More People of Old Sugar Land

Click the image below to view an album showing more images of people of old Sugar Land.

 

Undated photo of Rosie Syblik Jansen, long-time resident of Sugar Land.

News & Updates

I regret to report that long-time Sugar Land resident, Shirley Phelps Laird, aged 96 passed away recently. My sincerest condolences to Tommy, Karen, and the extended Laird family. Lots of people will miss her.  Click here to view an obituary.

Mrs. Laird

Last time I posted a photo of Dr. E. E. "Dubbo" Jenkins. Pam Helmcamp Clark recently sent me a notice that his son, Bob Jenkins, died recently. Bob lived very briefly in Sugar Land, but he has lots of relatives still living in the area. My condolences to his extended family for their loss.  Click here to view an obituary.

My friend and classmate Marsha Smith noticed that Carrin Mauritz Patman died recently. Her mother was an early superintendent of Sugar Land ISD back in the 1920s. She too was named Carrin. She died giving birth to her daughter. I didn't know that Carrin (daughter) was married to Wright Patman's son. Those of you who know Texas political history will recognize Wright Patman as an influential figure in that part of our state history. Click here to read an obituary.

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Some of you may know that the City of Sugar Land has renamed the old Main Street bridge, the Annette Williamson Wise Bridge, in honor of her commitment and service to our local community. They will hold a celebration on Saturday, June 30. Click here for more information.

Finally, some of you have followed the story of a lost cemetery discovered in Telfair on land where FBISD is constructing a new technical training center. The site is at University Blvd. and Chatham Ave. There will be much more on this as the story develops. Click here to view a local newspaper article.

More People of old Sugar Land

Click the image to view an album of images of people of old Sugar Land. They come from photos Tommy Laird found among his recently deceased mother's collection of memorabilia. There is also a photo of her father Jamie Farrell Wood posted on Facebook. (Thanks, Tommy and Jamie.) Click the image to view the album.

 

Undated photo of J. T. Farrell (SLHS '46).

More Images of Old Sugar Land

Click the image to view an album of images of old Sugar Land. They come from postcards Tommy Laird found among his recently deceased mother's collection of memorabilia. Click the image to view the album.

 

Undated photo of the home economics building at old Sugar Land High School.

John Pirtle's Oral History

John Pirtle was born in 1931 and graduated from Sugar Land High School in 1949. His family lived on "Rat Row" (old Imperial Blvd.), which is now covered by the expanded Nalco plant. Time has made sweeping changes to the town John grew up in, but his memories are still vivid and cherished. Read his interview to get a taste of Sugar Land back then.

Click the image below to read John Pirtle's account of his life in Sugar Land.
 

More People of Old Sugar Land

Click the image to view the album of photos.

 

T. C. Rozelle, Jr. in 1916 at home on Sartartia Plantation.

Fort Bend Star Articles About Sugar Land History.

The Fort Bend Star ran two articles about Sugar Land history in its recent issue. The first recounts Sugar Land's successful transition from a company town to a municipality.

The second article is about re-installation of a 1937 plaque on the renovated Central Unit building, which now is home to the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.

Click the images below to view the articles.

Elected city officials at inauguration in 1959.

Plaque restored to former prison building. (Image courtesy of HMNS at SL.)

Expansion of the City Park in Mayfield Park

On Saturday, May 12th, the City of Sugar Land hosted an opening ceremony for the newly expanded city park in Mayfield Park.  I took a video camera with me and shot the following short video. It's a very pleasant setting. Click the image to view the 3-minute video.

News & Updates

Thank you, Mary Lee Brodecky Sebesta, for sending me a link to Mrs. Patsy Guerrero's obituary. (I mentioned her death in an earlier post, but didn't have a link to her funeral notice.) Click here to view the obituary. My sincerest condolences to the extended Guerrero family for the loss of their loved one.

Many of you know Lakeview Elementary celebrated the centennial of its campus (former site of Sugar Land School) last week. Click this link to view photos from the event, which was a big success.

Others of you may have heard that FBISD's current facilities plan includes an option of closing LVE and merging its student body with Meadows Sugar Mill Elementary. Click here to view the schedule of public meetings for community feedback on the facilities plan. Click here and go to page 11 of the plan and view the details regarding merging Meadows Sugar Mill and Lakeview Elementary Schools.

Aerial Images of Sugar Land

Click the image below to view a selection of aerial photos included in Images of America: Sugar Land, Texas. from Arcadia publishing company.

 

Industrial Park looking northwest from above Hwy. 90A.

News & Updates

I'm very sorry to report the death of 4 old Sugar Landers. 

Donald Brooks in 1947.

The first is Donald Brooks, who passed away on February 28th. Here is an obituary. Donald was a long-time employee at Imperial Sugar Company.

