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Calvin Jones
Longview native archaeologist who discovered de Soto camp dies
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - FEB. 17, 1999 -- Calvin Jones, who discovered Hernando de Soto's 1539 winter encampment along with many other of the state's leading archaeological sites, has died after a nine-month battle with cancer.
Jones died Sunday at his Wakulla County home. He was 59.
A native of Longview, Jones made some of the most important discoveries of man's inhabitation of Florida - including his 1987 discovery of de Soto's winter camp not far from the Florida Capitol.
"The de Soto site connotes the beginning of our (American) culture, whether we like it or not," said Jones, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in archaeology from the University of Oklahoma.
Jones spent almost 30 years with the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, uncovering more than archaeological sites throughout the state.
Near Tampa, Jones found a paleo-Indian site, uncovering the first evidence of Florida's earliest inhabitants 12,000 years ago. He also located the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds north of Tallahassee where Indian royalty was buried between 900 to 1500 AD.
He gained a reputation for an uncanny ability to predict where ancient artifacts could be found after a surveyed a piece of land.
"The dirt don't lie," Jones often said. "Archaeology is like all the arts. It expands horizons and makes people think about something besides themselves."
A funeral service for Jones, who is survived by his wife Patsy, is scheduled Wednesday in Crawfordville. He will be buried next week in Kemp, Texas.
Monsignor Edward J. Shopka (Szapka)
Local Catholic leader Msgr. Shopka dies
JUNE 9, 1998 -- Longtime Catholic leader Monsignor Edward Shopka of Longview, who established a number of Catholic institutions in East Texas, was remembered Monday as a builder, both physically and spiritually.
Shopka died Monday morning, three days after celebrating his 60th year in the priesthood. Services are pending with Rader Funeral Home.
Visitation will begin at 3 p.m. today at St. Mary's Catholic Church and will continue until 7 p.m. Wednesday. Rosary will be recited in English at 7 p.m. Wednesday and in Spanish at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the church.
"He was a builder from the word go," said Paul Painter, a member of the church building committee who helped Shopka develop the St. Mary's Church and School complex.
"He could just get things done," added Paul Folzenlogen, who also worked on the church building programs.
"He was the Vince Lombardi of the spiritual world: strong-willed, a doer, a real winner, loved and respected by everybody who worked closely with him," Folzenlogen said.
Jo Finane, who worked with Shopka for more than 25 years as his secretary, remembers his warmth and sense of humor.
"He was jovial. He liked a good joke," Finane said of her pastor and friend.
But, she added, "he was a very holy man, above all."
The monsignor was born May 18, 1912, and grew up in Shenandoah, Pa. He was ordained in 1938 and became a priest in the Dallas diocese.
His first appointment was at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Wylie. In 1939, he moved to Vernon, where he lived for 15 years. In Vernon, Shopka physically built a church, laying the brick, setting the beams and mixing the cement.
He moved to Longview in 1954, when he was appointed priest at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, where he retired on Jan. 31, 1988, after 35 years of service.
During his lifetime, he saw the completion of the St. Anthony's rectory, St. Mary's School, St. Mary's Catholic Church, the Monsignor Edward J. Shopka Sports Center and the Monsignor Edward J. Shopka Catholic Center.
In recognition of his work, Nov. 7, 1982, was proclaimed "Msgr. Edward J. Shopka Day" in Longview. The proclamation came on the day the new sports center was dedicated at St. Mary's.
In addition, a golf tournament was established in his name to raise money for the Longview Catholic schools endowment.
"I never heard him ask for any money from the pulpit, yet he always got plenty of donations.
"People just believed in him," Painter said.
Painter said Shopka was noted for his planning. In 1958, he acquired 47 acres of land in north Longview which would become home to St. Mary's church and school.
At that time, the Hollybrook area was out in the country, prompting the bishop to joke with Shopka about St. Anthony's new ranch.
"Those of us who were on his committee learned early on he was prudent and sharp," Painter said.
"If he wanted to do something, you can bet he would succeed."
And in 1968, St. Mary's School opened.
