CAIN

I am Judy Beth Cunningham Easley. I was born in Seminole TX in 1945, the second of three daughters of Marie Edgmon and John W. Cunningham. My Grandmother was Etta Cain Edgmon. My dad worked in the oil field and we moved several times when I was small so that he could find work. Our final move was from Snyder TX to Hobbs NM when I was in the first grade. My sisters, Marcille and Vickie, and I grew up in a very traditional middle class family. I always loved school and did very well, especially in math and science.

My Mother loved to be outside, and spent many hours working in her rose garden. She made most of our clothes, as I am sure most people did back then. The first time I remember getting a store bought dress was for my father's parents 50^th wedding anniversary when I was about 14 or 15.

My Dad loved to hunt and fish, and I was the boy he never had. He would take us girls to the rig with him and sometimes we would shoot at rabbits or hunt arrowheads. This was a special treat to get to go with him. He would stop and buy “rat” cheese, salami and crackers and we would “picnic” in the men's work shed on the job site.

One time when I was very young, we went with our Mother and Dad to the rig at night, and while we were sitting in the car, the well blew out. Rocks and dirt were raining down all around. It was a very scary incident and left a lasting impression!

When I was 15, my Dad was coming home from work late at night from the rig with some other men (they were car pooling) and the car he was riding in had some trouble. They pulled over to the edge of the road and my Dad got out of the car and was putting water into the radiator of the car with water he got from beside the road. A drunk hit head-on into the car, crushing my Dad in between. He lived several hours, but the Doctors did not have our modern knowledge and were unable to save him. It was a great loss to our family, and we were never the same. Our Mother, who had never worked, had to find work and support us. She went to work for Singer Co. where she sold sewing machines, made covered belts and covered buttons for the public and gave sewing lessons. It was a very difficult time, and our Mother never got over the loss of our Dad and never remarried.

I married right out of high school and two years later we had our daughter Donna. We moved to Victoria TX from Hobbs NM when Donna was a year old. He worked for BJ Services and I worked as a bookkeeper. He was later transferred to Corpus Christi. We were married seven years and divorced.

I went to work in Corpus Christi as a payroll clerk for a construction company that did general contracting work. I met Jay while I was working there. Jay was a commercial roofer in Victoria TX and did sub-contract work through the general contractor I worked for.

Jay and I dated for three years, and married in June 1975. I had my daughter, Donna who was 10 and Jay had two sons ages 16 and 21 and a daughter age 22. I was 30 years old and Jay was 46 years old.

Jay lived in Victoria TX where he has spent his entire life. Jay opened a roofing company in 1958 and retired from there after 46 years. After we married, we made other investments and I went to work at his office in 1987 keeping the books for these other investments.

We ranch in Cuero, where we now live. Cuero is a small town (pop about 6500) about 25 miles from Victoria. Jay spends most of his time keeping up with the ranch work. There is always something to be done; equipment broken down, fences to be repaired, cows to work, hay to bale, on and on. We are in the process of hiring a man to help, and we pray he will work out as Jay is 74 years old and cannot do it all by himself any longer.

We belong to a Baptist church, although it is more a non-denominational church. The church has about 2600 members and is about 11 years old. We are both “born-again” Christians and active in our church.

We spend a lot of our free time taking our horses to various places to trail ride. We just returned from two weeks in New Mexico where we rode in the mountains. We have been going to the same place in New Mexico for about 18 years. We have Missouri Foxtrotters, which are gaited horses. This means they usually have a very smooth ride.

My time is filled with grandchildren (we have 11 between us), horses, keeping up with household chores, keeping the yard and taking care of all our bookkeeping. We have a small office next to our home now where I still keep about eight sets of books. I also have a few chickens and peacocks.

My love is antiques, although I don't have many. I collect some pottery, toothpick holders, and gold & white china lids. I have found a lady in Pennsylvania who makes redware plates and I plan to collect a few of her plates. I enjoy going to antique shows and mostly just looking.

