of Albany, Mr. and Mrs. L.S. Tondee and son, Jack, Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Chapman and son, Jimmy and Miss Mary Tondee. DELIGHTFUL WEINER ROAST IS ENJOYED Those enjoying a weiner roast at the home of Jane Hill Saturday night were Warren Battle, Pep Perry, Geta Murray, Jane Carter, Susanne Wilson, Bob Hill, Mary Burnam Williamson, Jacqueline Rigsby, Ann Stevens, Hazel Ellis, Sara Stringfellow, Gwendolyn Miles, Inez Williams and Miss Geraldine Knighton. end # 13