Details of Nora Worford Huston’s life recorded as a biography by Helen Bradford in Sept., 2002.
“The Bert Kings were leaders in the social life of the community. They did not allow Nora to attend the neighborhood dances, but she could play party games, such as “Skip to M’Lou,” and “The Miller Boy,” often by the light of lanterns hung in the neighborhood yards.
“Among the neighbors who shared the frequent ice cream socials were William Brown Worford, his wife Sarah, and their large family. William had come with his parents from Iowa as early as 1867, when he was 8 years old. He had married Sarah Hamon in 1880, and the couple had prospered in the area.
“The girls of the neighborhood were much aware of the handsome Barney Worford. He was the catch of the neighborhood, six years older than Nora. She remembers him as good-looking, well dressed, and well groomed, wearing white shirts. Besides, as the other neighbors said, “His father has money,” and that made him all the more attractive to the girls.
“Barney liked to hang presents on the Christmas tree for the neighborhood girls when the district gathered at the school for Christmas programs. Nora thinks it was in 1915, when she was 14, that he hung one on the tree for her. It was a pin, or brooch, set with an attractive but inexpensive stone. Then soon he began to center his attention on her.
“They saw each other at the play parties and ice cream socials. Many of the latter were held at the King home. Nora remembers driving with her elders to town, where they bought a big chunk of ice. Barney Worford frequently offered his services in tamping down the salt and crushed ice and cranking the freezers.
“Nora says she “gave it deep thought” and considered long and seriously Barney’s proposal of marriage when she was only 16. She understood fully the importance of her decision, but finally she accepted the proposal. She recalls, “I guess I was in love with him,” adding “and we had a good life together for 17 years.”
“So, Nora Viola King and Barney I. Worford borrowed his grandmother’s car and drove to Eureka, where they were married at the county courthouse on December 6, 1917. They lived with his parents until “moving day,” March 1, 1918, when they moved to some rental property of the Wofford’s that became available at that time.
“The house was “remote”, across West Creek from everybody. Visitors had to cross a creek, then climb a steep hill to reach it. Nora and Barney were still there in 1923. By that time, they had bought their first car, a Model T, in 1920, with money from the sale of wheat. They paid cash, as that was how business was conducted in those days. Nora learned to drive, even to manage the steep hill.
“A son, Therald, was born July 28, 1919, when Nora was 18. He now lives in Weatherford, Texas, and on July 24, 2002 celebrated his 83rd birthday. Katherine Worford Ratcliff Williams, born February 10, 1924, lives in Eastbrook subdivision, Eureka. Wayne, born in 1926, lives in Denver, now retired from his work in oil-related industries.
“Barney Worford died May 2, 1934. His death was the result of complications following surgery in the hospital of young David Walker Basham Jr., (the son of the Neal doctor), in Eureka. At first, all seemed well, and he soon planned to go home with Nora. But, as she was out buying groceries to take home with them, sudden death took him from her.
“After her husband’s death, Nora called her parents, who then operated a café in Quincy, and they came to be with her. Nora remembers that earlier that day, her mother had a call from a Quincy neighbor asking to borrow the café dishes for a bazaar to be held that evening at the U.B. Church. Barney had been a popular man, wellliked by all, and because of his death, the bazaar was postponed.
“The funeral was held May 6, 1934, at the U.B. Church. Burial was in the Quincy cemetery. Nora is happy to think that Barney rests there in the little cemetery where, late in the century, work began on the beautification of that cemetery by former Quincy resident, True Knowles. The Dr. Pepper tycoon has spared no effort to make the burial grounds attractive.
“Nora recalls that during their marriage she had never assumed responsibility for more than her work at housekeeping, gardening, and canning the vegetables and fruit grown on the farm. Barney had provided a good living and had managed all the family finances.
“Now she had all the responsibility, although, she remembers, Therald was mature for his age and was a great help to her. She decided to stay on the farm. Her father helped Therald with the farming that first year, and they finished the crops.
“The following year they moved to Quincy, then a flourishing little town, still profiting from the oilfields nearby. During the boom time, Nora’s parents had often served 40 to 50 diners at the café.
“At the time of his death, Barney had been employed as driver of the Quincy school bus. As time drew near for the beginning of school in 1935, a board member, True Gilroy, asked Nora to drive the bus that year. At first, she was sure she couldn’t do it, but she consented to try it once. Nora drove the bus for eight years, besides helping people clean their houses and do their laundry. The first school bus was just a chassis and motor, with a home- made passenger area with seats facing each other on each side of the bus. Driving in those days was a perilous job as most roads were just dirt. Nora did well except for two small accidents in those eight years. One time she turned onto a bridge a little too sharply and a rear wheel went over the side of the bridge, requiring the local mechanic to put it back on the road. The second little incident occurred when another local farmer, who thought he owned the road, was talking to a gentleman driving a lumber wagon, apparently the farmer and his horse were blocking most of the road in a crossways fashion and the lumber wagon had the rest of the road, and as fate generally happens, the brakes did not work properly on the bus and she hit the farmer and his road hogging horse. Fortunately, neither the man or horse were injured, and the farmer did not block the road any more.
“In 1937, the opportunity came for her to become Quincy’s telephone operator for the McKay Telephone Company, and she took that on, too. The switchboard was in a house which she and her children could occupy. Fourteenyear- old Katherine came home early from school to care for the switchboard while Nora drove the bus route, and stayed at home in the mornings until Nora was home from the morning drive.
