Biographical sketch of Pearl M. Proctor, by grandson Kevin J. Proctor --
Pearl Proctor was born Pearl Mable Jeffcoat on 27 December 1899, the second of at least eight children and the oldest daughter of Braxton Bragg and Anna Viola (Sturkie) Jeffcoat. Her siblings included Salter Charles, Fred Wesley, Daniel Leonard, Henrietta Bernice, Anna Mae, Warren Duane, and Ray Waylin. It is believed that two additional sisters died very young.
Although born in Desdemona, TX, Pearl spent the first ten years of her life in Arkansas before the family moved to Indianola, OK due to her father's work with the railroad. It is there that she eventually met Albert Higgins Proctor, a railroad motor mechanic and track welder, and they were married on 14 July 1918 in Indianola. From this union were born two sons and a daughter: Gilbert Hugh (1919), Margerie Fern (1921), and Kenneth Jay Proctor (1924). Soon after the birth of their first child, the young couple relocated to nearby Haileyville, OK, where they raised their family in a rural setting.
Pearl was an expert quilt maker. Her adult children recalled that as small children they spent countless hours playing under their mother's ceiling-mounted quilt frame as she worked on dozens upon dozens of quilts. Daughter Margerie recalled, "When momma was finished for the day, she pulled on a rope and the whole frame was lifted up to the ceiling for safekeeping." Several of Pearl's beautiful quilts survive to this day.
Many generations of both Pearl's maternal and paternal ancestry were from the lowcountry of South Carolina – especially in Lexington and Orangeburg counties – and much of Pearl's cooking reflected the culinary traditions of that area, including spicy okra soup, seasoned pork, Hoppin' John, collard greens, cheese grits, cornbread, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, hoe cakes, and her amazing tea cakes and pear preserves.
In 1937 the Proctor family moved from Haileyville to El Reno, OK due to Albert's work with the Rock Island Railroad. That is where all three of Pearl and Albert's children met and married their future spouses; however, during this same time period, Albert's alcoholism had progressed and was causing significant strain on their marriage. During World War II, while sons Gilbert and Kenneth were in service to their country, Pearl separated from Albert and moved to the Los Angeles area to be near her parents and to support the war effort by working in a factory. After the war, she moved back to El Reno and in 1946 she was granted a divorce from Albert. Pearl never remarried, but from about 1955 through the entire decade of the '60s her constant companion was Cecil Glen Maulsby, a registered piano technician who shared her love of travel, especially in the American West. Pearl and Cecil traveled tens of thousands of miles together, mostly by automobile, until Pearl's brief illness and death in 1970. Cecil died unexpectedly the following year at the home of Pearl's son Gilbert.
Early in 1970, Pearl began to experience difficulty eating, as well as unusual weight loss. Exploratory surgery confirmed advanced-stage gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (i.e., cancer where the esophagus joins the stomach). Son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Betty Proctor spent many hours both day and night caring for Pearl at her home until the last few days of her life, when her condition deteriorated to the point that she required palliative care in a local nursing home. Pearl died the evening of 14 April 1970 with her son Kenneth and grandson Kevin at her bedside.
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Obituary published in The El Reno Tribune (El Reno, OK) on April 16, 1970:
RITES SET FOR MRS. PROCTOR
Funeral services for Mrs. Pearl M. Proctor, 315 West Watts, who died Tuesday night at a local nursing home, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Benson's Memorial Chapel with burial in El Reno Cemetery. Rev. Carlyle Yates, pastor of the First Christian Church, will officiate.
Mrs. Proctor was born in Desdemona, Tex., Dec. 27, 1899, and came to El Reno from Haileyville, Okla. in 1937.
Survivors include two sons, Gilbert of Sapulpa, and Kenneth, 410 East Wade; one daughter, Mrs. Robert Ables, 915 South Macomb; four brothers, Salter Jeffcoat, Caliente, Calif., Dan of Los Angeles, Calif., Ray of San Bernardino, Calif. and Warren of Casper, Wyo.; two sisters, Mrs. Sam Johnson and Mrs. Clement Purcell, both of Whittier, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.
