Annie Florine “Tookie” Huffman-Lees
With Betty Fuller and Bill Byers
Euless, Texas was first settled in about 1867 as a small farming community in North Central Texas. The City is located midway between Dallas and Fort Worth Texas, just west of DFW International Airport. It was incorporated in 1953 and at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census had a population of 46,005. The City of Euless encompasses approximately 16.3 square miles. (42.1 KM2)
Annie Florine “Tookie” Huffman-Lees was born in Euless, Texas on September 23, 1915 and has lived there most of her life.
Betty Fuller is a long-time resident of Euless, Texas. At the time of this interview she was the member of the Euless Historical Preservation Committee responsible for collecting narrative interviews.
Bill Byers was born in Euless, Texas and at the time of this interview was the chairman of the Euless Historical Preservation Committee.
Betty Fuller
Today’s date is Friday February 11, 2005. Chairman Bill Byers and I are interviewing his cousin Annie Florine, known as “Tookie”, Huffman-Lees at her home at 132 Los Robles in Arlington and she is going to tell you about her memories of growing up in Euless, Texas. I have some questions and she’s going to respond to those questions. “Tookie”, can you tell us when you were born?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, I was born in 1915. Over in the old house, it was over there close to the airport property.
Betty Fuller
So you were born in Euless? Do you know where Euless Jr. High School is now? Was it close to that?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It was probably close, not very close. We had to have a horse and buggy. Daddy took us to school in a horse and buggy.
Betty Fuller
Oh really, so you were born farther away? Were you born north of where the Methodist and Baptist churches are located?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Kind of northeast of there.
Betty Fuller
Who was your father?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Steve Huffman.
Betty Fuller
What was his whole name?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Steve H. (Henry) Huffman (1891-1978).
Betty Fuller
You told us the year you were born? What day and what year?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, 1915.
Betty Fuller
What month and what day?
Annie Huffman-Lees
September 23rd.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about your parents, who were they? Start with who was your mom?
Annie Huffman-Lees
My mom was Anne Neely.
Betty Fuller
I didn’t know that! Tell me her whole name.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Annie…
Betty Fuller
Was she Kate (Kathryn Gertrude Fuller) Neely’s sister (1894-1950)?
Annie Huffman-Lees
She was her sister-in-law?
Betty Fuller
Okay, she was Kate’s sister-in-law, because Kate Neely was a Fuller before she married. Was she Kate Neely’s husband’s sister?
Bill Byers
Kate’s brother, John Lee.
Annie Huffman-Lees
John Lee, did you know him?
Betty Fuller
No ma’am.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, he was mom’s brother. All the Neely’s lived over there in a great big house over towards, well kind of close to the airport too.
Betty Fuller
Okay.
Annie Huffman-Lees
We had to go down in a creek to cross. We had to cross in a creek to get back home.
Betty Fuller
Do you know where your mother was born?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, she was born in Dallas.
Betty Fuller
Your daddy Steve, where was he born?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He was born…I guess there at home…
Betty Fuller
In Euless? He was born in Euless?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yeah, but they had an old, old house then. A little old, kind of a log-like cabin.
Betty Fuller
A log like cabin!
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes…
Betty Fuller
Where was it?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It was down there close to the cross-roads at Euless.
Betty Fuller
I know, Willie Byers told me about that, she went to school at Crossroads. Was it close to that school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Your mother’s parents, were they from Dallas too?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
The Neely’s were from Dallas?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, they lived in Dallas. He was a Commissioner of Dallas. Daddy’s dad (Thomas P. Huffman) was commissioner of Fort Worth at the same time (Grandmother, his wife was Cynthia Elizabeth Fuller).
Betty Fuller
At the same time! Do you know what year that might have been?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No I can’t remember what year that was.
Betty Fuller
You were born in 1915. Were they commissioners at that point and time?