“By that time, Therald had graduated from high school and had gone to Wichita for schooling at Beech Aircraft. He had sold papers and had done odd jobs for years to help with family expenses. Nora, Katherine and Wayne lived in the switchboard house until Katherine graduated in May of 1942 and went to work at Boeing Aircraft.
“Meanwhile, back in Quincy, Nora had struck up a romance with Lemuel Huston, a hometown man the Wolford’s had known for years. His wife had died in 1941. Nora and Lemuel were married July 2, 1942 just as World War II was getting under way. They were to spend 42 years together.
“Except for Wayne, Nora’s children were gone from the home, but Lemuel Huston had a ten-year-old daughter, Yolanda, who also shared their home. Nora and Yolanda “got along well,” Nora says, “she is a wonderful daughter to me.” Nora Worford Huston, Part 2 of 2 - Submitted by Mike Pitko
“Nora and “Lem” had little money when they started their life together. However, as the war developed, many men enlisted or were drafted into the service. Over to the northwest, in the little town of Hamilton, the only grocer went into the service, leaving Hamilton without a grocery store. The people wanted to keep their store, and the Hamilton banker made the Huston’s a generous offer. He offered to finance their venture in every way if they would come and operate the store.
“So, they bought the grocery store and moved to Hamilton on August 22, 1943. Nora remembers the undertaking as a “wonderful experience.” They bought a home and paid for it from the profits of their good business. The house they bought was the first one Nora had lived in with modern conveniences inside the house. Hamilton was then a rather thriving and forward-looking town, still benefiting from the oil fields in the area.
“The Huston’s were in touch with a man at Virgil, who had contacts that enabled him to supply them with items hard to get during and after the war, such as cigarettes, cheese, and bananas. Business was good.
“During the war, Wayne had attended Hamilton High School and Yolanda was in elementary school. Wayne was deferred so he could graduate in May, then entered the service. That was a dark time in Nora’s life, with both sons in the service. She rejoiced when both came home safely, Wayne as a Staff Sergeant and Therald as a Private First Class. Therald was married when he entered, and was on his way to service in the Pacific when the bomb was dropped in 1945. He went on and served several months before being discharged.
“Although their grocery store was still highly successful, Nora and Lem feared that it would not continue to do well after the war ended. Nora then made what she now sees as a big mistake. In 1946 she and Lem sold the grocery store and bought a farm east of Hamilton. They remodeled the house, making use of a windmill to supply plenty of water. Later, in 1952 or 1953, they sold the farm to Nora’s daughter Katherine and her husband.
“Nora and Lem then moved back to Hamilton, where he first worked at the grain mill and then went to work for Jack Williams, who operated the last bus line in Greenwood County and owned a propane and crude oil business. He became their son-in-law later. Williams had been discharged from the service in January of 1946, and had gone to work for Lem and Nora at the grocery store. In 1948, Williams purchased a filling station from Dale Cross and began a propane and hardware business also. He married Katherine Worford Ratcliff in 1976.
“After Nora and Lem returned to live in Hamilton in 1953, Nora carried the mail for the Teterville mail route for 12 years, and Lem worked for Jack Williams for the same period of time. They lived in a house next to the Sanderson house along the street which was a part of Highway 99 as it passed through town. It was a nice home, and they enjoyed living there.
“As they grew older, both retired. In order to live closer to doctors and a hospital, they moved to Eureka in 1977. First, they lived in a house on State Street, in the southeast part of the town. Later, they moved to east Second Street and were living in this pleasant, roomy house, when Lemuel Huston died in 1984.
“In October of that year, Nora went to visit Wayne in Denver, and they talked about the possibility of her moving to an apartment in Magic Circle. In March 1985, Nora moved to Magic Circle. She loved living there, especially enjoying the social contact with the 24 women living there. They played cards frequently, mostly Canasta, but at first failed to invite her to play with them, since at her age she wouldn’t be able to last out the late hours they kept. When they finally invited her to join them, she said “Try me,” and then proved to them that she could outlast them all.
“Nora enjoyed the life at Magic Circle for ten years. However, by 1995, she had increasing back problems, found walking difficult, and tired easily. Thus, she could no longer prepare her meals and do the light housekeeping that the apartment required.
“So then, in 1995, at the age of 95, Nora entered the Gran Villas period of her life. When Nora reached her 100th birthday, Gran Villas held a special celebration for her. At that time, Beverly Welch, an employee at Gran Villas and a friend of Nora’s, persuaded her husband, Lyle Welch, to write a story of Nora’s life. He did so, illustrating it with family photos, and she treasures it as a special gift.
“His story is an account of the changing American scene that Nora had witnessed during her century. This account of her life is made up, not of the vast changes in American life that she has known, but of the details of her personal life as she recalls them in 2002. It is the story of the “little things” that go to make up a life. It consisted of her memories of an unusually varied life, as she shared them.
“Looking back over her long and productive life, Nora finds more joys than sorrows, in spite of the tragedies she has had to face. She summed it up this way: “I came from a ‘caring’ family. We did everything together. As a child, I was happy gardening with my mother, going to the fields with my father, and playing with my sister and brothers. I learned to love people and liked to entertain them in my house. She thinks the best preparation for her life was learning to work hard. She never smoked or drank. She learned a lot about people when she carried mail. She loved the frequent Sunday dinners of the family. Nora thinks her greatest strength has been to look on the bright side of life. She never felt sorry for herself. When asked to name her greatest fault, she thought for a while, then said, “I’m afraid I was a little bossy.” The lives of those around her have been enriched by having known her.” Details of Nora Worford Huston’s life was recorded by Helen Bradford—September, 2002. Nora Worford Huston died in 2005 at the age of 104.