Pearl Proctor was born Pearl Mable Jeffcoat on 27 December 1899, the second of at least eight children and the oldest daughter of Braxton Bragg and Anna Viola (Sturkie) Jeffcoat. Her siblings included Salter Charles, Fred Wesley, Daniel Leonard, Henrietta Bernice, Anna Mae, Warren Duane, and Ray Waylin. It is believed that two additional sisters died very young.
Although born in Desdemona, TX, Pearl spent the first ten years of her life in Arkansas before the family moved to Indianola, OK due to her father's work with the railroad. It is there that she eventually met Albert Higgins Proctor, a railroad motor mechanic and track welder, and they were married on 14 July 1918 in Indianola. From this union were born two sons and a daughter: Gilbert Hugh (1919), Margerie Fern (1921), and Kenneth Jay Proctor (1924). Soon after the birth of their first child, the young couple relocated to nearby Haileyville, OK, where they raised their family in a rural setting.
Pearl was an expert quilt maker. Her adult children recalled that as small children they spent countless hours playing under their mother's ceiling-mounted quilt frame as she worked on dozens upon dozens of quilts. Daughter Margerie recalled, "When momma was finished for the day, she pulled on a rope and the whole frame was lifted up to the ceiling for safekeeping." Several of Pearl's beautiful quilts survive to this day.
Many generations of both Pearl's maternal and paternal ancestry were from the lowcountry of South Carolina – especially in Lexington and Orangeburg counties – and much of Pearl's cooking reflected the culinary traditions of that area, including spicy okra soup, seasoned pork, Hoppin' John, collard greens, cheese grits, cornbread, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, hoe cakes, and her amazing tea cakes and pear preserves.
In 1937 the Proctor family moved from Haileyville to El Reno, OK due to Albert's work with the Rock Island Railroad. That is where all three of Pearl and Albert's children met and married their future spouses; however, during this same time period, Albert's alcoholism had progressed and was causing significant strain on their marriage. During World War II, while sons Gilbert and Kenneth were in service to their country, Pearl separated from Albert and moved to the Los Angeles area to be near her parents and to support the war effort by working in a factory. After the war, she moved back to El Reno and in 1946 she was granted a divorce from Albert. Pearl never remarried, but from about 1955 through the entire decade of the '60s her constant companion was Cecil Glen Maulsby, a registered piano technician who shared her love of travel, especially in the American West. Pearl and Cecil traveled tens of thousands of miles together, mostly by automobile, until Pearl's brief illness and death in 1970. Cecil died unexpectedly the following year at the home of Pearl's son Gilbert.
Early in 1970, Pearl began to experience difficulty eating, as well as unusual weight loss. Exploratory surgery confirmed advanced-stage gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (i.e., cancer where the esophagus joins the stomach). Son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Betty Proctor spent many hours both day and night caring for Pearl at her home until the last few days of her life, when her condition deteriorated to the point that she required palliative care in a local nursing home. Pearl died the evening of 14 April 1970 with her son Kenneth and grandson Kevin at her bedside.
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Obituary published in The El Reno Tribune (El Reno, OK) on April 16, 1970:
RITES SET FOR MRS. PROCTOR
Funeral services for Mrs. Pearl M. Proctor, 315 West Watts, who died Tuesday night at a local nursing home, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Benson's Memorial Chapel with burial in El Reno Cemetery. Rev. Carlyle Yates, pastor of the First Christian Church, will officiate.
Mrs. Proctor was born in Desdemona, Tex., Dec. 27, 1899, and came to El Reno from Haileyville, Okla. in 1937.
Survivors include two sons, Gilbert of Sapulpa, and Kenneth, 410 East Wade; one daughter, Mrs. Robert Ables, 915 South Macomb; four brothers, Salter Jeffcoat, Caliente, Calif., Dan of Los Angeles, Calif., Ray of San Bernardino, Calif. and Warren of Casper, Wyo.; two sisters, Mrs. Sam Johnson and Mrs. Clement Purcell, both of Whittier, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.