However, Shopka suffered a major heart attack that year, and doctors told him there was nothing they could do, said the Rev. Gavin Vaverek, pastor of St. Mary's Church.
Shopka said he would stay through December to see the opening of St. Mary's School. He started feeling better, and December stretched into the next year.
Vaverek said Shopka later had bypass surgery as one of the first to undergo that new and experimental treatment.
"That gave him a whole new lease on life," Vaverek said.
Shopka later would have two more bypasses, but his health was always fragile.
"He essentially, since 1968, was going to die at any time," Vaverek said. But Shopka put in half of his priesthood after the heart attack.
"He worked physically and spiritually very hard every day," said Vaverek.
St. Mary's Church was dedicated in 1980, and Shopka saw the new parish grow. In 1982, St. Mary's became an independent parish.
"He brought the Catholic faith in Longview to the forefront, where it was recognized," Painter said. "He was given respect because of his own behavior."
Shopka also wasn't afraid to do the work himself. Friends and parishioners recall how Shopka would mow the church lawn, fix the plumbing or repair the roof.
"He made things work. He did everything. He showed the people how it should be done," Painter said.
Though Shopka retired from St. Anthony's, he didn't retire from the priesthood and spent his retirement years visiting church members and ministering to those who needed him. Even during his last days, Shopka's concern was to his flock.
"He was helping people whose grandparents he helped," Vaverek said.
"I was a parishioner of his. He was my pastor when I graduated from UT in 1981" and first moved to Longview, he said.
Vaverek said Shopka was an exemplary role model to him while he was a seminary student and now as a fellow priest.
Shopka not only lived long enough to see St. Anthony's parish grow into two, but he also saw a former parishioner, Vaverek, come back to lead the new parish.
"He was just a wonderful man, that's all there is to it," Painter said.
"He's going to be missed."
[Note: The Msgr. changed the spelling of his last name after his retirement. The original spelling is Szapka.]
DuBose Brewster Daniel
Carthage civic leader Daniel dies
CARTHAGE, FEB. 24, 1998 -- A longtime resident and civic leader of Carthage who was instrumental in bringing Panola College and Panola General Hospital to the community has died.
DuBose Brewster Daniel, 89, died Feb. 24 at a Carthage nursing home.
A former president of the Panola County Chamber of Commerce and Citizen of the Year, Dr. Daniel was a member of the first board of trustees for Panola College, serving from 1947-1956.
Born Feb. 14, 1909 in Gary, he was a son of Z.L. and Maude DuBose Daniel. He married
Marie Bentley in 1932 and graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1934.
As a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, he served as a surgeon in the Philippines during World War II.
Dr. Daniel was the benefactor of the Daniel Springs Baptist Encampment in Gary, and was a member of First Baptist Church of Carthage.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Marie, in 1997.
Dr. Daniel is survived by his daughters, Marilyn Daniel McJimsey of Dallas and Barbara Daniel Davis of Carthage; his grandchildren, Bert A. McJimsey Jr. of Tyler, Barbara Ellen Paxton of Allen, Jeffery Glen Davis of Tyler and John Paul Davis of Austin; and five great-grandchildren.
Dr. Charles Samuel Nacol
Henderson mourns dedicated doctor
JUNE 13, 1998 -- The sudden death this week of a Henderson doctor has struck the city's medical community doubly hard.
Services for Dr. Charles Samuel Nacol, 45, who died Wednesday of a heart attack, are at 10 a.m. today at the First United Methodist Church in Henderson with Dr. Harold Springfied officiating. Nacol had been the sole general surgeon at Henderson Memorial Hospital since 1986, according to George Roberts, chief executive officer of the hospital.
"His loss is not only a big loss for his family but also a big loss for this medical community," Roberts said, and the hospital is working to fill his position both temporarily and permanently.
Nacol will be missed by many people, including the numerous people who owe him their lives, said Dr. John Melvin, president of the medical staff and radiologist at Henderson Memorial Hospital.
"He was an excellent surgeon," Melvin said. "He had great hands, which is the highest compliment you can pay a surgeon."
