My grandmother was the youngest of eight children born to James Andrew Smith and Ida Flora Loughridge. She was raised in Tonkawa, Oklahoma and Newton County, Indiana with her sisters Margaret, Velma, and Alice, and brothers Orlin, Emory and William. The eighth sibling died in infancy.
After graduating from high school in Tonkawa, she moved to Indiana to be closer to her sister Margaret. She graduated from the Royal Beauty Academy in Indianapolis in 1939, and worked briefly as a hairdresser. She married Clarence David Everhart on December 31, 1940. Their only child, a daughter, was born in 1942.
They resided in Indianapolis until 1976, then retired to Cherokee Village Arkansas. She remained in Arkansas for several years after her husband's death. In the mid-1990's, with her health starting to decline, she moved back to Indiana to live near her daughter, son-in-law, five grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the youngest of eight kids, Grandma was always called "Babe" by her family. On her first day of school, the teacher asked her name and Grandma replied that she was Babe Smith. The teacher insisted that she must have a "real" name, with Grandma equally insistent that her name was Babe. Her older brother finally spoke up to give the teacher the correct information. As an adult, she was called Babe by family and close friends, and was LaVera to everyone else. Only very late in life did she ever use her given name of Florence.
Grandma enjoyed crossword puzzles, making quilts, and playing games of all kinds. Euchre, Scrabble, Cribbage and Kismet were particular favorites. Games would get pretty lively, especially if she was playing with her son-in-law (my Dad). Charges of creative scorekeeping, and "That's not a word" were frequently heard, amid much laughter. She was known for saying things that didn't come out quite right. When one of the grandkids asked for dessert while playing a card game, Grandma tried to say that you shouldn't try to eat and play cards at the same time. What came out was "You can't eat and play your brownies too!" The card game had to be put on-hold until we all, including Grandma, could stop laughing.
Grandma was very active in her church, teaching Adult Sunday School classes and singing in the choir for a number of years. She grew beautiful African Violets, and tended to several flower gardens at her Cherokee Village home. She preferred to hang her clothes out on the line to dry, and is the only person I've ever known who actually liked to wash dishes. I never heard her raise her voice, and the closest she came to swearing was to exclaim "Goodnight!". She truly believed that if you can't say something nice, you just don't say anything at all.
During the last years of her life, she slipped away from us a little at a time. On the bad days Grandma didn't recognize us, but she would still smile when we visited. Even though she wasn't sure who we were, she knew we loved her and that's all that mattered.
After graduating from high school in Tonkawa, she moved to Indiana to be closer to her sister Margaret. She graduated from the Royal Beauty Academy in Indianapolis in 1939, and worked briefly as a hairdresser. She married Clarence David Everhart on December 31, 1940. Their only child, a daughter, was born in 1942.
They resided in Indianapolis until 1976, then retired to Cherokee Village Arkansas. She remained in Arkansas for several years after her husband's death. In the mid-1990's, with her health starting to decline, she moved back to Indiana to live near her daughter, son-in-law, five grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the youngest of eight kids, Grandma was always called "Babe" by her family. On her first day of school, the teacher asked her name and Grandma replied that she was Babe Smith. The teacher insisted that she must have a "real" name, with Grandma equally insistent that her name was Babe. Her older brother finally spoke up to give the teacher the correct information. As an adult, she was called Babe by family and close friends, and was LaVera to everyone else. Only very late in life did she ever use her given name of Florence.
Grandma enjoyed crossword puzzles, making quilts, and playing games of all kinds. Euchre, Scrabble, Cribbage and Kismet were particular favorites. Games would get pretty lively, especially if she was playing with her son-in-law (my Dad). Charges of creative scorekeeping, and "That's not a word" were frequently heard, amid much laughter. She was known for saying things that didn't come out quite right. When one of the grandkids asked for dessert while playing a card game, Grandma tried to say that you shouldn't try to eat and play cards at the same time. What came out was "You can't eat and play your brownies too!" The card game had to be put on-hold until we all, including Grandma, could stop laughing.
Grandma was very active in her church, teaching Adult Sunday School classes and singing in the choir for a number of years. She grew beautiful African Violets, and tended to several flower gardens at her Cherokee Village home. She preferred to hang her clothes out on the line to dry, and is the only person I've ever known who actually liked to wash dishes. I never heard her raise her voice, and the closest she came to swearing was to exclaim "Goodnight!". She truly believed that if you can't say something nice, you just don't say anything at all.
During the last years of her life, she slipped away from us a little at a time. On the bad days Grandma didn't recognize us, but she would still smile when we visited. Even though she wasn't sure who we were, she knew we loved her and that's all that mattered.