Bill Byers
T.P. Huffman was commissioner from 1906 through 1910, so that would have been before…
Annie Huffman-Lees
…yes, before papa was born, but he was commissioner at the same time that my other grandpa was in Dallas.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about the house that you remember growing up in. What was it like? Did it have an upstairs and down stairs?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We had an upstairs when I was two or three years old and I remember a big storm had just come up and that we were just scared because my momma was scared because daddy was out in it. Momma took me and Jewel upstairs and put us on the feather bed. She said that the lighting wouldn’t strike so bad on the feather bed. We were up there and we couldn’t get back down because of the door, they had a little thing on the door that turned and we couldn’t get out of there. Momma wanted to let Jewel down in a sheet so she could unlock the door, but Jewel wouldn’t do it. I volunteered to go down in the sheet, but Momma said I couldn’t reach it when I got down there. So she watched the road and when she saw somebody come by she called them and ask them if they could come in and open the door for us. They came in and opened the door and we got out.
Annie Huffman-Lees
There was one bedroom upstairs.
Betty Fuller
One, and down stairs, what was down stairs?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Down stairs we had a kitchen, and I remember standing up on a bench helping momma make chowchow.
Betty Fuller
Chowchow! Tell us how did you make chowchow?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I can’t remember I was so little…
Betty Fuller
But you did use tomatoes didn’t you?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes (laughter). We had the kitchen and we had a living room and a bedroom. We had a bed in the living room then. We had another little room on the west end of the house and we lived there till we were grown.
Betty Fuller
Until you were married?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
What age were you when you married?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Let see, I think I was about eighteen.
Betty Fuller
Eighteen, what year was that, do you remember?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It was 19… 1936 or something like that.
Betty Fuller
You talked about one of your sisters, tell me how many brothers and sisters do you have?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well I had two brothers and a sister.
Betty Fuller
Tell me the names of your brothers and your sister.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Harold Thomas was the young one, Harold Thomas Huffman.
Betty Fuller
Is that the one I call “Bubba?”
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
I went to school with “Bubba.”
Annie Huffman-Lees
You did (laughter)?
Betty Fuller
Yes, I did but he was younger than me. Okay, who else?
Annie Huffman-Lees
My brother, we called him “Tubb” but his name is Henry Murray. Henry Murray Huffman.
Betty Fuller
Who was your sister?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Jewel Maurine.
Betty Fuller
Jewel Maurine. Who did Jewel marry?
Annie Huffman-Lees
She married Heorger Massey.
Betty Fuller
Oh, she was Jewel Massey?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
When I was in high school, we didn’t have dances, of course, at Euless High School. We had banquets and Jewel was a room mother. She helped make and serve the food for our senior banquet. Tell us about anything you want to tell us about when you were growing up. Are there some incidences that you would like to tell us about? Where did you go to school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I went to school at Euless.
Betty Fuller
How did you got to school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, we lived at that house in Euless and we’d walk a lot of the times. We would walk a long way. When we moved over to that other place over in the “black mud” we called it, then we went by horse and buggy.
Betty Fuller
You lived in two places when you were growing up?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
One of them was closer to the school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Was the closer one to the school the first one or the second one that you lived in?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, it was the second one.
Betty Fuller
The house that you described that had an upstairs, was that your first house or second house?
Annie Huffman-Lees
That was the first house.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about your second house. Where was it? What was it like?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well the second one was over in that “black mud”.
Betty Fuller
On the prairie?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Aunt “Tampa” would come over and play the piano for us…
Betty Fuller
Who would?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Aunt “Tampa”, his mother (indicated Bill Byers).
Betty Fuller
Willie Huffman Byers?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yeah, she was really a sweetheart and we would just love for her to come and play the piano for us.
Betty Fuller
You had a piano?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
You said that house was two storied or…?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, that one had one bedroom upstairs too.
Betty Fuller
The new one that you moved into?
Annie Huffman-Lees
The first one.
Betty Fuller
The one at “black mud”?
Annie Huffman-Lees
The one at “black mud” had that.
Betty Fuller
What did you dad do for a living?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He was a Carpenter.
Betty Fuller
He did. Where did he work?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Oh, just anybody that would hire him. You know Deborah Wentworth hired him to do this…and he only made two dollars a day.