My daughter, Donna was in an automobile accident when she was a freshman in high school while riding to school with friends. The car she was riding in was rear ended and caught on fire. She was in the hospital a couple of months with burns on both legs, arms and face. It was a hard time for us, but we had so many of our church friends praying for her and we praise Him for answered prayers. She is now 38 years old and just finished the nursing program in Victoria. She took her state test in August and passed, so she is now officially an RN. She will begin to look for work soon, but for now just relaxing after spending the last two years studying very hard.

Donna and her husband Greg have two children. Cameron who will be 15 in November, and Rebecca who will be 11 in October. They live in Victoria, so we get to see them often. Cameron is playing JV football and Rebecca is playing volleyball.

Jay’s oldest son is an attorney in San Antonio, married with two children, one they adopted and one done the old fashioned way. His daughter lives in Rockport TX and has three children, and Jay’s youngest son lives in San Antonio where he is an executive for HEB Grocery and has 4 daughters.

One of the things I am curious about is a “birth defect” within the family. Several family members have or had little toes that permanently lay across the next toe—the fourth toe, including my grandmother Etta Edgmon, my Mother, my daughter, my granddaughter, my Uncle Karl and my Aunt Peggy. I do not have the “deformity” and neither do either of my sisters, but I would like to know if Etta Cain’s parents or siblings did.

I have always looked up to Judy and admired her. When we were growing up we explored the outdoors and I always walked right behind her. She has always led the way. Our birthdays are on the same day a year apart. I always thought it was great to be born on her birthday, but she really wanted her own special day.

Judy has always been an outdoors type of person. She is a real fisherman and has even made her own lures. She rides her horses and goes deer hunting. There just doesn't seem to be anything that she can't do. She can tell you all about the birds and wildlife there on their property and name all the wild flowers. She always has an interesting tale to tell you about the critters on her place. I just love to go and visit with her and she always has something fun planned to do.

We both like to go to the antique stores. She collects toothpick holders and pottery. She has a great collection and has them displayed very nicely in her home. Judy has a very nice home and she makes everyone feel at ease and welcome there.

She takes her guests to pick dewberries and then makes a cobbler for a reward. She will take you horseback riding and even saddle and unsaddle your horse for you. We go arrowhead hunting and she lets you keep what you find.

Judy and Jay are very active in their church and they are an inspiration to me. I feel so blessed when I am around them.

What can I say about Judy? Growing up with her was fun, playing teacher with the chalkboard, playing dress up, playing "Simon Says" with our cousins, hide and seek and all those things. She had a lot of friends as a teenager and has remained in touch with them. She has been a wonderful sister and friend.

My mom, Judy Easley, is a very caring person. She is constantly doing things for other people. She is on the go, always. She loves antiques and absolutely loves going to the big antique shows in Round Top TX. She collects antique toothpick holders and Abbington ceramic pieces. We had the opportunity a couple of years ago to fly up to Massachusetts for the big show at Brimfield—it was so much fun! Although, she is considered retired, she isn't. She keeps all the books for all of their many business adventures and is continually adding to them. She is the grandmother to two natural grandchildren (mine: Cameron 15 and Becca 11) and to nine step-grandchildren (she's been married to Jay for 28 years). She enjoys being involved with her grandkids; she is always coming to see them perform at school or in sports. She is very active in her church; they belong to a couple of small groups (bible study) and also attends a woman's bible study. She loves to work in the yard, mowing, planting or whatever needs to be done. She is also a wonderful rider; she loves to ride her horse and does this whenever possible with friends and her husband Jay. They go on an annual trip for 2-3 weeks to New Mexico just to ride horses.

Here's an example of her caring way. She has a housekeeper, who is young, single and has five children. This lady was renting an apartment with no air conditioner and not the best situation for all six of them. My Mom found a home for sale, purchased it and remodeled it for this family. The lady does pay a small amount for rent, but if it were not for my Mom's actions, her children would not be in a home that was safe and comfortable. Thru her church she asked several people to help this family and the home was completely furnished for the family. Judy is always the go-to person if someone is in need, she will always go that extra mile for people.

In one sentence, Judy is a hard working, caring, loving mom, wife and grandmother.