"Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;"
--"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred Lord Tennyson
A wealth of Washington Parish residents succumbed in the spring of last year. As I mentioned last week, I have penned columns in the interim, paying tribute to close friends and family. But I am obliged to remember more locals, those that I once knew though sadly not well enough. While I wish that I had asked them to "sit for a spell," the memory that I do have, while scant, is detonated with demise. And I wish to honor each with reverence and appreciation.
Benny "Ben" Morgan, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, passed away on April 9 at age ninety. A native of Washington Parish and a career Navy man, serving during the Korean Conflict and also during the Vietnam War, he was the son of Iddo Otis and Della Mae Givens Morgan. Ben was the brother of Clayton Morgan, Glyn Morgan, Charline Miller, Evelyn Stafford, and Helen Erwin. And he was married to his high school sweetheart Christine Varnado Morgan (1934-2023). I lamentably wrote about her this time last year. The Morgans were active members of First Baptist Church where Mr. Ben was a deacon and where I knew both of them. The Morgans were the parents of Valerie (Dan) Mervine and Clifford (Connie) Morgan. Mr. Ben was predeceased by his daughter Jowana Marie Morgan.
The month of April also took Yvonne Margaret Crowe, at age ninety-six, on its last day. Frankly, if folks don't remember Ms. Yvonne, they aren't from Franklinton. She wasn't a native either, but she could have fooled me. For more than forty years, she was a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church where I knew her during Vacation Bible School. I also knew Ms. Yvonne at T G &Y and Winn Dixie where she worked for many years. In addition, she provided childcare in her home and worked at Stafford Oil Company. Always joyful and kind, she was a blessing to Franklinton. The wife of Coy Crowe, Sr., Yvonne was the mother of surviving children Debra (Danny) Smith, Yvette (Marc) Brewer, Dorinda Magnuson (James Guay), Coylean (Al) Schloegel, Wesley Crowe, and Coy (Danielle) Crowe, Jr., and two daughters-in-law Milky Crowe and Janet Decoir. Sons Clifford and Kenneth Crowe predeceased her. The daughter of Henry Meyer and Inez McGuiness Coblentz, she was the sister of Edmond Coblentz, Walter Coblentz (Ivonne), Eugenie "Jenny" Leon, and Elsie Odin.
The month of May brought the passing of Gary "Sonny" Stafford, Jr. at age eighty-one. A Franklinton native and the son of Gary B. and Josie Stafford, Sr., he was born on October 28, 1942, in Franklinton where he graduated from Franklinton High School in 1960. His siblings - several of whom I know well - are Jill Bulloch (Ted), Judy Simmons, Robert Stafford (Jana), Joe Stafford (Carlene), Nancy Duvic (Leonard), and Kim Milton (Marlon). While my family was always close with the Staffords, it was really through his chosen career of hospital/nursing home management that I came to know Mr. Gary. He was working for the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs at hospitals in Tuscaloosa, AL, Albuquerque, NM, and Providence, RI, when my father - the late Cecil Ellzey who was the Administrator (CEO) of the Bogalusa Community Medical Center (BCMC) - brought Gary back home to BCMC where he became my dad's Assistant Administrator. He was married to Elizabeth "Libby" Sumners Stafford, who was the Director of Medical Records at BCMC. And I worked, in the summer, for Ms. Libby. After a few years, Gary departed the hospital for the family dairy business which his brothers were operating. And he was also in the Army/National Guard. He was survived by children Ken (Mary Bea) Johnson, Chris (Mindy) Johnson, Kevin (Julie) Johnson, and Steven (Kelly) Stafford and was predeceased by Robert Felder Stafford, an infant son.
Holyne Passman, the son of Arelious and Luby Penny Passman, succumbed at age ninety-one on May 23. He was the brother of the late John Robert Passman. A 1960 graduate of Franklinton High School, Mr. Holyne was a U. S. Navy veteran, having served as a radio operator during the Korean War era. Married to the late Geraldine Gibson Passman for sixty years, he operated, with his brother, Passman Chevrolet and performed accounting for Capital Welding Supplies. He also worked for the Washington Parish Farmer's Co-Op and Riverside Medical Center before retirement when he and his wife volunteered at the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home. Coaching his sons and others in Dixie Youth Baseball for years, he was survived by children Mike Passman (Pam), Richard Passman (Renee), and Triche Passman (Courtney). Around 2010 and 2011, I regularly encountered Mr. Holyne at Margie Passman's Beauty Shop where he (Ms. Margie's former husband's brother) drove his wife from their home, near the hospital and the Bogue Chitto River, to get her hair done. And more recently, Rodney and I saw him, with his little dog, at Morris Cemetery visiting her grave.
Then, on the third of June, Nell Fricke Sylvest, the daughter of George and Edna Corkern Fricke, died at age ninety-two. She was the sister of Dudley Fricke (Helen), Tessie Graham, Martha Goss (Osler), Pete Fricke (Sue), Fred Fricke (Fran), and Ray Fricke (Boots). Nell was married to Lawrence Elwin Sylvest, a World War II veteran I interviewed, for seventy-two years. A Franklinton native, she grew up attending Bethel Baptist Church, which her grandfather and her husband Lawrence's grandfather founded in 1907. There, she taught Sunday School, played the piano for church services, and sang in the choir. She and husband Lawrence were active members of Hillcrest Baptist Church and more recently attended Victory Baptist Church. Through the years, Ms. Nell also worked at Dairyman, Inc., Bickham Oil, and National Grocery in Franklinton. She was survived by children Lawrence "Larry" Elwyn Sylvest, II, (Debbie) and Kathy Lenora Sylvest. Ms. Nell was predeceased by daughters Jeri Sylvest Hill and Rhonda Nell Sylvest Varnado, the latter of whom was my husband Rodney's Bowling Green classmate. They were also cousins, through the Sylvests.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of my remembrances, of those who passed away during the summer of 2024, next week.