Betty Fuller
Two dollars a day? All of you lived on that, didn’t you?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, we all lived on it because we had cows. I learned to milk. After I learned to milk, Jewel wouldn’t do it, she was smart enough (laughter), she suddenly didn’t know how…
Betty Fuller
(laughter) She said she didn’t know how?
Annie Huffman-Lees
And so, I did all the milking after that.
Betty Fuller
What about your brothers, did they do any milking?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, they didn’t do any of the milking. We had a cat that I trained to stand on the other side of the cow and wave like this and I would milk, milk into its mouth.
Betty Fuller
That is why that cat preformed for you. How many cows did you milk?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We just had three or four. I just usually milked one or two.
Betty Fuller
What did you all do with the milk?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We drank it.
Betty Fuller
Did you make butter or cheese?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, we made butter.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about how you made butter.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well we would let the cream stand on the milk until we skimmed it off the top. Then we’d put it into an old churn and churn it.
Betty Fuller
Now tell me what kind of churn did you have? Was it one of those fancy Daisy churn or a Dasher churn?
Annie Huffman-Lees
A Dasher Churn.
Betty Fuller
Did you make sweet cream butter or sour cream butter?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I guess it was sour cream. We had sour cream, butter and eggs. We had chickens too.
Betty Fuller
Who fed the chickens?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We all did. We would take turns. We had lots of cats, and a dog or two.
Betty Fuller
Did you make any cottage cheese out of the milk?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No.
Betty Fuller
Just butter and milk.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Great milk, but now I can’t even drink milk. I have to drink some kind of bean milk.
Betty Fuller
That soy stuff, soy bean milk. When you went to Euless school, were there a lot of students in first grade with you?
Annie Huffman-Lees
There were several there, I know I went to school with Imogene.
Betty Fuller
Jean, Imogene?
Annie Huffman-Lees
She was one of my best friends.
Betty Fuller
What was her last name?
Bill Byers
Jernigan. (Alexander, Mamie Jernigan Alexander’s daughter.)
Annie Huffman-Lees
We just went over there and we would have a good time at school and…
Betty Fuller
Did you live far from her?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No not too far. You had to go on north Main and turn to the right and she lived down there on that road, on the same road my grandma lived on.
Betty Fuller
Your grandma..?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Neely, the one from Dallas.
Betty Fuller
Where there a lot of children in your class in first grade?
Annie Huffman-Lees
There was quite a few of them. Then when I got in the third grade we had a program and I was a chocolate drop. I had a little old hat of a thing that stuck up like a chocolate drop, and I said, “I’m a little chocolate drop, just as sweet as honey! Everybody likes honey, don’t you think that’s funny.” (laughter)
Betty Fuller
Do you remember who the person was that was in charge of the play?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I can’t remember anything much since I’ve gotten near my nineties.
Betty Fuller
How old are you right now “Tookie”?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I’m 89. This next birthday I’ll be 90.
Betty Fuller
Okay, I have another question; do you remember any of your teachers from Euless school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, Mr. Hannibal, he was the one in high school that when we would ask him to work out a problem for us, he said, “It’s too hot in here for me and he left.” (laughter) because we thought he couldn’t work the problem either.
Betty Fuller
Did you go all the way through Euless school?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I lacked one year of finishing school. Momma had “Bubba”; she was all out of shape and was having a hard time. I had to quit school to help her. She had to have help, we didn’t have money to get the help.
Betty Fuller
What grade were you in then?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I was in the, I guess the tenth or eleventh grade.
Bill Byers
Yes, tenth because it just went up to eleventh grade.
Annie Huffman-Lees
“Bubba” was born in 1932, at Euless.
Betty Fuller
Where did you go to church?
Annie Huffman-Lees
At Euless.
Betty Fuller
At which church?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I’m still going to church at the same place I did then.
Betty Fuller
Is that the First Baptist Church?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, I’m still a member of that church. I don’t get to go as much as I’d like to because my car is twenty years old.
Betty Fuller
Do you still drive to that church by yourself?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I can drive by myself, but I’m afraid I’ll get a flat so I usually go with someone when I go, but I haven’t been going. I’ve been watching preachers on TV.
