"Myra was known to be the only blonde and blue-eyed child in her family. This set her apart from the rest of the children. She was considered tall in her family, 5'3" or 5'4", and she was slim for a large part of her life. She also was very strong in her feelings for her children, and had a lot of pride in them, especially her sons. She made sure her daughters were always with someone she knew and trusted; this probably comes from her losing her father at a young age, and her own mother protecting her this way.

"Myra was not into the Bible all that much, but you could catch her quoting Bible verses at times. If you made her mad and she happened to say a curse word, she would definitely let you know that you had made her curse. French [Helen's father] cursed all the time and thought nothing of it, but she never allowed herself to get caught up in such things. She tried to set an example for her children: good work habits, moral thoughts and actions, teaching her kids to lead instead of following their friends.

"No matter how tired she was or how trying her day had been, she cooked a meal for her children and we ate. Our meals were not always the best, but they were shared with love. Myra sewed for her daughters and was quite good at cutting out clothes without patterns and also inventing new dress patterns. She would make drawstring purses to match our dresses, as well as slips and panties. She sewed for the neighbors and used the leftover material to make dresses for us. She also made cork purses for the neighbors out of the cork that came inside the caps of bottled Coca-Colas. She crocheted, embroidered and tatted. She made beautiful pillow cases and table covers, and chenille bedspreads when we were so poor we couldn't afford to buy one.

"She lived to be 86 years old and worked until she was almost 80. She wrote poetry from time to time and no doubt, if she'd had the training, she would have been really good at writing. Her daughter, Joyce, inherited this trait. She had a beautiful voice and sang alto. After the older children married and moved away, Myra, French and the younger girls would sing together; French sang bass, Myra alto and the girls soprano. French also had a beautiful voice and played guitar and mandolin; the sons and one daughter could play the guitar and all three daughters took piano. Myra was very dedicated to her husband and he was likewise dedicated to her. French would say, 'Myra was the only one in my life who convinced me I don't love eggs.' He had a temper, but Myra reined it in most of the time by just saying, 'French, hush!'

"When her son's marriage ended, she took her granddaughters and raised them as her own. She dressed them, sent them to school and had them work in her store. She and French took in any members of the family who needed a place to live until better things happened in their lives; not just their children, but other members of the family on both sides. They never complained about this and opened their doors to anyone who needed them.

"Myra always listened to the news and kept up with what was happening in the world, especially when her son was in the service during WWII. She was very upset about General Patton slapping that soldier. She listened to Gabriel Heater and Edward R. Murrow for the news. Although she was very strong, she had a breakdown after losing a baby son when he was 11 months old, and five years later losing her older son in battle in Italy. She overcame that and worked for a few months outside the home."

1. Ralph Alton Sutton; b. 8 Mar 1925; d. 12 May 1944
2. Wilmer Obra Sutton, b. 23 Nov 1926; m. Gladys Horne, Betty Jo Leggett
3. Private
4. Private
5. Nina Faye Sutton, b. 8 May 1936; m. Antonio Barrachina
6. Cecil Eugene Sutton; b. 14 April 1938; d. 16 Mar 1939