Nora Aleen Sparks died May 27, 2011. Funeral services were held May 31, 2011 at the Riley Funeral Home with internment at the Graves-Gentry Cemetery in Hamilton.
She was born April 10, 1914 at the family home about four miles south of Evant, Texas. She was the daughter of Marvin Tolbert and Lila (Frasure) Sneed, the granddaughter of Sam and Nancy Armanda (Kinsey) Sneed and the great-granddaughter of Samuel and Permelia Sneed, who arrived in that area in 1855, coming from Arkansas by covered wagon.
In 1918, her father made the decision to move the family to Hamilton so she could attend a first-rate school rather than the one-room school that was near the farm south of Evant. Her first grade class at West Ward Elementary School was taught by Miss Scoggins and Nora often said that lady was the finest teacher she ever had.
Nora often talked about traveling by wagon from Hamilton to Evant to visit her Grandparents. They normally made the trip once each year and it would take all day. They always stopped at Cowhouse Creek to eat lunch and rest the horses. Riding in that wagon was not one of her fondest memories.
She was married to Edgar C. Sparks on June 14, 1930. Two years later, along with his parents, James M. and Anna Sparks, they purchased the Carter family ranch located in the Leon River valley about six miles north of Hamilton. That was their home until 1955, when they moved to Hamilton.
From about 1949 to 1955 she worked in the Hamilton County Clerk's office. From about 1955 to 1995, she operated the Hamilton Retail Merchant's Association and Credit Bureau. It was her job to research a person's credit history, including bank loans, mortgages, etc., and credit decisions of all kinds were made based on her evaluation of an individual's credit worthiness. She often said that during those years she knew everybody in Hamilton County.
Nora was an avid reader of history books and accumulated well over 200, many of which were about World War II or people who were involved in that war. She never got over losing her "little brother," Roy, in one of the "Hell Ships" during that war.
Nora was preceded in death by husband Edgar Cecil Sparks in 1980; siblings Charles Roy Sneed, Clara Mae Campbell, Dorothy Irene Carruthers, George Washington Sneed and Doris Marie Armstrong.
Survivors include her children, Edgar, Jr. and wife Ann Sparks of Indianapolis, Indiana, Ray and wife Letha Sparks of Hamilton and Nancy Miller of Hamilton; grandchildren, Charles Sparks, Jr., Linda Sparks Massia, Stephen Sparks, Robert Moss, Tamy Moss Stein and Erin Sparks; great-grandchildren, Dillon Sparks, Caitlyn Sparks, Tyler Sparks, Jason Sparks, Darryl Massia, Carolyn Massia, Emily Massia, Larissa Massia, Tami Moss, Nathan Moss, Martin Moss and Eddie Moss, Mary Stein, Meghan Sutton, Aidan Sparks, Maura Sparks, Zane Sparks and Luke Sparks and sisters Anita Joan and husband Eli Douglas and Shirley Ruth Perryman.
She was a lifelong member of First Baptist Church, Hamilton. She and her family were a part of establishing the Mission in South-East Hamilton that would later become Calvary Baptist Church.
She was a member of Eastern Star #215 of Hamilton, holding the office of Worthy Matron in 1951.
Memorials should be made to the Hamilton Hospital Fund of your choice.
Arrangements under the direction of Riley Funeral Home, Hamilton, Texas.
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Nora Aleen Sparks died May 27, 2011. Funeral services were held May 31, 2011 at the Riley Funeral Home with internment at the Graves-Gentry Cemetery in Hamilton.
She was born April 10, 1914 at the family home about four miles south of Evant, Texas. She was the daughter of Marvin Tolbert and Lila (Frasure) Sneed, the granddaughter of Sam and Nancy Armanda (Kinsey) Sneed and the great-granddaughter of Samuel and Permelia Sneed, who arrived in that area in 1855, coming from Arkansas by covered wagon.
In 1918, her father made the decision to move the family to Hamilton so she could attend a first-rate school rather than the one-room school that was near the farm south of Evant. Her first grade class at West Ward Elementary School was taught by Miss Scoggins and Nora often said that lady was the finest teacher she ever had.
Nora often talked about traveling by wagon from Hamilton to Evant to visit her Grandparents. They normally made the trip once each year and it would take all day. They always stopped at Cowhouse Creek to eat lunch and rest the horses. Riding in that wagon was not one of her fondest memories.
She was married to Edgar C. Sparks on June 14, 1930. Two years later, along with his parents, James M. and Anna Sparks, they purchased the Carter family ranch located in the Leon River valley about six miles north of Hamilton. That was their home until 1955, when they moved to Hamilton.
From about 1949 to 1955 she worked in the Hamilton County Clerk's office. From about 1955 to 1995, she operated the Hamilton Retail Merchant's Association and Credit Bureau. It was her job to research a person's credit history, including bank loans, mortgages, etc., and credit decisions of all kinds were made based on her evaluation of an individual's credit worthiness. She often said that during those years she knew everybody in Hamilton County.
Nora was an avid reader of history books and accumulated well over 200, many of which were about World War II or people who were involved in that war. She never got over losing her "little brother," Roy, in one of the "Hell Ships" during that war.
Nora was preceded in death by husband Edgar Cecil Sparks in 1980; siblings Charles Roy Sneed, Clara Mae Campbell, Dorothy Irene Carruthers, George Washington Sneed and Doris Marie Armstrong.
Survivors include her children, Edgar, Jr. and wife Ann Sparks of Indianapolis, Indiana, Ray and wife Letha Sparks of Hamilton and Nancy Miller of Hamilton; grandchildren, Charles Sparks, Jr., Linda Sparks Massia, Stephen Sparks, Robert Moss, Tamy Moss Stein and Erin Sparks; great-grandchildren, Dillon Sparks, Caitlyn Sparks, Tyler Sparks, Jason Sparks, Darryl Massia, Carolyn Massia, Emily Massia, Larissa Massia, Tami Moss, Nathan Moss, Martin Moss and Eddie Moss, Mary Stein, Meghan Sutton, Aidan Sparks, Maura Sparks, Zane Sparks and Luke Sparks and sisters Anita Joan and husband Eli Douglas and Shirley Ruth Perryman.
She was a lifelong member of First Baptist Church, Hamilton. She and her family were a part of establishing the Mission in South-East Hamilton that would later become Calvary Baptist Church.
She was a member of Eastern Star #215 of Hamilton, holding the office of Worthy Matron in 1951.
Memorials should be made to the Hamilton Hospital Fund of your choice.
Arrangements under the direction of Riley Funeral Home, Hamilton, Texas.
Read Complete Obituary
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