Melvin said a "dark cloud" hung over the hospital on Wednesday, the day Nacol died. Nacol was well-liked, Melvin said, and had a special knack for caring for and communicating with patients.
"Dr. Nacol would shoot straight with you," Melvin said. "He was always very honest and open with his patients. That to me made him special, and I know that it did in his patients' eyes, too."
"If (his patients) needed to make peace with their god before they went to sleep, they knew that," Melvin said.
Mike Wilhite, president of Mustang Drilling in Henderson, was a patient of Nacol's.
"It's a real tragedy that we lost him," Wilhite said.
"He wanted to come to a small town. He didn't want to go to a big town," Wilhite added. "He wanted a small town and that kind of setting."
Wilhite also said Nacol was dedicated to his three children, Charles Samuel Nacol II, 13, Yvonne Marie Nacol, 15, and Audrey Ann Nacol, 13. Nacol also is also survived by his wife, Barbara Lynn Nacol, and mother, Lillie Nacol, both of Henderson.
Mollie M. Edmonds
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
She cut hair and broke boundaries: State's first female barber dies
A piece of Texas history passed Monday with the death of Mollie M. Edmonds, 86, reportedly the state's first licensed female barber whose career spanned six decades.
"She was a character, and she said whatever needed to be said," Judy Humphrey-Reigel said of her mother, who succumbed to a brief battle with lung cancer.
"She never held back on anything, but she was very generous and giving, and helped many people. But when it came down to it, she told you in no uncertain terms and sometimes unprintable words."
For more than half a century, Edmonds operated Mollie's Barber Shop in a shotgun-style building at 1703 E. Marshall Ave. in Longview.
Her father was a barber, inspiring the trims she began giving to her friends when she was 10-year-old tomboy in Bagwell, a small community near the Red River in Northeast Texas.
Humphrey-Reigel said her mother and aunt were not identical twins in looks or interests. While her twin sister enjoyed primping and acting like a lady, Edmonds chewed tobacco, smoked, rode horses and cussed. Her father, Charlie McCoy, referred to her as "son."
Edmonds attended barber school in Dallas and made history when she was given a Class A barber's license in 1945. In a time when haircuts cost a dime, her first customer paid a silver dollar.
"At first, no one wanted her to cut their hair, but in a short time they were lining up at the corner to get their hair cut by the female barber, Miss Mollie," Humphrey-Reigel said.
"Her twinkling eyes and bright smile, she won everyone over."
After stints in Texarkana and Marshall, Edmonds visited her sister in Longview and decided to stay. She found a man who wanted to retire and sell his business on East Marshall Avenue.
"Obviously, she was an institution here in Longview," said Mayor Jay Dean.
"I'm proud of that fact from Longview's standpoint. To spend that many years in a barber shop, I would love to have been able to sit and listen to the stories.
"Obviously she was still doing what she loved at 86. You don't find many people like that today."
Edmonds, who also taught her skills to others, said in 2002 that she would not retire until she reached 100 because she had too many young people — in their 70s and 80s — to service.
Humphrey-Reigel lived in Austin for 22 years but moved to Longview two months ago after Edmonds was diagnosed with lung cancer.
She and her sister sang "Amazing Grace" and "The Old Rugged Cross" at their mother's bedside, and when the singing ended, Edmonds took just three more breaths.
Services are pending with Rader Funeral Home of Longview.
"She was just a wild and free spirit," her daughter said. "She loved herself, and she loved everybody else. She would tell you, 'I love Mollie.' "
Jenny Glass
Jenny Glass, civic leader, dies at 71
The sentence below Jenny Glass' picture in the 1954 yearbook of Hayti High School in Missouri reveals the motto she lived by during decades of work and public service — "Quitters never win and winners never quit."
"That basically was the tenet that she lived her life by," her son, Ron, said Sunday evening. Glass, 71, died earlier that day in a Longview hospital where she'd been brought after succumbing to an ongoing respiratory ailment that she battled the past few years.
"And that's just the way they both were, my mom and dad."