 Charlie Tise in 1947.

The second is Charlie Tise, who died last Friday (March 16th). He and his wife Frances retired to Wimberley, but their connections to Sugar Land were always close. Here is an obituary for Charlie. 

 

 Frankie McFadden in 1947.

  

The third is Frankie McFadden, who died on March 17th. I think  he lived in Spicewood near his daughter Kelly, who cared for him the past few years. His father was the third mayor of Sugar Land (1968-1972). Unfortunately, I don't have an obituary.

I don't have much on the fourth person, but she was Vickie and Patsy Guerrero's mother. Mrs. Guerrero was 97-years old/young and a long-time resident of Sugar Land. I will try to find more information and include it in a future post.

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I want to make one final reminder of the centennial celebration at Lakeview Elementary on Saturday, March 24th. 

(Click to enlarge the image.)

Here is a map to show parking & shuttle locations. (There will be no public parking at the school.)

(Click to enlarge the image.)

Here is a news item on development at old Central Unit 1 that appeared in the recent edition of the Sugar Land Sun.

And, here's another news item on a couple of notable old Sugar Landers: James and Mary Jo Patterson have been named honorees for the 2018 Fort Bend County Fair. Congratulations!

Mayfield Park History

I want to thank Fred LaMaster for sending me a link to this Facebook post made by his niece, Vickie Lynell Evans, who lives in Mayfield Park. Note that she mentions Aline McClemore, who in 1961 was the first resident to buy a home in Mayfield Park. I have the  photo below which appeared in The Fort Bend Mirror.

Aline McClemore is shaking hands with Bill Little (Sugarland Insdustries). Beside  her is Ted Kosse, the contractor who built her home. On the far right is Bob Womack, manager of Imperial Insurance Agency.

News & Updates

I have had no time over the past few months to update this blog, therefore I have several items of sad news to report. I hope I haven't missed anything, but if I have, I'll catch up in future posts. 

I learned recently that Ellie Nichols passed away. Louise Gau and Charlie Nichols are her living children. Click here to see an obituary for Mrs. Nichols.

Mary Louise Johnston, mother of Marilyn Bates Moore, Terry Bates, and Debbie Johnston passed away in October. (I didn't hear about her death until a few weeks ago.) She was a long-time employee at Imperial Sugar Company. Her husband Reagan worked at Nalco for many years. Here is an obituary for Mrs. Johnston.

I also learned that Jane Broughton Schiller (MCHS '56) passed away in December. Diane Broughton Lundell, Joan Broughton Vaccaro, and Bill Broughton are her siblings. Here is an obituary for Jane. (If you view the full version, note the accompanying photo gallery.)

My classmate and friend, James 'Happy' Barker (DHS '68) died in December. Here is an obituary for him. (If you view the full version, note the accompanying photo gallery.)

Ronnie 'Rusty' Moffett (DHS '62) passed away late last year. (Note there will be a memorial services on February 3rd.) I don't have an online obituary, but Rusty's classmate, John Martin, sent me this information:

Ronnie "Rusty" Moffett lost his two  year battle with brain cancer on December 4, 2017. He was a long time resident of Alvin and Sargent. He was born on September 20, 1943 in Jennings, Louisiana to Joe and D'eva Moffett. His family moved back to Texas when he was an infant.

Rusty was married to Catherine Shinsky Moffett for 42 years. His blended family consisted of Sunday Moffett Doebbler and husband Tom, Craig Warley and wife Trish, Carol Warley Ray and husband John. Grandchildren Trey Doebbler, Summer Doebbler, Marissa Warley Cardin and husband Louis, and Nicholas Warley, Janie and Jackson Ray. Great-grandchildren Cadence and Kenneth Cardin.

Rusty graduated from Dulles High School and attended Wharton Junior College. He worked for over thirty years at Tuboscope  and retired in 2009.  He then worked part time at Tractor Supply and O'Reillys in Alvin. He loved to fish, collect antiques, and working on his historic home.

Join family and friends in a celebration of Rusty's life February 3, 2018 at Elks Lodge, W. Airport , Stafford, Texas, 77477 from 1-4 PM. Please bring your favorite dish for a pot luck meal.

Mary Morales Camacho, aged 95, passed away on Thanksgiving Day. She was a real old-time Sugar Lander. I haven't found an obituary for Mrs. Camacho, but click here to read an oral interview she did with the Fort Bend County Historical Commission.

Another long-time Sugar Land resident, Darrell Pamplin, died on November 29th. Mr. Pamplin was an old Sugar Land enthusiast and long-time resident of The Hill. Click here to view his obituary.

Louis Mutina (DHS '67) died very suddenly on January 20th. Click here to view an obituary for him.

Charles 'Pete' Coburn passed away just a few days ago.