My grandmother was the youngest of eight children born to James Andrew Smith and Ida Flora Loughridge. She was raised in Tonkawa, Oklahoma and Newton County, Indiana with her sisters Margaret, Velma, and Alice, and brothers Orlin, Emory and William. The eighth sibling died in infancy.
After graduating from high school in Tonkawa, she moved to Indiana to be closer to her sister Margaret. She graduated from the Royal Beauty Academy in Indianapolis in 1939, and worked briefly as a hairdresser. She married Clarence David Everhart on December 31, 1940. Their only child, a daughter, was born in 1942.
They resided in Indianapolis until 1976, then retired to Cherokee Village Arkansas. She remained in Arkansas for several years after her husband's death. In the mid-1990's, with her health starting to decline, she moved back to Indiana to live near her daughter, son-in-law, five grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the youngest of eight kids, Grandma was always called "Babe" by her family. On her first day of school, the teacher asked her name and Grandma replied that she was Babe Smith. The teacher insisted that she must have a "real" name, with Grandma equally insistent that her name was Babe. Her older brother finally spoke up to give the teacher the correct information. As an adult, she was called Babe by family and close friends, and was LaVera to everyone else. Only very late in life did she ever use her given name of Florence.
Grandma enjoyed crossword puzzles, making quilts, and playing games of all kinds. Euchre, Scrabble, Cribbage and Kismet were particular favorites. Games would get pretty lively, especially if she was playing with her son-in-law (my Dad). Charges of creative scorekeeping, and "That's not a word" were frequently heard, amid much laughter. She was known for saying things that didn't come out quite right. When one of the grandkids asked for dessert while playing a card game, Grandma tried to say that you shouldn't try to eat and play cards at the same time. What came out was "You can't eat and play your brownies too!" The card game had to be put on-hold until we all, including Grandma, could stop laughing.
Grandma was very active in her church, teaching Adult Sunday School classes and singing in the choir for a number of years. She grew beautiful African Violets, and tended to several flower gardens at her Cherokee Village home. She preferred to hang her clothes out on the line to dry, and is the only person I've ever known who actually liked to wash dishes. I never heard her raise her voice, and the closest she came to swearing was to exclaim "Goodnight!". She truly believed that if you can't say something nice, you just don't say anything at all.
During the last years of her life, she slipped away from us a little at a time. On the bad days Grandma didn't recognize us, but she would still smile when we visited. Even though she wasn't sure who we were, she knew we loved her and that's all that mattered.
After graduating from high school in Tonkawa, she moved to Indiana to be closer to her sister Margaret. She graduated from the Royal Beauty Academy in Indianapolis in 1939, and worked briefly as a hairdresser. She married Clarence David Everhart on December 31, 1940. Their only child, a daughter, was born in 1942.
They resided in Indianapolis until 1976, then retired to Cherokee Village Arkansas. She remained in Arkansas for several years after her husband's death. In the mid-1990's, with her health starting to decline, she moved back to Indiana to live near her daughter, son-in-law, five grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the youngest of eight kids, Grandma was always called "Babe" by her family. On her first day of school, the teacher asked her name and Grandma replied that she was Babe Smith. The teacher insisted that she must have a "real" name, with Grandma equally insistent that her name was Babe. Her older brother finally spoke up to give the teacher the correct information. As an adult, she was called Babe by family and close friends, and was LaVera to everyone else. Only very late in life did she ever use her given name of Florence.
Grandma enjoyed crossword puzzles, making quilts, and playing games of all kinds. Euchre, Scrabble, Cribbage and Kismet were particular favorites. Games would get pretty lively, especially if she was playing with her son-in-law (my Dad). Charges of creative scorekeeping, and "That's not a word" were frequently heard, amid much laughter. She was known for saying things that didn't come out quite right. When one of the grandkids asked for dessert while playing a card game, Grandma tried to say that you shouldn't try to eat and play cards at the same time. What came out was "You can't eat and play your brownies too!" The card game had to be put on-hold until we all, including Grandma, could stop laughing.
Grandma was very active in her church, teaching Adult Sunday School classes and singing in the choir for a number of years. She grew beautiful African Violets, and tended to several flower gardens at her Cherokee Village home. She preferred to hang her clothes out on the line to dry, and is the only person I've ever known who actually liked to wash dishes. I never heard her raise her voice, and the closest she came to swearing was to exclaim "Goodnight!". She truly believed that if you can't say something nice, you just don't say anything at all.
During the last years of her life, she slipped away from us a little at a time. On the bad days Grandma didn't recognize us, but she would still smile when we visited. Even though she wasn't sure who we were, she knew we loved her and that's all that mattered.