Glass and her husband, Ron, came to Longview in the spring of 1972, along with son Ron (not junior) and three daughters. She soon joined the American Heart Association here, serving in several offices before retiring as executive vice president of the East Texas affiliate at the end of 2002.
Glass also was active in the women's service organization, Zonta Club of Longview, and after retiring from the heart association raised money for Hiway 80 Rescue Mission and Heart'sWay Hospice of Northeast Texas. Glass earned the top honors Longview service groups can bestow, including the Zonta Club's Women of Achievement and Longview Regional Medical Center's Stars over Longview awards.
"She believed that investing in the community you live in and making the quality of life better for others was just what we're expected to do in this world," said her daughter, Rhonda Bullard.
Friends of the longtime community worker remembered a strong, dedicated civic worker with great vision.
"She was someone who kept going when things got tough," fellow Zonta Club member and former State Board of Education trustee Grace Shore said. "She always seemed to have an optimistic, positive attitude, which is something we all ought to do."
Linda Baker and her husband, Dwight, were friends with Jenny and Ron Glass in Huntsville, Ala., before both couples moved to Texas. She described her friend as a genteel woman who maintained her dignity as her health failed.
Ron Glass, Jenny's childhood sweetheart, died in June 2004, but until then, the two couples celebrated every New Year's Eve together, often at one of the local country clubs.
"The last time we went out there, she got out there on the dance floor with Ron, and he had to hold her up," Baker said. "She was so determined. She loved to dance, and Ron loved to dance."
In addition to her work with the American Heart Association, Glass played a role on the local 911 committee, in the upgrade of the ambulance service and the creation of Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center.
Because of her, friends and co-workers said, the county was the first to go beyond that mandate and provide automated external defibrillators to all schools.
Midge LaPorte Epstein, executive vice president for the American Heart Association — Texas Affiliate, lauded Glass' 28 years of work with the association, which included the stint as vice president for East Texas.
"During that time, she made such wonderful contributions to the American Heart Association that helped advance our mission in research and education," Epstein said. "In 2004, we named an award in her honor. It's called the Jenny Glass Tribute award for career service. We did that because of Jenny's impact in her lifetime of service.
"It's become the most treasured award that the staff covets because it's in her honor, and they know what impact she made. It has been my privilege to know Jenny and her family. The whole Glass family is such high quality, and the contributions they have made in the Longview community as well as the state really serves as a model for other families."
Hazel Hickey worked with Glass almost from the time she began working with the heart association.
"Her dedication to the mission of heart was evident always," she said. "I had the joy of working with her and on the committee that put the 911 system in Longview. We sent out thousands of pieces of mail, and she really did organize a campaign that make it happen."
Hickey said Glass was at the forefront of moving Longview's ambulance system to what she termed "grab and run" to an upgraded system.
Another longtime friend, Betty Horaney, called Glass "a remarkable lady."
"She was so full of fun," she said. "She was dependable and worked many years with the heart association, supporting heart research and heart causes. That's how I got to know her."
Horaney remembered it wasn't all work for her friend.
"We had a group that played Mexican Train with dominoes, and she loved it," she said. "We played every other Sunday afternoon.
"She was full of fun, but if she felt something she told you," she said. "We were always honest with each other, and she had a wonderful sense of humor."
Baker also remembered a more casual side to her friend.
"We would get together, and Jenny would lose her business side, and we would giggle like school girls," she said. "She loved to give people gifts. If there was any occasion to give someone a gift, Jenny was going to do it."
Services for Glass will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Longview. The family will receive friends for condolences from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Rader Funeral Home in Longview.
Glass also is survived by daughters Kathy Catalano and Robin Glass.
David Crowson
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Pine Tree board president, 53, dies
The Rev. Tony Chung at Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, who called David Crowson the best board president he's ever had, added this to his assessment of the community leader's value.
"David — let me put it this way — is a man after God's heart," Chung said.
Crowson, 53, died early Tuesday morning while jogging.
"I would say, 'Hey David, are we moving in the right direction?' He'd say, 'God gave you a vision. Just run with it.' He's very, very supportive of my leadership, and we're all very sad today."