Pete Coburn

I received this obituary from Pete's daughter:

Charles A. “Pete” Coburn, age 84, of Alvin, Texas passed away Wednesday, January 24, 2018. Pete was born on February 12, 1933 in Sugarland, Texas. He worked in the Fire Protection and Safety Industry for his entire career, also serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. Pete was a member of the National Fire Protection Association, the American Society of Engineers, and served as a training specialist for Texas A&M. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Alvin. Pete retired from both Monsanto Chemical and Sterling Chemical. He was an avid gardener and deer hunter. Pete was preceded in death by his parents Charles Arthur Sr. and Mary, as well as 3 older siblings.

Pete is survived by Marilynn, his wife of 63 years, his daughter, Vivi Skeen and husband Jack, son Chad Coburn and wife Janet sister, Weesie Lubojasky, 5 grandchildren, Brooke, Nick, Kelsey, Keeley, and Korey, and his great grand-daughter, Sadie Lynn, as well as numerous other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be from 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Monday, January 29, 2018 at Scott Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at Scott Funeral Home. Graveside services will be at 2:30 P.M. Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at Davis Greenlawn cemetery in Richmond, Texas.

Arrangements under the direction of the Scott Family, 1421 East Hwy 6, Alvin, Texas 77511. (281) 585-1000 www.scottfuneral home.net.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Alzheimer’s Association at 2242 W. Holcombe, Houston, T, 77030-2008 www.alz.org.

My sincerest condolences to all these families who have lost love ones.

I have some happy news to report, too.  T. V. Abercrombie, Jr. (DHS '64) and Robbie Womack (DHS '67) celebrated 50 years of matrimony with a cruise to Alaska. They have 4 children and 5 grandchildren. They are enjoying life in Navasota. Congratulations -- they seem much too young to be married for 50 years.

Click here to read an article about Ralph Villareal, a home town hero.

A final item, which I really enjoyed. I got a note from Art Montemayor, who must have stumbled across this post while surfing the Internet, because he sent me this message:

Chuck:

Being a BOI raised in Galveston, I enjoyed reading your comments on Manuel’s Cafe because it brought back sweet memories. I worked for Manuel and his brother at the cafe on 61st and Seawall boulevard during summer month’s in the 1950s when I was in High School. Manuel trained and had me clean the large, hand-selected, fresh flounders he received almost daily and taught me how to make a surgical cut down the top of the fish and extract all the back bone and ribs in one quick and efficient procedure. The result would be passed on to Manuel’s assistant who would inspect the fish and pass it on to Manuel who would prepare it and stuff it with his secret, delicious stuffing. The finished, spicy, deliciously cooked product was out of this world. I have looked and tasted so-called stuffed flounder in almost every seafood restaurant in the Houston and Galveston area and have never again tasted a stuffed flounder that could come close to what Manuel produced.

After graduating from Texas A&M in 1960, I went overseas and worked in a lot of countries, coming back in mid-1970s to discover that Manuel had sold the restaurant. Whatever happened to his secret recipe is something I would dearly love to find out about. I remember Manuel’s menu well. I identify it as the one we worked with in the summer of 1954. Yes, a large stuffed flounder the size of a large frying pan cost $1.75! Incredible ... I dearly hope Manuel didn’t take his recipe with him to the big kitchen in the sky.

This near-random connection with the past made my day.  Thanks for responding, Art.

The Sugar Land Heritage Museum & Visitor Center Is Now Open

It's taken considerable time and effort over the past few months, but Sugar Land's Heritage Museum & Visitor Center was officially opened last Saturday, January 27, 2018.  There will be more about our new facility in the future, but for now here are the relevant details:

Location: It's on the 2nd floor of the old Container Warehouse in Imperial Market, the old Imperial refinery site. (The street address is 198 Kempner St.) The building is behind the tall, cream-colored silos. The Children's Discovery Center is on the 1st floor.

Hours: Monday from noon to 5:00 and Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 6:00. Closed Sundays.

 Admission: Free.

Click here to see the Sugar Land Heritage Web site. Click here to see the Visit Sugar Land Web site. Both organizations have pages on Facebook.

Here are a few videos of the opening:

Link to promotional video for the opening. 

Link to short video of the visitor center & front gallery in the museum.

Link to video of ribbon cutting.

More People of Old Sugar Land

More People of Old Sugar Land. Click the image to view the album.
 

Gilbert Uresti (DHS '62)

Harvey News & Updates

I haven't left the house since Saturday, and even then it was a half-mile trip to the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation to make certain everything was okay. 

My best guess is that old Sugar Land is almost back to normal. 

Emergency Contact Info

Here is some useful information from Mary Lee Sebesta and Wanda Benge. (Thanks!) 