Betty Fuller
Do you remember some of the ministers that you’ve had in the past that you’ve really enjoyed at the Baptist Church?
Bill Byers
Did you like Shambuger?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, Shambuger was good. They had several good preachers; there was one that we had a group picture with. I can’t remember his name.
Bill Byers
A real long picture, about this long?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Bill Byers
Do you still have a copy of that picture?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It’s in bad shape but I’ve still got it.
Betty Fuller
Before we leave we’d like to look at it, wouldn’t we? But anyway your dad was Steve Huffman?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
I remember when I went to that church. When I was baptized in 1946, Steve lead the songs in the church didn’t he?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, he loved that.
Betty Fuller
Now who did he take turns with in leading the songs? Mr. Tillery helped sometimes didn’t he?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It seemed like Mr. Tillery helped sometimes too.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about where you shopped for groceries and clothes.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Oh well, we went up to “Dep” Cruise’s.
Betty Fuller
Who was “Dep” Cruise?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He was the one that had the store you know. Momma took me up to the store with her and tied the horse to the post.
Betty Fuller
There was a post out front?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
More than one or just one post?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, on the building, it had a post kind of like this right here. She tied the horse to that and I would sit in the buggy. She left me in the buggy. Once a dog ran out from under there and scared the horse. It broke loose and started running. I was screaming bloody murder, and someone ran out from under the Tabernacle. By then, it was over there on the Baptist Church grounds and they caught that horse.
Betty Fuller
With you in the buggy?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. Momma was scared to death. She thought I was gonna fall out or something.
Betty Fuller
How old were you then?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I was about three.
Betty Fuller
Three years old. Your momma drove that buggy by herself to the store?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
What kind of things could you by in that grocery store?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, most anything, but you know, we raised nearly everything we had.
Betty Fuller
Like what did you raise?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, we raised green beans, potatoes, and every thing that you would raise in a garden, tomatoes and all that. We didn’t have to buy too much because we had our own milk and eggs and stuff like that.
Betty Fuller
Right, did you have electricity in your house?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No we sure didn’t.
Betty Fuller
What did you use for lighting?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Lamps.
Betty Fuller
Kerosene Lamps, what did you use for heat?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, we had the fire place. That was the main thing. We had little old stoves.
Betty Fuller
Iron stoves?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, an old iron stove, and one time when “Tubb” was just a baby over there at the Black mud place, he fell over on the stove and burned his face pretty bad. We got him in the car and took him riding. That helped him because it was a car without a top on it.
Betty Fuller
You had a car then without a top?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. Uncle Johnnie furnished us with that.
Betty Fuller
Who was Uncle Johnnie? John Neely?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Did you have water in your house? Was the water inside your house or did you have to go outside to get it?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, we had to draw the water from a well.
Betty Fuller
You had a well out-back somewhere?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, we had a well and Daddy would go down in it to clean it.
Betty Fuller
How deep was it?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Oh, it was way deep. It was several feet.
Betty Fuller
What would he take with him when he went down in there to clean?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He would take a shovel and a bucket and he’d get everything raked off in there and he would depend on me and “Tubb” to get him out of there.
Betty Fuller
How did he get out?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We would just get so tickled. We were silly. We were that age, we’d just laugh and we’d get him about half way up and let him back down. (laughter)
Betty Fuller
Well, did he use a rope or what did he have?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He went down on a rope or on a thing we’d crank him up with. We were silly kids. We would just get to laughing and tickled. He finally told us that if we didn’t get him out of there he would really beat us up then, (laughter) and so we got him out.
Betty Fuller
Were you afraid of your dad?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, we knew enough to know that we better mind him.
Betty Fuller
Did you get spanked often?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Not real often, sometimes we would.
Betty Fuller
Was it by your mom or your dad?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Usually Momma with her hand mainly. She would send us out to get a switch. We had a bush out there where she would have us get switches she would switch us with those.
Betty Fuller
We talked about school. You didn’t have water inside of the school. What did you all do for water when you got thirsty?
