A fond remembrance of two special women
I could call this a treatise on the two M’s.
They would be familiarly known as Mary Elizabeth and Mamie.
As some who are familiar with my background can relate, Mary Elizabeth Parker Proctor and Mamie Russey Brown Schneck were my maternal and paternal grandmothers.
Mary Elizabeth was an astute businesswoman who busied herself with sewing and real estate projects while her husband, John Marvin Proctor, studied medicine at Tulane
University in New Orleans and she saw to the well-being of their only child, Mary Virginia. Early in my growing-up years. I learned that she was fondly called “T” by her circle of friends because a caretaker who tended to her needs noted how tiny she was at birth and into her early years.
“T” and Doctor John built a comfortable home on Quapaw Avenue and I cannot count the number of times I stayed overnight there and insisted on tickling the ivories of the grand piano she kept in the formal living area.
When I queried her about the identity of the handsome gentleman in the large portrait hanging in the same room, she insisted it was the infamous pirate, Jean Lafitte. I believed her, of course, thinking “Grands” don’t lie, but there was always a niggling doubt that this was true.
To this day, I recall with great fondness how she and I went shopping in downtown Hot Springs and how strongly she felt about my getting a higher education, even if she did not feel journalism was fitting for a young woman.
While still in high school, my mother related that “T” was so pleased to have a granddaughter that she started investing in Treasury bonds to help fund my time in college.
She taught me the basics of bridge, treated me to a summer month in Estes Park, Col., and made certain I came to know my cousins who were the progeny of her sisters. A person of character and strength, she showed me that it’s not who you are that counts but what you do for others that matters in the long run.
Grandmother Mamie married young, hoping that her attorney husband would practice law in New Orleans. When he opted to stay on his parents’ farm in St. Mary Parish, La., she and her young son, my dad, moved back to Hot Springs where she felt exceedingly more comfortable and immersed herself in church and social activities.
She and her second husband, George Schneck, lived in a duplex on Woodbine Avenue, where my parents and I also dwelled. Lucky for me, Mamie always welcomed my presence, even in the kitchen where she busily concocted one delicious dish after another. It was from her that I acquired a passion for movies and she often accompanied my gal pal, Mollie Muldoon, nee Lollis, and me to the latest releases at the Malco or Paramount theaters. She and Uncle George also took Mollie and me on road trips to Little Rock where we lunched at one of her favorite restaurants.
Mamie was also a strong-willed woman and I realized that after she had major back surgery at the well-regarded Oschner’s Hospital in the Crescent City. My father and Uncle George accompanied her on that train trip to Louisiana and brought her home in a full-body cast where she spent months in recovery from the difficult medical procedure. In that time period, I read to her from Photoplay Magazine and we listened to some of her favorite radio programs.
While the operation left her with a limp, it did not dissuade her from enjoying outings and special occasions with friends and family.
On this Mother’s Day weekend, I continue to regard these two individuals highly and give the good Lord my heartfelt thanks for their love and mentorship.