FEMA

Thank you Kathy Stewart Ezell who works for FEMA for all this valuable information!!

Homeowners.... You must go through your insurance company first.....FEMA comes in behind your insurance for further possible assistance... You must register 1800-621-3362.

If you lost income because you can't go to work... Call FEMA 1800-621-3362 and register for disaster

unemployment.

If your vehicle flooded out in the storm.... You'll need to have liability coverage on your vehicle at the time of the disaster, your title & registration for FEMA (1800-621-3362)to pay. 

If you have full coverage you must file with your insurance company first.

If you're under mandatory evacuation... Call FEMA and register... You will get up to 2 months of rental assistance at the fair market value of your area.

If you have bills you are behind in or if you have some coming due you can call them EVERY COMPANY is pushing back due dates & some are even credited full months of service if youre in Houston or surrounding areas. My friend just got 3 months no car note w/toyota due to weather & another friend who has chevy got car note credited for 2 months! Call your light companies , phone companies ,cable companies whoever and get the extra months to give yourself time to come back from this disaster!! If you don't need this info then disregard but share. Never know who this can help.. All you have to tell them is you are located in Houston or surrounding counties and was affected by the hurricane... A lot of them are already aware of whats going on here and have policies in effect to help us.

There is a free app to help neighborhoods coordinate their recovery. It's called Next Door. Click here to find it on iTunes. Click here to find it at Google Play.

Sugar Land

Here is a link to the City of Sugar Land's page on storm info. Click this link to access the page. 

Here is a short clip of drone video Tommy Laird sent me. (Thanks, Tommy.) It shows Sugar Mill on August 27th, which now seems like a long time ago. I was a little confused when I first saw this, but I can tell it was shot on the western side of Sugar Mill. At one point you can see the pool near Burney and Ragus Lake Dr. 

Click this link to view the video. The map below will help you identify the area.

 
Fort Bend County & Brazos River

The major issue now is the Brazos River.  Here's a link to a the National Weather Service station at Richmond, which reports on the river's height. Click here to view the link.  As you can see the river should crest tomorrow.

Here is a link to drone footage shot by the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management.  Unfortunately, a lot of it looks exactly like last year's flood.  Click here to view the list of videos.

Fire Ants

And last but not least, an interesting video on Fire Ants. Click here to view the short video.

People of Old Sugar Land

Thank you, Mark Schumann, for posting on Facebook many of your family photos. They are terrific. I'd also like to thank Elaine Cantu Bauer for posting some of her family photos, which I've included here. Click the image below to see their photos.

 

St. Theresa Catholic Church in the February 1960 Snowfall.

   

The next items are clips from my family's home movies. The first is a repeat, showing the summer, or spring pre-school camp at Sugar Land High School in 1953. The location is the Lakeview campus, which is now Lakeview Elementary. We're under the trees just a few yards southeast of the gym. Lakeview Drive is behind the camera.

SL Pre-schoolers in 1953.

  

The next clip is also from 1953. It shows a Kelly-Salter family gathering at 214 Brooks St., which was my grandparents' home. 

 

C. E. Kelly, Sr. clowning in front of the movie camera in 1953.

Sugar Land Photos, 2005

Barbara Wadzuk donated some of her photos to the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation a couple of months ago. (Thank you, Barbara.) Among them were photos she took while touring the town in 2005. I thought they were very appealing - the town seemed to sparkle that day. 

Click the image below to view a selection of Barbara's photos.

First St. looking east from Main St.

More People of Old Sugar Land

I've stretched the topic a little, but for good reasons. Click the image below to view the photo album. Be sure to turn on the captions option.

The Schumann kitchen on 6th St. back in the early 1970s.

  

I've posted items on the aircraft observation group in Sugar Land during WWII. Jackie James has kept her mother's certificate of appreciation for serving in the group. You can see it below.

I've talked to my mother about this. They had a similar group out at the Humble Camp. She said kids were allowed in the group, and when they were on watch they reported almost everything that flew in the air. She said the operator at the other end was always respectful and polite. He or she never told them to cut out the useless chatter. Who knows if they ever wrote down what  children called in, but they made them feel they were part of the war effort.

 

Certificate awarded to Miriam James for service in Sugar Land's aircraft observation group during WWII.

   

The final item was a surprise. I never knew former council woman, Cyril Hosley's family was connected to the Hoggs and Bayou Bend. Fascinating. Click the image below to read an article on her grandmother's employment with Ima Hogg at Bayou Bend.

Cyril Hosley on the right with her sister Carol and grandmother, Velma Arisman Beasley at Bayou Bend in 1949.

More Images of Old Sugar Land

Click the image below to view a photo album of images of old Sugar Land.

   

Mr. & Mrs. Pilz with Kate & Joe.