Elizabeth Anne Sharpe Jumper
Composed by her brother, D. A. Sharpe
I was the baby in our family of
three children. My two sisters
were 10 and 12 years older than I. Elizabeth,
the middle child, was the one who graduated to heaven in the shortest length of
years among all three of us. She
lived only 44 years. Elizabeth
died December 28, 1973. They had
been married for 25 years.
Though Elizabeth Anne Sharpe was
born August 9, 1929 in Little Rock, Arkansas, she based her claim of being a
native Texan on the fact that she was conceived while the family still resided
in Texas. She subsequently lived
the great majority of her life in Texas as well.
Elizabeth's 1929 birth year was
stormy. The big economic news
was the famous Black Friday when, on October 28, the New York Stock Exchange
plummeted by some $26 billion in value of stocks owned by Americans. That was the one event that painted
the profiles by which citizens would live for the next decade. America had become the world's
leading industrial producer, having a 34.4% of the world's production pie. Second place England come up with
10.4% and third place Germany with 10.3%.
And 1929 was the year of Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago where gangland pundits machine gunned each
other on February 14.
Bell Laboratories began their
experiments with color television, and Eastman-Kodak Company introduced 16 mm
color movie film. It is sad that
in early 2012, the 131-year old company filed of bankruptcy. George Eastman,
the inventor after whom the Eastman-Kodak Company is named, is the sixth
cousin, twice removed to Elizabeth. His
best-known invention was photographic film.
The popular songs were
"Stardust," "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" [yes, that song
pre-dates Tinny Tim!], and "Singing in the Rain." "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse
cartoon films that year effectively killed off any further business for the outdated
silent movies. Ernest Hemingway
published "A Farewell to Arms."
Actress Audrey Hepburn was born in England. Frenchman Erich Maria Remarque wrote
"All Quiet on the Western Front."
And Albert B. Fall,
the Secretary of the Interior under Calvin Coolidge, was convicted of accepting
a $100,000 bribe from Edward L. Dohemy in the famous Teapot Dome scandal. He was sentenced to
one-year in prison and fined $100,000. Some
say that's where the term "fall guy" is derived?
Source: Time Tables of History, Bernard Brun,
pages 496-499
Spending most of her life in Texas,
she was strong to assert her Texan heritage.
Even though she was born shortly after her family moved to Little Rock,
Arkansas, the fact that she obviously was conceived while the family still
lived in Texas allowed her to claim to be a Texan! She is a fifth-generation Texan, her
great, great grandfather, Judge Felix Benedict Dixon, having come to San Augustine County, Texas by 1841. Her
growing-up years were in Little Rock, then back to Texas in Ballinger, then in
Houston.
When she was young, Elizabeth was
known in the family as Betty or Betty Anne.
I believe it was during college age years that she began using the more
formal Elizabeth.
I remember the family laughingly
re-telling a story about Elizabeth when she was very young, before my birth,
wherein Daddy had given the girls a pair of baby rabbits for an Easter present.
The cute thing about the story
was the quotation coming from Elizabeth about her rabbit saying, "Ain't
the 'lil yabbitt toot?"
Another anecdotal item about
Elizabeth was about her Home Economics class in Junior High. Yes, back in those days, schools
taught girls skills often found in kitchens and in management of households. Upon beginning the part of the
curriculum having to do with cooking, the class was asked to write any cooking
recipes that one of them already knew. Betty
Anne's recipe had to do with making toast by putting it in the lower oven,
where it could be heated from overhead.
The process outlined included the instruction at the end of taking a
knife and scraping the toast! The
funny part about it was that the toast should not be burned, but her experience
at our home was that very often the toast was burned, so it was regular to need
to scrape off the charcoaled character of the burnt toast!
Of my two sisters, Elizabeth was the
more athletic. She played
basketball in college and was pretty good at throwing
a baseball (hardball). I
remember her fondly as she spent time with me, just throwing a baseball back
and forth in our long driveway! One
day, when she was about age 17 and I was 7, a baseball she'd thrown to me
glanced off to the side, going under a porch step on our church, which was
across the driveway from our home. I
was reluctant to crawl under the building in that dark to get the ball. So, problem solver that she was,
Elizabeth wedged herself under the step to go after it. The problem was that she became stuck
there, and could not back out. In
my somewhat weaker state, I could not pull her out. So, what did I do?