Biographical sketch of Pearl M. Proctor, by grandson Kevin J. Proctor --
Pearl Proctor was born Pearl Mable Jeffcoat on 27 December 1899, the second of at least eight children and the oldest daughter of Braxton Bragg and Anna Viola (Sturkie) Jeffcoat. Her siblings included Salter Charles, Fred Wesley, Daniel Leonard, Henrietta Bernice, Anna Mae, Warren Duane, and Ray Waylin. It is believed that two additional sisters died very young.
Although born in Desdemona, TX, Pearl spent the first ten years of her life in Arkansas before the family moved to Indianola, OK due to her father's work with the railroad. It is there that she eventually met Albert Higgins Proctor, a railroad motor mechanic and track welder, and they were married on 14 July 1918 in Indianola. From this union were born two sons and a daughter: Gilbert Hugh (1919), Margerie Fern (1921), and Kenneth Jay Proctor (1924). Soon after the birth of their first child, the young couple relocated to nearby Haileyville, OK, where they raised their family in a rural setting.
Pearl was an expert quilt maker. Her adult children recalled that as small children they spent countless hours playing under their mother's ceiling-mounted quilt frame as she worked on dozens upon dozens of quilts. Daughter Margerie recalled, "When momma was finished for the day, she pulled on a rope and the whole frame was lifted up to the ceiling for safekeeping." Several of Pearl's beautiful quilts survive to this day.
Many generations of both Pearl's maternal and paternal ancestry were from the lowcountry of South Carolina – especially in Lexington and Orangeburg counties – and much of Pearl's cooking reflected the culinary traditions of that area, including spicy okra soup, seasoned pork, Hoppin' John, collard greens, cheese grits, cornbread, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, hoe cakes, and her amazing tea cakes and pear preserves.
In 1937 the Proctor family moved from Haileyville to El Reno, OK due to Albert's work with the Rock Island Railroad. That is where all three of Pearl and Albert's children met and married their future spouses; however, during this same time period, Albert's alcoholism had progressed and was causing significant strain on their marriage. During World War II, while sons Gilbert and Kenneth were in service to their country, Pearl separated from Albert and moved to the Los Angeles area to be near her parents and to support the war effort by working in a factory. After the war, she moved back to El Reno and in 1946 she was granted a divorce from Albert. Pearl never remarried, but from about 1955 through the entire decade of the '60s her constant companion was Cecil Glen Maulsby, a registered piano technician who shared her love of travel, especially in the American West. Pearl and Cecil traveled tens of thousands of miles together, mostly by automobile, until Pearl's brief illness and death in 1970. Cecil died unexpectedly the following year at the home of Pearl's son Gilbert.
Early in 1970, Pearl began to experience difficulty eating, as well as unusual weight loss. Exploratory surgery confirmed advanced-stage gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (i.e., cancer where the esophagus joins the stomach). Son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Betty Proctor spent many hours both day and night caring for Pearl at her home until the last few days of her life, when her condition deteriorated to the point that she required palliative care in a local nursing home. Pearl died the evening of 14 April 1970 with her son Kenneth and grandson Kevin at her bedside.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Obituary published in The El Reno Tribune (El Reno, OK) on April 16, 1970:
RITES SET FOR MRS. PROCTOR
Funeral services for Mrs. Pearl M. Proctor, 315 West Watts, who died Tuesday night at a local nursing home, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Benson's Memorial Chapel with burial in El Reno Cemetery. Rev. Carlyle Yates, pastor of the First Christian Church, will officiate.
Mrs. Proctor was born in Desdemona, Tex., Dec. 27, 1899, and came to El Reno from Haileyville, Okla. in 1937.
Survivors include two sons, Gilbert of Sapulpa, and Kenneth, 410 East Wade; one daughter, Mrs. Robert Ables, 915 South Macomb; four brothers, Salter Jeffcoat, Caliente, Calif., Dan of Los Angeles, Calif., Ray of San Bernardino, Calif. and Warren of Casper, Wyo.; two sisters, Mrs. Sam Johnson and Mrs. Clement Purcell, both of Whittier, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.
