This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Lawson, Duke, Willis, Stagg, Hanks Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/WEB.2ACI/506 Message Board Post: At 6 p.m., October 13, 1994, 10 years ago today, my mother began eternity, in Heaven, with her Lord and Savior, Jesus. Ruth Lawson Duke Willis (born April 25, 1913; died October 13, 1994) by Randy Willis http://www.randywillis.org randywillis@ev1.net She was and is the best women I have ever known. Her life's motto was "I'd rather have Jesus." She raised five children with a spirit as pure as gold and a servant's heart. Mother had the rare gift of encouragement and always saw the best in people. The Bible says, speaking of the body of Christ, the Church, that it has many members; my mother was not the foot, ear nor eyes, symbolized in 1 Corinthians 12:12, but rather the heart that beat life into our family. She always advised us that the answer to our problems and the purpose of life was found in Christ and the Bible. She would have given us the shirt off her back, last crumb from her table and her life's blood without a moment's hesitation. What a honor and privilege it was to call her mom and to have known her tender council and unconditional love. I still, often ask myself, what would her advice be in this matter. Her homecoming in Heaven was October 13, 1994. She was a true Proverbs 31 women. She married her first husband, John Alex Duke (b. Dec. 1879) on Dec. 23, 1933. He was 54 and she was 20. He died Sept. 24, 1946 and is buried in Butter Cemetery near Forest Hill, Louisiana. John Alex Duke and my mother had four children and thus my half-brothers and half-sisters are: Johnnie Ruth Duke Guillory, Gerald "Jerry" Duke, John Alex "Buddy" Duke (d. May 8, 1995) and Marjorie Elaine Duke Eernisse. My mother then married my father, Julian Willis, on June 26, 1948. I am their only offspring. My mother's parents were Nina Ruth Hanks Lawson (b. Oct. 27, 1891; d. Jul. 16, 1962) and Robert "Bob" Severin Lawson (b. Mar. 25, 1868; d. 1941). They were married on February 12, 1908, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Nina was only 16 when they married, he was almost 40. Nina Ruth Hanks Lawson is buried in Butter Cemetery. Robert "Bob" S. Lawson is buried in Rougeau Cemetery, in an unmarked-grave. Robert "Bob" S. Lawson and Nina Ruth Hanks Lawson had five children: (1) Gladys Roberta Lawson (b. Feb. 19, 1909, Washington, LA., she married Joseph Corliss Rayon). (2) Robert "Buddy" Theodore Lawson (b. Mar. 3, 1911, Lecompte, LA., he married Opal Butter). (3) Mary Ruth (mother hated her middle name of Ruth) Lawson (b. Apr. 25, 1913, Lamourie, LA., she first married John A. Duke and after his death, my father, Julian E. Willis). She is buried at Butter Cemetery near Forest Hill, LA. (4) Julian "Pud" Henry Lawson (b. Jul. 15, 1915, Long Leaf, LA., he married Madaline Ashworth). He is buried in Rougeau Cemetery next to his father. (5) Helen Lawson (b. Jul. 1, 1917, Long Leaf, LA., died as an infant).