I just refused to confront the
problem, and I went into the house, not telling anybody that Elizabeth was
stuck under the church! Fortunately,
my father came home soon. Driving
up the driveway, he spotted his daughter's legs protruding out from under the
church. Of course, he extracted
her successfully, but she was not happy with me. When Daddy found out it was because
of my abandonment, I really was in trouble for punishment!
She graduated from San Jacinto High School in Houston as Valedictorian of her class in 1945. This was a very large student body
high school near downtown Houston. It
was named after the name of the near-by battlefield where the independence
finally was won for Texas from Mexico, to become the Republic of Texas in 1836.
Both my sisters were active in the
student fellowship at our Central Park Presbyterian Church, and our mother was
an adult sponsor of the high school and college age group.
What I remember most about those
groups were the summer trips we took to the Texas Gulf Coast island of
Galveston. We'd spend the day on the
beach and the evening at the night-life and carnival rides after that. They were fond memories. I especially remember the thrills
riding the roller coaster! I was
in the 6 to 8-year age when these things took place.
Elizabeth entered Rice Institute in Houston,
following her sister. Having two
children in the Sharpe family to gain entrance at Rice was an accomplishment
and an honor for the Sharpe family, as the entrance requirements were and have
always been very high. The
academic reputation in Texas of Rice Institute was like the Harvard of Texas! By the way, our family has a connection with
Harvard too! ItŐs very first
treasurer was Howard Pelham, ElizabethŐs 25th
cousin, eight times removed!
Her musical talent included being an
organist for the church where our father was Pastor, Central Presbyterian
Church, 6916 Sherman Avenue, Houston, Texas.
This was down in the industrial east end of Houston, near the Houston Ship Channel.
One Sunday night when Elizabeth was a freshman at Rice
Institute, a U. S. Coast Guard sailor visited the service with his roommate. That Coast Guardsman spotted
Elizabeth playing the electric organ and the other sailor spotted a young lady
in the choir. They both boasted
to each other that they would marry these girls! What is fun is
that they both did marry them later. The
story is that Andy asked to walk Elizabeth home that night after the service
[lots of folks did not have cars in those days]. She laughed at the question, but
willingly went with him. Unbeknownst
to him, the manse (our home) was just right next door to the church, just a few
feet away from where he asked her!
They started dating in 1946. Andy won over the confidences of our
family members, one by one. Sometime
in 1947, the U.S. Coast Guard transferred Andy to an assignment in New York
City. However, he kept their
relationship up with frequent long distance telephone calls, even though they
were somewhat expensive in those days.
Andy took our family into his
confidence when he'd purchased an engagement diamond ring. Arrangements were made for us to have
the ring and to be standing near her when he phoned at a designated time. He would take the occasion to ask her
to marry him, and we were to present the ring to her when she accepted. He must have been pretty
sure of himself, but it all worked as he'd planned, and it truly was a
fun thing for me being only 8 years old at the time.
The wedding was planned in sync with the discharge of
Andy from the service. A
wonderful church wedding was planned with our father conducting the service,
and many, many family friends helping out with the
wedding plans. The marriage was
August 14, 1948 on a Saturday evening. Dad
didn't prefer Saturday weddings, as the preparations and events crowded into
what usually was his sermon preparation for the next day! However, he went along with it for
both daughters, as they both wanted Saturday weddings!
They went on their honeymoon by renting a
cabin in the Bastrop State Park, near Bastrop, Texas in central Texas. It was a forest covered park of about
2,000 acres with a nice lake, about 10 years old at the time. It was the same park where
Elizabeth's sister, Martha and her husband, Vic, had honeymooned the year
before.
After the honeymoon, they came to
our home in Houston to spend a few days before continuing on
to begin college at the University of Mississippi.
