Born premature to Julia Ann and Charlie Lee Sullivan, it was a wonder she survived. Her father made a bed for her out of a shoe box lined with fleece. The fires were kept going day and night for warmth. Raised with a healthy work ethic, Oleta was fearless in her approach to just about anything. At the age of 11, she was put in charge of caring for her niece, Flossie Jo Anderson, while her sister Novice Lillian was recovering from the birth and following surgeries. She married Charles Francis Coffey at age 16, and gave birth to her only surviving child, Bertha Jean. Following divorce from Charles during the early part of WWll, Oleta worked as a seamtress. When the factory was refitted for the war effort, she oversaw inspecting bomb fuses. After leaving the Folsom Factory, Oleta obtained work at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. There she worked supervising the canteen, and making sure everything went smoothly for the boys in uniform. Briefly courted by another Ft. Sill employee named Jimmy Durant, she met and married a gentleman from Vermont. With differences of opinion, the marriage was annulled. After returning to Dallas, Oleta married a man named Jack Caldwell. A miscarriage and the effects a stormy marriage, resulted in divorce.
She met J. D. Grammer, and after two weeks of courtship they married Feb. 3, 1953. Living in University Park and managing Boyd Electric Service, they prospered. After the company went under, they moved to the Casa View area of Dallas to help raise their grandchildren. J.D., co-founded C & G Electric with Frank Charles, whilst Oleta busied herself opening and maintaining Velanne Kennels, and Andrette's Grooming Salon with her daughter Bertha Jean. She was a copyrighted novelist, poet and artist. Later years found Oleta with declining health, and unexplained outbursts of anger that was failed to be diagnosed by her physician.
Suffering several heart attacks, she underwent a quadruple bypass in the late 1980's. After a prolonged recovery made difficult by diabetes, she was never the same vivacious person though she did attempt to lead a normal life. Becoming widowed in May of 1993, she became listless. Following the deaths of her husband of 40 years, and that of her only child Bertha Jean in February of 1995, Oleta suffered a final heart attack and collapsed in her bedroom after calling out "Oh, someone help me!" Despite CPR given by her grandson and the quick arrival of paramedics, and after three days on life support it was determined she had suffered irreversible brain damage and loss of brain function. Mary Oleta passed away just five months before the birth of her first great-grandson.
Born premature to Julia Ann and Charlie Lee Sullivan, it was a wonder she survived. Her father made a bed for her out of a shoe box lined with fleece. The fires were kept going day and night for warmth. Raised with a healthy work ethic, Oleta was fearless in her approach to just about anything. At the age of 11, she was put in charge of caring for her niece, Flossie Jo Anderson, while her sister Novice Lillian was recovering from the birth and following surgeries. She married Charles Francis Coffey at age 16, and gave birth to her only surviving child, Bertha Jean. Following divorce from Charles during the early part of WWll, Oleta worked as a seamtress. When the factory was refitted for the war effort, she oversaw inspecting bomb fuses. After leaving the Folsom Factory, Oleta obtained work at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. There she worked supervising the canteen, and making sure everything went smoothly for the boys in uniform. Briefly courted by another Ft. Sill employee named Jimmy Durant, she met and married a gentleman from Vermont. With differences of opinion, the marriage was annulled. After returning to Dallas, Oleta married a man named Jack Caldwell. A miscarriage and the effects a stormy marriage, resulted in divorce.
She met J. D. Grammer, and after two weeks of courtship they married Feb. 3, 1953. Living in University Park and managing Boyd Electric Service, they prospered. After the company went under, they moved to the Casa View area of Dallas to help raise their grandchildren. J.D., co-founded C & G Electric with Frank Charles, whilst Oleta busied herself opening and maintaining Velanne Kennels, and Andrette's Grooming Salon with her daughter Bertha Jean. She was a copyrighted novelist, poet and artist. Later years found Oleta with declining health, and unexplained outbursts of anger that was failed to be diagnosed by her physician.
Suffering several heart attacks, she underwent a quadruple bypass in the late 1980's. After a prolonged recovery made difficult by diabetes, she was never the same vivacious person though she did attempt to lead a normal life. Becoming widowed in May of 1993, she became listless. Following the deaths of her husband of 40 years, and that of her only child Bertha Jean in February of 1995, Oleta suffered a final heart attack and collapsed in her bedroom after calling out "Oh, someone help me!" Despite CPR given by her grandson and the quick arrival of paramedics, and after three days on life support it was determined she had suffered irreversible brain damage and loss of brain function. Mary Oleta passed away just five months before the birth of her first great-grandson.
