My mother, Gussie (Page) Smith, lies next to my father, Virgil George, in Pine Mountain Cemetery in Atascadero, CA. She died in a hit & run accident in So. San Francisco just a few steps away from her apartment sidewalk, killed by a man using alcohol & drugs.
She was born & raised in Marathon, Texas to George Washington and Lilly Frances (Young) Page, early ranchers in the Marathon area. She was one of six children born to the Pages. She married my father on July 2, 1927 in Alpine, Texas. I was the first of their children, born Jan. 30, 1930 in Marathon; James Virgil, (Jim) was born next on Jan. 3, 1932. Son, Michael Wesley, came along on Dec. 16, 1940.
In Dec. 1941, Gussie and her 3 children left Marathon by train to join her husband in California where he was working at a quicksilver mine, the Buena Vista, west of Paso Robles. This was about 3 weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many army troops were on this train and black-out curtains were required on all windows at night. During the day, the soldiers sang and played guitars which kept everyone's spirits up. The family moved to Atascadero in early 1945 and all the Smith children attended Atascadero schools.
My mother was a strong influence on my education, working faithfully with me on such basic school subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic. Through her efforts, I learned to read and write in cursive the summer before I entered second grade at the school in Marathon.
Gussie's maternal great-grandparents were Wm. Jones Simpson & Barbara (Hunsaker) Simpson of Illinois & Missouri who came to Texas in the early 1870s to settle in Bandera County. Grandparents were Elvira (Simpson) & Francis Marion Young; paternal grandparents were Pless & Henrietta (Waggoner) Page.
For more information, read Virgil's biography on Find-A-Grave, memorial no. 19616005.
She was born & raised in Marathon, Texas to George Washington and Lilly Frances (Young) Page, early ranchers in the Marathon area. She was one of six children born to the Pages. She married my father on July 2, 1927 in Alpine, Texas. I was the first of their children, born Jan. 30, 1930 in Marathon; James Virgil, (Jim) was born next on Jan. 3, 1932. Son, Michael Wesley, came along on Dec. 16, 1940.
In Dec. 1941, Gussie and her 3 children left Marathon by train to join her husband in California where he was working at a quicksilver mine, the Buena Vista, west of Paso Robles. This was about 3 weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many army troops were on this train and black-out curtains were required on all windows at night. During the day, the soldiers sang and played guitars which kept everyone's spirits up. The family moved to Atascadero in early 1945 and all the Smith children attended Atascadero schools.
My mother was a strong influence on my education, working faithfully with me on such basic school subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic. Through her efforts, I learned to read and write in cursive the summer before I entered second grade at the school in Marathon.
Gussie's maternal great-grandparents were Wm. Jones Simpson & Barbara (Hunsaker) Simpson of Illinois & Missouri who came to Texas in the early 1870s to settle in Bandera County. Grandparents were Elvira (Simpson) & Francis Marion Young; paternal grandparents were Pless & Henrietta (Waggoner) Page.
For more information, read Virgil's biography on Find-A-Grave, memorial no. 19616005.
My mother, Gussie (Page) Smith, lies next to my father, Virgil George, in Pine Mountain Cemetery in Atascadero, CA. She died in a hit & run accident in So. San Francisco just a few steps away from her apartment sidewalk, killed by a man using alcohol & drugs.
She was born & raised in Marathon, Texas to George Washington and Lilly Frances (Young) Page, early ranchers in the Marathon area. She was one of six children born to the Pages. She married my father on July 2, 1927 in Alpine, Texas. I was the first of their children, born Jan. 30, 1930 in Marathon; James Virgil, (Jim) was born next on Jan. 3, 1932. Son, Michael Wesley, came along on Dec. 16, 1940.
In Dec. 1941, Gussie and her 3 children left Marathon by train to join her husband in California where he was working at a quicksilver mine, the Buena Vista, west of Paso Robles. This was about 3 weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many army troops were on this train and black-out curtains were required on all windows at night. During the day, the soldiers sang and played guitars which kept everyone's spirits up. The family moved to Atascadero in early 1945 and all the Smith children attended Atascadero schools.
My mother was a strong influence on my education, working faithfully with me on such basic school subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic. Through her efforts, I learned to read and write in cursive the summer before I entered second grade at the school in Marathon.
Gussie's maternal great-grandparents were Wm. Jones Simpson & Barbara (Hunsaker) Simpson of Illinois & Missouri who came to Texas in the early 1870s to settle in Bandera County. Grandparents were Elvira (Simpson) & Francis Marion Young; paternal grandparents were Pless & Henrietta (Waggoner) Page.
For more information, read Virgil's biography on Find-A-Grave, memorial no. 19616005.
She was born & raised in Marathon, Texas to George Washington and Lilly Frances (Young) Page, early ranchers in the Marathon area. She was one of six children born to the Pages. She married my father on July 2, 1927 in Alpine, Texas. I was the first of their children, born Jan. 30, 1930 in Marathon; James Virgil, (Jim) was born next on Jan. 3, 1932. Son, Michael Wesley, came along on Dec. 16, 1940.
In Dec. 1941, Gussie and her 3 children left Marathon by train to join her husband in California where he was working at a quicksilver mine, the Buena Vista, west of Paso Robles. This was about 3 weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many army troops were on this train and black-out curtains were required on all windows at night. During the day, the soldiers sang and played guitars which kept everyone's spirits up. The family moved to Atascadero in early 1945 and all the Smith children attended Atascadero schools.
My mother was a strong influence on my education, working faithfully with me on such basic school subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic. Through her efforts, I learned to read and write in cursive the summer before I entered second grade at the school in Marathon.
Gussie's maternal great-grandparents were Wm. Jones Simpson & Barbara (Hunsaker) Simpson of Illinois & Missouri who came to Texas in the early 1870s to settle in Bandera County. Grandparents were Elvira (Simpson) & Francis Marion Young; paternal grandparents were Pless & Henrietta (Waggoner) Page.
For more information, read Virgil's biography on Find-A-Grave, memorial no. 19616005.
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