Hazel Carroll

Hazel Chambers was born on the Bern Conner place about 5 miles southeast of Evant on May 17, 1923. Her parents were Charlie Chambers and Lillie Mae (Smitherman) Chambers. The old house she was born in was roughly located on the same spot as the current house built by Boyce Conner. Charlie and family lived and farmed on the Bern Conner place about a year. Hazel’s family then moved to the Bee House community on a house next to Bee House creek just a little southeast of the Bee House store and post office. Mom’s sister Alavard was less than 2 years older, having been born in November, 1921. Allie as she was fondly called, was very close to her grandmother Smitherman who lived with the family and when she reached school age, she was very upset about going off to school alone and leaving her Granny. She begged to have her little sister Hazel go with her so she would not be alone. That was OK with Hazel who was excited about school. She had barely turned 5 but the school principal said it would be OK for her to attend. So Mom started school at age 5 at Bee House, going with her sister. Bee House school was just a short walk across the gravel road from the rented house they lived in at the time and the girls had a wonderful time being so close to the school. They could stay and play on the grounds with other kids and go home for lunch with their mother. However, it was not to last. After years of leasing farming land and moving all over the area, Charlie finally found a farm he could buy. The purchase came just a couple of years after they had started school. The location of the farm was about 3 miles south of Bee House. The poor girls found their walk to school, which had been less than a 100 yards away was now like a marathon! They were miserable about this. Hazel told stories about how spoiled and mischievous her brother Charles was, being the only boy in the family. He was also the youngest and was treated royally in the view of her and Alavard. She told how one time he got to go to town alone with his father while the girls had to stay to do chores. He came back with some candy. Instead of sharing with his sisters who were begging him to give some of the pieces to them, he tossed them to his dog Pooch. He was always pulling pranks on his sisters or messing with their personal items. Hazel completed her early years of schooling at Bee House and finished her education at the nearby community of Pearl. They were bussed to Pearl. She wanted to play on the Pearl basketball team but that would have required her to wear short skirts and Charlie, a fervent member and deacon in the Primitive Baptist Church, would not allow her to wear such garb in public, so her dreams of high school athletics were dashed. At this time, school was extended to 12 grades, so Hazel graduated in May, 1941 from Pearl High School. By October, 1941, Hazel was anxious to leave home and be on her own. She learned from relatives that the ‘Egg’ plant in Lampasas was ramping up production producing powdered egg products for the military and was hiring many workers. The jobs offered good pay and lots of hours of work. The relative, Coreen Little, offered to let her live with them in their home near Lampasas to help her save money on transportation since Lampasas was 27 miles from her family home. Hazel and Corrine’s sister, Doris, lived with the Littles and walked a mile to the plant to work. After building up some money from working, Hazel and Doris then rented a place a few blocks from the plant and continued working there until near the end of WWII. Hazel visited her parents about once a month---she would take the bus to Evant where they would meet her. Near the end of the war, Hazel began to notice a change in workers at the plant. Many of the girls she had started with had left over the years for other jobs or to get married and she felt a desire to make a change herself. John Reising, a friend of her father’s, who owned a drug store in Gatesville, had told her father about a job opening at his store and asked if Hazel would be interested in taking it. It was just what she was hoping for and she did so. She rented a room in the home of the Charles Sydow family. She waited on customers and worked behind the counter making sandwiches, sundaes, and shakes. She became one of Mr Reising’s most trusted employees. Sometime in late 1945, a young man, Lee Carroll, having returned from the war in Europe, came into the drug store and renewed acquaintances. Hazel had known Lee and his family for years, since they lived in the nearby Izoro community. The Carroll farm was just a few miles down the same gravel road from the Chambers place. They struck up a conversation and began dating. They were married March 16, 1946. Hazel told of her honeymoon and aftermath. They went to San Antonio and spent one night there enjoying the sights. They returned by way of Lake Buchanan, where Lee took a picture of Hazel against the backdrop of the lake. She said he loved taking pictures and was an excellent photographer. They came home to live for a brief time at Lee’s parent’s house in what amounted to a small storeroom that barely accommodated a bed. Certainly not marital bliss! In a couple of weeks they were able to rent a house on the Reaves place just north of the Peabody schoolhouse where Lee had gone to school. In the summer of 1946, Mr. George Murrah, who owned a farm next to her family’s farm, offered to sell it to the young couple. Hazel and Lee managed to obtain a bank loan and bought it in July, but were unable to take possession before January. To save money, they moved from the rented house into a converted “chicken coop” on her parents’ property until they could move to their new home across the fence. So, on January 1, 1947, with snow on the ground, Hazel and Lee loaded up their wagon, hitched to a team of mules, and drove through the gate separating the 2 farms and took the short trip to their new home where she lived every day of her life until mid-April 2014. Hazel became a homemaker, farm worker, and mother to 2 sons over those years. A full partner to her husband who had to take on outside work as a carpenter to pay the bills and provide for the family. She went on to do part-time work at the local Bee House country store and post office run by her longtime and lifetime friend Mary Caddell. She fondly remembered those years helping Mary and being the “assistant post-master of Bee House.” Hazel and Lee supported their boys at the local school in Evant. Hazel was big on education and pushed her sons hard to read books (which was her own great joy), make good grades and become the first of their families to get college educations. She and Lee followed their sons through their athletic days, going to football and basketball games all over the area and always helped in school activities. Hazel and Lee even chaperoned Wayne’s high school senior trip. After their sons left home and Lee retired from active carpentry work, they settled into the farm and ranch life, raising cattle and goats with Lee doing the occasional carpentry jobs on the side. They looked forward every year to taking vacation trips with their sons. Hazel, who had rarely travelled far from home most of her life, was able to visit 46 of the continental states as well as Canada in those years. Hazel and Lee attended the Peabody Primitive Baptist Church for their entire married life. Her father had once been a deacon at the church and she had many fond memories and made lifelong friends there, many of whom passed on before her. She remembered a lot of history of that church and how her father played an instrumental role in its early beginnings. She and Lee participated in many projects supporting the church. Hazel was a wonderful cook and hostess. She loved having guests to stay for a meal and produced outstanding desserts including cobblers, fruit pies and banana pudding. Lee’s favorite was her apricot cobbler and pies. Many neighbors and workers who helped on ranch projects looked forward to a hardy meal at her table. She became famous among friends and family for her homemade picante sauce. They would beg her to “give us a few extra jars” any time they visited. The sauce became one of her primary Christmas gifts to family over the years. After Lee’s passing in April 2009 end 63 years of marriage, Hazel continued to live by herself on the farm. It was a part of her soul. She valued her independence and kept in close touch with her friends and neighbors mainly with her phone. She kept telling her sons she never wanted to be a burden on anyone. She had been a caretaker for her mother and father and Lee in his later years, so she wanted to avoid being a burden to anyone else. She continued to live in her home, with frequent visits from her sons most weekends and she would go for short stays with them but always wanted to return to her home. Until mid-April of 2014, she was able to do so, but at that point, her ailing heart began to fail her. After a series of hospital stays and rehab efforts over a few months, her poor old heart finally played out and she drew her last breath at 3 a.m. on August 26 with a son at her side. Hazel was a lifelong resident of Coryell County up until those final months. She was a strong and devoted member of her community. Visitation for Mrs. Carroll will be Friday August 29, 2014 from 5 to 7 p.m. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday August 30, 2014 at 10 a.m. at Sneed Funeral Chapel. Burial will follow at Hillsdale Cemetery near Izoro, TX.