Crowson's list of public service accomplishments was long, and those who knew him praised the Longview attorney and Pine Tree school board president for his tireless work and as a great Christian man serving First Baptist Church of Longview as a deacon.
Those who knew him expressed shock Tuesday that the public servant, who stayed in shape and watched what he ate, had died suddenly. Most, such as school board trustee Pat Noon, talked about Crowson's community leadership, his personal integrity and his Christian values.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church of Longview with burial to follow at Rosewood Park cemetery.
"Personally, there are many of us who are going to miss one of the greatest friends we have ever had, said Pine Tree trustee Gil Gillam. "David was one of the most consistent men I've ever known. He was strong in his faith, in his work ethic, and in his desire to serve others.
"As our school board president, his goal was fairness and trying to resolve issues in the best interest of all the students," Gillam said.
Members of Crowson's law firm, Coughlan, Crowson LLP, issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon:
"It is with deep regret we announce the untimely passing of our friend and managing law partner, David L. Crowson. David's life exemplified a true servant's heart. He was universally loved and respected by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed."
Crowson served not only as board president for Pine Tree, but also for the Hiway 80 Rescue Mission. He has served on countless community boards, and for 25 years he taught business law as an adjunct professor at LeTourneau University.
He also has been a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Longview for 25 years.
"It's horrible, just tragic," said Pine Tree trustee Ed Merritt. "I met David in law school, and two of his kids, Drew and Cara, graduated with my daughter Jessica. I loved him and his family. Jane Ann (Crowson's wife of 26 years) and the kids are in my prayers. He was a fine, Christian man."
Gary Boyd, past president of Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, called Crowson's death an "untimely and tragic loss, not only to his family and friends but to those of us who've seen David's great service to his fellow citizens. He is just a man of extraordinary integrity and faith.
"Boy, our hearts and prayers go out to (Jane Ann Crowson). He's just a prince of a guy. Just a prince."
"My first thought is how we'll miss his voice," said Pine Tree trustee Melinda Burns. "Not only his eloquence announcing at sports events, but on the board, where we'll miss his voice of reason, wisdom and encouragement."
Crowson manned the PA system for Pine Tree High School football, basketball and baseball games.
"I was just really shocked," said Kathy Shipp, executive director of the Pine Tree Foundation.
"The foundation was very important to David when we were being organized. We are going to miss him so much."
Pine Tree board member Frank Richards said he'll miss his friend's distinctive brand of humor. "It was dry and quick," he said. "You've got to pay attention.
"I just admired his integrity, honesty and desire to do the right thing."
Judge Holland "Sonny" Haggard
'Sonny' Haggard, former judge, ETCOG official, dead at 86
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A former Marion County judge died Friday in a Shreveport veterans hospital.
Graveside services for Judge Holland "Sonny" Haggard, 86, will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Core cemetery. Haggard served as Marion County Judge from 1970 to 1986.
Capt. Eddy Hindsman of the Marion County Sheriff's Office, who briefly worked with Haggard, said Haggard was an honest person who treated people fairly.
"Everybody knew him," Hindsman said. "Everybody got along with him."
After his judgeship, Haggard served on the executive committee of the East Texas Council of Governments. Claude Andrews, director of aging programs with the council, said Haggard was dedicated to Marion County.
"His main concern was how the executive committee decisions would affect Marion County," Andrews said. "He didn't want the county to lose anything it was entitled."
Wendell Holcomb, director of workforce development programs with the council, said Haggard was a compassionate and concerned man.
"He was a good fellow to work with," Holcomb said.
Haggard served in the U.S. Navy during World War II on the USS Holland. After the war, he owned and operated B&B; Ranch on Caddo Lake as well as the Marion County Farm Store. He also operated Lakeview Lodge with his brother, according to information provided by Haggard-Heaster Funeral Home. Haggard also was active in the Lions, Rotary and Quarterback clubs of Jefferson.
Visitation services will be from 6 to 8 tonight at the Haggard-Heaster Funeral Home, 203 E. Clarksville St. in Jefferson.
