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Charlotte
 By
Anne (pictured right)
Charlotte
is almost four years younger than I am, and was four years behind
me in school, so we never did many of the same things at the same
time. When I was in Junior High School, she was a 'mere child'
in the 3rd or 4th grade! I graduated from Collierville High School
in 1948, and by that time, she had skipped 7th grade on the advice
of her teachers, so she graduated in 1951.
We walked to school all 12 years except for the occasional time
when Mother would drive us up the hill if it was raining too hard
or was too bitterly cold. Those were the "good old days",
when Collierville School was small, and everyone knew everyone
else.
By
the time she graduated from High School, Alan and I were married
and living in the Panama Canal Zone, where he was stationed with
the Army. I missed all of her graduation excitement, the parties,
gifts, Baccalaureate Service and the Graduation itself. I wasn't
here when she won the Firestone Scholarship that would provide
the funds for her to transfer from Memphis State University to
Southern Methodist University in Dallas. We also missed the Golden
Anniversary Celebration for Grandmother and Grandfather Dean.
Charlotte helped with the party at their house, and it was a lovely
affair.
 When
we came back home from Panama, and settled down in Memphis, she
was in Dallas working toward her Bachelor of Science degree in
Chemistry, and then her Masters Degree following her graduation.
She came home in 1957 to help Mother with keeping Ginny and Ruthanne
so I could give birth to John! When we met her train at the old
Union Station in Memphis, she couldn't believe I was still walking
around pregnant.
 After
SMU
and her Master's Degree work was completed, she came back home,
bought her first automobile and got her first, and only, job as
a chemist at Humko Chemical Company in Memphis. Big John took
her to get her driver's license at the Highway Patrol Office on
Summer Avenue. John's first cousin, Captain Stuart Dean, was working
there, as head of the THP. It was late in the afternoon, and almost
too late to take the driving test. Stuart said, "John, can
she drive?" John replied that she was a good driver, he taught
her himself, so Stuart issued her a license. Charlotte never had
to take the test!
(Those were the GOOD old days!)
Philip
was born when Paul was 15 months old, and Alan was traveling a
lot with his job at that time, so Charlotte often came to our
house from her work at Humko, spent the night and helped me with
the children - she'd rock one baby and I'd rock the other one
to sleep at night. Then she'd go to work the next day, and come
back again that evening.
As
the children got older, she was, and is, the most generous of
all possible Aunts, always seeing to it that they had something
"nice" to wear to church…. Red Blazers and snow
white shirts for the boys and pretty dresses for the girls. Christmas
and Birthdays were her favorite times, and she always went overboard
providing the nicest toys and games. We still have some of the
Tonka Toys that she gave the boys - those wonderful trucks, fire
engines, earth-moving equipment for outdoor sandbox or dirt play.
She
saw to it that the children were well-traveled as they grew up,
too, helping Mother and Big John take them on nice trips to the
Gulf Coast, Charleston, Florida, Colorado, and so on. They would
take two at the time-- Ginny and Ruthanne, or a combination of
the boys, or Ruthanne and John--depending on the destination and
the children's summer activities.
She
was a member of the Tennessee Poetry Society that Great-Aunt Tot
(Gordon Lockhart) founded, and drove Mama and Tot to many meetings,
with both of the older ladies chattering a mile a minute. Charlotte
said she learned to tune them out, so she could concentrate on
driving.
She
had time for a hobby of Photography in her early working days,
when everyone was 'young and strong and healthy'. And she was
an excellent photographer, with fine cameras. She studied the
art, and enjoyed having her nieces and nephews as subjects. As
the family members got older Charlotte devoted her spare time
to them. She took care of Mother in her last years, and virtually
ran the house, doing all the shopping, cooking and everything
else.
When
Mother established our genealogical heritage, Charlotte enjoyed
her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, The Huguenot Society of the
Founders of Virginia in the Colony of Manakin, The Dames of the
Court of Honor, the National Society Colonial Dames of the XVII
Century, the Dames of the Magna Charta, Daughters of American
Colonists and the Jamestowne Society.
After
Mother died, Charlotte has continued to live in our childhood
home, and only retired from her position of Chemist after 37 years.
Now she was able to join the Contemporary Club of Collierville
(of which Mother was a Charter Member), and the Landmark Woman's
Club, and assumed an active role in the United Methodist Women
of Collierville United Methodist Church. Retirement gave her the
opportunity to accept our Uncle O. C. Dean's challenge, "You
ought to be singing in the Choir!", and she joined the Chancel
Choir of Collierville UMC-a rewarding experience.
The
Collierville Christian Writers Group, organized and led by our
dear friend, Marylane W. Koch, has inspired Charlotte to continue
writing poems after a long hiatus. As a student, she had several
pieces published in the Literary Magazine at Memphis State University.
Always
an avid student, she has completed all four sessions of "Disciple"
Bible Study at CUMC, as an active participant in the classes.
Her personal library of books is one to be admired, on Fine Arts,
Birds, Cats, Bible History, Geography, great authors, and on and
on. She enjoys feeding and watching the birds who depend on her
generosity, and will perch on the bushes or wires outside the
back porch and stare at her until she puts out their 'special
sunflower seeds' for them. She enjoys the new fish pond that Paul
installed in the place of the concrete pond that Big John built
back in the early 60s. During the 70s and 80s, Charlotte had yard
cats - by the dozens. At one time there were at least four mama
cats, and they all reproduced regularly. Charlotte knew the genealogy
of each litter, and fed them all royally. She even allowed the
raccoons and opossums to come and share the cats' food, enjoying
their antics as she watched from the back porch.
Computers
opened a whole new world for Charlotte, and she learned fast.
Now she enjoys emailing friends and family, playing games, and
looking up research questions.
Digital
Television, and later DVR, has been a joy for her, as well, along
with Microwave cooking!
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