Andy was a Mississippi boy, so after their marriage,
each finished their college education at the University of Mississippi in
Oxford. She graduated in 1950
and he in 1951. Elizabeth worked
much of the time in various administrative and secretarial positions. She was an excellent typist! Actually, her
husband also was a trained typist. The
United States governmentŐs G.I. Bill for military experienced people assisted both of them in getting their college degrees.
Like her mother, Elizabeth did well
serving the role of a Presbyterian Pastor's wife. Her educated experience allowed her
to be a counselor and advisor to her husband in the things of ministry and of
life. The first church where
Andy was pastor was Christ Church in Houston, Texas. Later, they moved to West Shore
Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas. These
were years in the 1950s when my father was Pastor of John Knox Presbyterian
Church in Dallas, as well. It
was nice to have two family households in the same city.
Andy served as Pastor at the First
Presbyterian Church in Lubbock, Texas 1962-1970. It was during those years that both of them had renewal spiritual experiences, learning
more about the power of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. These were really
sweet years for them and they continued to mature in their spirituality. They were introduced to these things
through a neighborhood Bible study they attended, led by some Episcopal lay
people. Jack and Shelly Hall
were especially instrumental in this and became very close personal friends
with Elizabeth and Andy. The
Hall's family was the one that started and owned the Furr Cafeterias and Food
Stores operating at several places in Texas, but headquartered in Lubbock.
Elizabeth contracted cancer circa
1970, while they lived in Lubbock. Later
that year, the family moved to Saint Louis County, Missouri, where Andy had
received a call to be Pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton. She died just after Christmas in 1973
at age 44. The hospital where
she died was in the city of Saint Louis, but the family lived out in the County
of Saint Louis. That's one of
those strange situations where the city is of independent status, and is not
under the jurisdiction of a county.
The story goes that the people
residing out in Saint Louis County were alienated enough from the bad
government leadership in the City of Saint Louis that the County people voted
to separate from the city jurisdiction!
Her funeral was to be December 30,
but ten inches of snow fell the evening before and the temperatures plunged
down to bone-chilling readings. Finally,
a few days after New Year's Day, the family put her to rest. The church was filled to overflowing. The graveside service for the family
and close friends was very cold, with much of that snow still on the ground and
the wind-blown temperature in the teen's.
Though I was thoughtfully prayerful at the graveside service of my
sister, I believe that my fervent prayers included completing the service more
quickly, so we could get back into a warm car! It really was bone-chilling cold ....
like about 15 degrees with breeze blowing!
Elizabeth and Andy were married for
just over 25 years.
Some weeks following her graveside
service, a permanent gravestone was erected.
It simply stated her birth and death dates, and her name as Elizabeth
Ann Jumper. Some family members
had thought it would have been good to include her Sharpe maiden name, and the
unfortunate thing is that her middle name is spelled "Anne," rather
than, "Ann" that is on the gravestone. I do not know why it was not noticed
and correction requested. I did
not notice it till some years later.
Elizabeth
and Andy gave birth to four outstanding children, all about two years apart
each. Mark Andrew Jumper was born
May 1, 1954, spent a career as a Presbyterian Navy Chaplain, married Ginger Lou
Jones November 23, 1991 and they gave issue to seven children, Christina,
Andrew, Caroline, Jonathan, David, Bonnie and Elizabeth.
Peter Sharpe Jumper was born April
4, 1956, spent a career as a U.S. Airforce jet pilot, married Nancy Louise
Robinson July 28, 1978, and gave issue to two sons, Benjamin and Daniel.
Kathryn Elizabeth Jumper was born
June 14, 1958, her initial career was in sales with Xerox, and the majority was
being a wife and mother. They give
issue to two daughters, Laura and Emily.
Carol Anne Jumper was born February
5, 1960, spending a career in public school teaching. She married Bruce Alan Robertson, a veterinarian,
and they gave birth to two sons, Samuel and Jeffery.
Elizabeth did not live to see any of
her children to marry, nor to see the delivery of any of their 13 grandchildren.
Elizabeth was a credit to her
family. A devoted mother and
wife, she lived life to the fullest and with the most detail. She was a swell sister as well.
Composed by
Dwight Albert (D. A.) Sharpe
805 Derting Road East
Aurora, TX 76078-3712
817-504-6508