Pearl Proctor was born Pearl Mable Jeffcoat on 27 December 1899, the second of at least eight children and the oldest daughter of Braxton Bragg and Anna Viola (Sturkie) Jeffcoat. Her siblings included Salter Charles, Fred Wesley, Daniel Leonard, Henrietta Bernice, Anna Mae, Warren Duane, and Ray Waylin. It is believed that two additional sisters died very young.
Although born in Desdemona, TX, Pearl spent the first ten years of her life in Arkansas before the family moved to Indianola, OK due to her father's work with the railroad. It is there that she eventually met Albert Higgins Proctor, a railroad motor mechanic and track welder, and they were married on 14 July 1918 in Indianola. From this union were born two sons and a daughter: Gilbert Hugh (1919), Margerie Fern (1921), and Kenneth Jay Proctor (1924). Soon after the birth of their first child, the young couple relocated to nearby Haileyville, OK, where they raised their family in a rural setting.
Pearl was an expert quilt maker. Her adult children recalled that as small children they spent countless hours playing under their mother's ceiling-mounted quilt frame as she worked on dozens upon dozens of quilts. Daughter Margerie recalled, "When momma was finished for the day, she pulled on a rope and the whole frame was lifted up to the ceiling for safekeeping." Several of Pearl's beautiful quilts survive to this day.
Many generations of both Pearl's maternal and paternal ancestry were from the lowcountry of South Carolina – especially in Lexington and Orangeburg counties – and much of Pearl's cooking reflected the culinary traditions of that area, including spicy okra soup, seasoned pork, Hoppin' John, collard greens, cheese grits, cornbread, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, hoe cakes, and her amazing tea cakes and pear preserves.
In 1937 the Proctor family moved from Haileyville to El Reno, OK due to Albert's work with the Rock Island Railroad. That is where all three of Pearl and Albert's children met and married their future spouses; however, during this same time period, Albert's alcoholism had progressed and was causing significant strain on their marriage. During World War II, while sons Gilbert and Kenneth were in service to their country, Pearl separated from Albert and moved to the Los Angeles area to be near her parents and to support the war effort by working in a factory. After the war, she moved back to El Reno and in 1946 she was granted a divorce from Albert. Pearl never remarried, but from about 1955 through the entire decade of the '60s her constant companion was Cecil Glen Maulsby, a registered piano technician who shared her love of travel, especially in the American West. Pearl and Cecil traveled tens of thousands of miles together, mostly by automobile, until Pearl's brief illness and death in 1970. Cecil died unexpectedly the following year at the home of Pearl's son Gilbert.
Early in 1970, Pearl began to experience difficulty eating, as well as unusual weight loss. Exploratory surgery confirmed advanced-stage gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (i.e., cancer where the esophagus joins the stomach). Son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Betty Proctor spent many hours both day and night caring for Pearl at her home until the last few days of her life, when her condition deteriorated to the point that she required palliative care in a local nursing home. Pearl died the evening of 14 April 1970 with her son Kenneth and grandson Kevin at her bedside.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Obituary published in The El Reno Tribune (El Reno, OK) on April 16, 1970:
RITES SET FOR MRS. PROCTOR
Funeral services for Mrs. Pearl M. Proctor, 315 West Watts, who died Tuesday night at a local nursing home, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Benson's Memorial Chapel with burial in El Reno Cemetery. Rev. Carlyle Yates, pastor of the First Christian Church, will officiate.
Mrs. Proctor was born in Desdemona, Tex., Dec. 27, 1899, and came to El Reno from Haileyville, Okla. in 1937.
Survivors include two sons, Gilbert of Sapulpa, and Kenneth, 410 East Wade; one daughter, Mrs. Robert Ables, 915 South Macomb; four brothers, Salter Jeffcoat, Caliente, Calif., Dan of Los Angeles, Calif., Ray of San Bernardino, Calif. and Warren of Casper, Wyo.; two sisters, Mrs. Sam Johnson and Mrs. Clement Purcell, both of Whittier, Calif., and 11 grandchildren.
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