Part 2
Frances Annette Varnado laid the groundwork, "I was raised with 'Family is the most important thing.'"
Her beloved mother Florence Elizabeth Sanders Loftice (1952-2020), who worked at the Post Office and later at Jenkins Lumber Company, raised her three children with the help of her own mother Ayleen Yates Sanders (1917-1996). When Ayleen's husband Albert died in 1978, she --- a retired teacher --- moved in with her daughter Florence's family to help with her grandchildren. And when Ayleen's own mother Pauline Frances Gardner Yates, known as "Aunt Pean," died in 1979, her unmarried sister Emma Gardner also moved in with the family.
Frances explained, "They were always a fixture in our life growing up." No wonder she has beautiful, indelible memories. It was Suzanne La Follette who said, "No one who has not known that inestimable privilege can possibly realize what good fortune it is to grow up in a home where there are grandparents."
Frances described her idyllic childhood with love, and food on the table. There were homecooked meals, every day. Morning fare consisted of oatmeal, grits, pancakes, or biscuits and gravy. After school, there was a healthy homemade snack like bread pudding made from the ends of loaves of bread. After all, "Granny" Ayleen had grown up during the Great Depression. Cornbread or biscuits came with every meal, and Frances learned to make them from scratch at the age of eight.
And her mom made her clothes, by hand. Frances picked the dresses she liked best from the Sears, Roebuck catalog - our dream book back in the day - and Ms. Florence went to TG&Y where Mrs. Crowe helped her select fashionable fabric to make them. Consequently, Frances always had a closet full of pretty clothes, lovingly made by her mother. She reflected, "I wouldn't trade anything for my childhood."
But Ms. Florence instilled more than style in her daughter. She emphasized the value of education so her children could stand on their own two feet. And Ms. Florence practiced what she preached. Remarrying in 1997, after she had raised her children, to Daniel "Danny" Loftice, she went to nursing school, getting her degree and working at Good Samaritan Living Center until retirement. As for Danny, Frances noted, "He was a Godsend to my mom and to us."
So it came as no surprise that Frances took her schooling very seriously. And Ms. Florence was a big believer in keeping busy. Accordingly, Frances was involved in a number of extracurriculars, including basketball, band, softball, Beta Club, Spanish Club, and 4-H Club, as a student at Franklinton High School. But freshman year, a handsome senior caught her eye. Van Keith Varnado, the son of Kenneth and Jean Seal Varnado, hailed from Enon where he was raised with his sister Jeannie Kay Varnado Burris.
Coming out of Mrs. Pauline Bankston's typing class, Frances glimpsed him waiting for Mrs. Tanda Burris's class to start.
They were soon smitten, chatting up a storm during basketball season in 1985. Dating from August of 1986 forward, the high school sweethearts married in April 1990, during Frances's first year of college, at Great-Aunt Camille "Cutie" Gardner Yates's home. Frances's mother and grandmother made her gorgeous dress with hand-sewn pearls and also her beautiful bridal headpiece.
Affable Van had rapidly become the family favorite. It didn't hurt that Frances's Granny, Ayleen Yates Sanders, and Van's grandmother, Minnie Stringfield Seal Hennesy, were friends. But Van won Granny Ayleen over on his own; she was soon cooking for him morning and night, dipping his plate first. Frances fondly recalled, "She loved Van, and he knew it."
Van had an extraordinary role model in his beloved mother, Jean Seal Varnado Turner. It was Frances who enlightened me, "Van is like his Mom." Then, she added something not often heard, "I have the best mother-in-law." But once I met Frances's mother-in-law, I understood. Ms. Jean is a jewel of a lady. Sincere, kind, and giving, she is the kind of mother-in-law young women dream of - a positive influence on family and friends alike. According to Frances, she has never uttered an unkind word. My better half and I fell in love with Ms. Jean, too.
The small world that it is, Jean Seal Varnado Turner was Jay Youman "J. Y." Seal's (1936-1996) sister and his wife Terry Cantrell Seal's sister-in-law. And together with siblings Donna Gauch and Fred Seal, Ms. Jean and Mr. J. Y. were the children of Maurice Colson Seal (1913-1959) and wife Minnie Stringfield Seal Hennesy (1914-1999). Mr. J. Y. was well known in Franklinton as the owner of Western Auto and also Seal's Auto Service, which son-in-law Tim Haik has today, on Cleveland Street in the center of Franklinton.
Also well known in the community, Ms. Jean was the secretary at Enon Elementary School for years, and she worked in the school's computer lab in later years before becoming secretary at Hillcrest Baptist Church. She later married Lester Turner (1949-2013).
Back to Frances and Van, he had graduated from Franklinton High School in 1986. And she had graduated from Franklinton High School in 1989 before matriculating at Southeastern Louisiana University where she earned her Bachelor's degree in 1995, Master's degree in 1998, and Plus 30 (Graduate Hours beyond a Master's) in 2007. Frances recounted, "Van supported me one hundred percent through college, all three degrees." He is indubitably her hero.
But the Varnados' world changed in 1996 when their daughter Ashley Elizabeth Varnado (King) was born. Then, there were three. I know because I am also an only child. It was felicity, all around. Van and Frances turned their total attention to darling daughter Ashley, and the family's future.