Annie Huffman-Lees
They had water in a thing that you could push and it would come out.
Betty Fuller
You did have a thing that you could push, you didn’t have a cup?
Bill Byers
Was this at the South Euless School?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Bill Byers
I think that water came from Mr. Cannon who lived across the street. He would run a water line from his over-head water tank. The fountain was outside and it had four knobs on it and you turned it and it just bubbled.
Annie Huffman-Lees
And we could get water that way.
Betty Fuller
Tell us if you have any memories about your clothes. I know when your mother needed groceries you would go to the grocery store. Did your mother sew your clothes or did you ever buy clothes?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, we usually had to get out and Mr. Harper lived pretty close by.
Betty Fuller
Now tell me about Mr. Harper?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He lived up the hill from us and he had a garden and all kinds of stuff for us to gather. We would gather that stuff, me and Jewel. He would give us money and then momma and them would take it and buy us some clothes for school.
Betty Fuller
Did you ever go with your mother?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Where did you go?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We had pecan trees and we would gather those and sell those as well. We got them at the curb at Bedford. We were going around the curb and one of our sacks of pecans fell off of the car and busted so we had to get out and gather up the pecans in the road. Then we went on and I remembered that I had enough pecans to get a pretty red coat that day.
Betty Fuller
Did you go into Fort Worth?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
You went into Fort Worth to buy your clothes and you bought a red coat with the money from those pecans. Do you remember what the store was that you shopped at in Fort Worth? Was it Leonard’s?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It was Leonard’s.
Betty Fuller
Did you often go into Fort Worth for anything else?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Just mostly when we had to have something like clothes or something like that.
Betty Fuller
Did they ever have any kinds of parties? What did you all do for entertainment?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, we had parties once in awhile and we played grind the bottle.
Betty Fuller
Tell us about Grind the Bottle.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well, you put that bottle down there and twist it around and who ever it would turn to would get to do that again. It was very simple we didn’t have too much to do, but we just went to little parties just like that and played all the games.
Betty Fuller
Did the adults play forty-two or dominos?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, they played forty-two.
Betty Fuller
Where did they play forty-two?
Annie Huffman-Lees
They would invite different people over you know and they would play at each others homes.
Betty Fuller
There wasn’t any central place in Euless to do that sort of thing?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No.
Betty Fuller
Now when you started courting or dating, did you call it courting or dating?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Dating I guess.
Betty Fuller
Can you tell us about your dating experiences?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, we would go up to the Methodist Church. They had some people coming up playing and singing.
Bill Byers
They had quartettes; there were a lot of quartettes back then.
Annie Huffman-Lees
The Methodist would have them come over and we would go there. We were coming back from there one night and J.B. McGinnis was in an old car, a beat up looking old car. He offered us a ride home. From then on he wanted to date me. I finally ended up marrying him.
Betty Fuller
You married J.B. McGinnis first.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Right.
Betty Fuller
Before Mr. Lees?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Do you know what year you married Mr. McGinnis?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Hank was bon in 1938.
Betty Fuller
Where did you and J.B. McGinnis live?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We lived in Fort Worth because he had a job up there.
Betty Fuller
Do you remember where he worked?
Annie Huffman-Lees
At a Station.
Betty Fuller
At a Gas Station?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, he finally owned one a couple of years later in Haltom City.
Betty Fuller
Do you remember when he died?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He died in 1980.
Betty Fuller
Did you and J.B. have children?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
How many children did you two have?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We had two.
Betty Fuller
Can you tell us about your children, who are they?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Hank was born first.
Betty Fuller
What’s Hanks whole name?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Henry J. McGinnis, he was born in 1938. My husband just had initials for a name.
Betty Fuller
J.B.?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. J.B.
Betty Fuller
That was it?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. That was all he had. Mac, my husband, had J.B. for a name and Hank was named Henry J. McGinnis. He used the J part for his name and Henry for daddy. Pat’s name is Patricia Ann McGinnis (daughter).
Betty Fuller
When was Patricia born?
Annie Huffman-Lees
She was born the next year, in 1939.
