Kissin’ Kuzzins

(1) Recently the capable and competent Angelina County Genealogical Society newsletter editor Jamie Carter Bollich ran this story in our newsletter Echoes Through the Pines I had written for the October edition of the Nacogdoches area newspaper Around the Town owned by David Stallings:
October 12, 1954 is the birthday for two people I know in Lufkin: Ina Jane Thames and Dee Winston. What follows is the story of some events that happened to me with regard to the Thames family, with whom I have a special relationship, as you will see. A few years ago, while waiting for a funeral to begin, I discovered Dee Winston shared the same birthday with Ina Jane. So, I hope you both had a happy birthday, ladies!
In late August of 1974 I loaded up everything I owned except my baseball card collection and my .22 rifle and headed to Dallas on a Saturday to start at Dallas Theological Seminary; it all fit perfectly in my white 1965 Corvair—the trunk full of books and clothes and the back seat laden with my two-drawer file cabinet. On arriving in late afternoon, I clambered up to the third floor of Lincoln Hall, formerly a YWCA dorm building, and learned where my dorm room was—right next door to a doctor’s son from London, Ontario named Bob Scrimgeour. Because Bob had a date with a woman from London that night, I didn’t get to talk to him long, but we connected.
Since the next day was Sunday, I went to the shower to get ready to go to church and passed Bob in the hallway on the way back to my room. I was incredulous when he said: “Last night I met the man who delivered you.” Believe it or not, at an event at Southern Methodist University he had met Dr. Thames, Ina Jane’s Dad, who had in fact been the doctor who delivered me. I understood at the time that he and his wife were there because Ina Jane’s
sister was attending SMU.
Fast forward forty-four years to an evening at Starbuck’s in Lufkin. I was having coffee with a friend when I saw Ina Jane drive by the patio. Flagging her down, I asked her to come talk to us, whereupon I recounted the story of how Scrimgeour met her dad the first night after I had arrived in Dallas. Then I said: “Her parents were there because her sister was attending SMU.” Unhesitatingly Ina Jane responded: “No, Dickie, my sister was not attending there then. She is five years younger than me.” (Ina Jane graduated from high school in 1972). Then, after forty- four years of telling the story wrong, I discovered that the reason her parents were there was because Ina Jane’s mother was an alumna of SMU.
Two morals accrue from this story. First, it is in fact a small world. Who would ever have thought that my next-door neighbor in the dorm would have met the doctor who delivered me the night after I arrived? Second, keep telling your stories, and maybe one day you will get your facts straight!
When Jamie emailed it to Linda Jamison, Chairman of the Liberty County Historical Commission, Linda responded with this:
“Read the latest “Echo” and thought I would add to your story. Dollie Thames Stone, sister of Dr. W.D Thames was a dear friend and my Jr High English teacher. We sat together for years in the Methodist Church until she passed away a few years ago. A wonderful woman. Had met her sister, Flora but not the doctor. Yes indeed, it is a small world. Linda”
To submit an entry to this column, email it to dixonhershel51@gmail.com by phone to (936) 671-1419 or by mail to Kissin’ Kuzzins P. O. Box 151001 Lufkin Texas 75915-1001 For a book review, mail a complimentary copy to the address just listed.