Betty Fuller
Now where does your son live now?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well he died. He passed away about two years ago.
Betty Fuller
Did he have children?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. He sure did.
Betty Fuller
Who were his children?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He had Angela, she’s the oldest, Amy is the second, and Marcy is the third. Angela lives in Dallas and the other, two, I think live in Fort Worth.
Betty Fuller
Who did your son marry?
Annie Huffman-Lees
He married several times.
Betty Fuller
After marrying J.B. McGinnis, did you ever live in Euless after you moved to Fort Worth?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, I lived there for a good little bit because Mac he just disappeared. He just got a divorce for some reason.
Betty Fuller
Mac, you’re talking about J.B., your husband.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes. I lived with Momma and Daddy, for a good bit and kind of looked out for them. When Momma broke her hip, I stayed there and took care of her. When she passed away, I stayed there for twelve years and looked after dad until he died.
Betty Fuller
You have been a care-giver haven’t you! When you were living with your parents, were your children grown at that time?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, they were grown up.
Betty Fuller
So they didn’t live there with you?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No.
Bill Byers
What year did you all build that house next to Uncle Steve?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Oh we built, I can’t remember what year we built that, but it could probably be figured out.
Betty Fuller
Who built it?
Annie Huffman-Lees
We built it, Mac and I.
Bill Byers
Actually Uncle Steve built the house, and it sat right there across the creek from that Texaco Gas Station at Ector and Airport Freeway, under those big Pecan Trees.
Betty Fuller
Those beautiful big trees. So you lived there for a while didn’t you?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Sure did.
Betty Fuller
Now was that before Mac took off?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes.
Betty Fuller
Now your daughter, we haven’t discussed whether she had children. Did she have any children?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Five.
Betty Fuller
She had five. Is your daughter still alive?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, she lives over there close to the college.
Betty Fuller
She’s in Fort Worth?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, she’s in Arlington.
Betty Fuller
I assume her five children are grown?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, they’re grown. I can’t get over that some of them are almost forty-years-old!
Betty Fuller
Well I understand you have a forty year old grandchild.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Let’s see, Brenda will be 48, Linda will be 47, Steve is about 44 or 45, and Melvin is also in his forties. Jody is about thirty eight.
Betty Fuller
Do any of them live around here?
Annie Huffman-Lees
They all live around here
Betty Fuller
How wonderful for you! Do you have great grandchildren?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I’ve got great-great grandchildren.
Betty Fuller
How many great-grand-children do you have?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Several.
Betty Fuller
How many great-great-grandchildren?
Annie Huffman-Lees
About five.
Betty Fuller
Five great-great. Do you know how old the oldest great-great grandchild is?
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well let’s see, here’s her picture.
Betty Fuller
She is beautiful. She looks like she’s two or three or four years old now.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Yes, she is about four years old. I’ve got two smaller ones and Misty’s got one that’s just a little bitty baby, just about three or four months old. Linda has three great-great-grandkids of mine. I’ve got about six in all.
Betty Fuller
Did you get married to J.B. McGinnis in the Baptist Church or did you go somewhere else?
Annie Huffman-Lees
No, we went somewhere else. There was a preacher that we all knew real well and we went to his house and got married.
Betty Fuller
Was that in Euless?
Annie Huffman-Lees
It was in Fort Worth.
Betty Fuller
Your second husband, we haven’t talked about him. You said J.B. died in…?
Annie Huffman-Lees
In nineteen eighty.
Betty Fuller
In nineteen eighty. So when did you marry Mr. Lees?
Annie Huffman-Lees
I married him sometime back about 1967. I hadn’t been married to him three or four years and he passed away.
Betty Fuller
So you have lived here by yourself all this time?
Annie Huffman-Lees
All this time, I’ve lived by myself.
Betty Fuller
You have a beautiful home here.
Annie Huffman-Lees
Well thank you.
Betty Fuller
Tookie, thank you for sharing so many interesting things about your life in Euless so many years ago.
This narrative history was produced through the efforts of The Euless Historical Preservation Committee with assistance from the staff of the City of Euless Parks and Community Services Department. - December 2006