Peggy Ann Hunt Pride

Peggy Ann Hunt Pride, 74, passed through this life on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 after losing her courageous battle against cancer. She was surrounded in love by her family and the compassionate, caring professionals of Hospice of East Texas in Tyler, TX. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation in Mrs. Pride's honor to Hospice of East Texas, at 4111 University Blvd., Tyler, TX. 75701, 1-800-777-9860.Born June 4, 1936, Mrs. Pride was a lifelong resident of Henderson and was a member of Good Hope Roquemore Baptist Church of Henderson. She is preceded in death by her parents, Debs Victor Hunt and Hettie Faye Hunt, an older brother John Hunt, and grandson Patrick Michael Powell. She is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, John G. Pride of Henderson, brother, Debs V. Hunt Jr. and wife Maxine of Henderson, her sister, her caretaker, and her best friend throughout her life, Mary Hunt Ullom and husband Peter of Henderson, son John D. Pride and wife Cathy, daughters Lisa Powell and husband Paul, and Sue Ropp and Husband Rodney, all of Henderson, daughter Holly Pride and husband Robert of Baytown, and son Bert Pride and wife Jennifer of Navada, TX. Grandchildren are; Jess, Jason, and Tim Pride, Matt Powell, Kevin, Chris, and Kelly Davis, Eric, Nikki, Reagan, Meagan, and Jordan Ropp, Drew, Clay, and Lane Pride. At last count she had 21 great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends that will miss her deeply.Visitation will be held at Crawford-A. Crim Funeral Home, Friday, December 17, 2010 from 5-7 PM. Graveside services are scheduled at 2:00 PM, Saturday, December 18, at Hunt Cemetery. As a very young girl Mrs. Pride had dreams and aspirations of becoming a professional singer. It was while working as a car hop at a local burger joint in Henderson that Peggy was somewhat "discovered" by a regular patron of hers. It was the international country sensation "Gentleman" Jim Reeves. Mr. Reeves was also known by the moniker, "The Velvet Voice." Mr. Reeves was so popular, in fact that he was signed to a record contract with RCA even before Elvis! When Peggy chimed in with him on a couple of tunes, he was so amazed because he knew what he'd just heard was a star in the making. Well in no time at all, that from Mrs. Pride began singing with Mr. Reeves regularly on Henson's own KGRI radio station. The story goes that Jim Reeves wanted Peggy to go on the road with him to sing at the historical Louisiana Hayride. And if that went well he wanted her to tour with him and his band and make her the star she had longed to be. Well, if you knew Peggy, you knew she was notoriously headstrong and stubborn. It just happened that she'd fallen in love and turned "Gentleman" Jim down flat in favor of marriage to her sweetheart and raising a family. She still sang every chance she got whether it be at church or any occasion that called for a vocalist you could always bet that she would be first to volunteer to let everyone hear just how pitch perfect and angelic her voice was.Somehow with the good Lord's help she managed to raise 5 children virtually on her own. Her husband, John Pride was a merchant marine from the start and was always, it seems, away overseas somewhere. He did manage to come home on furloughs, somewhat. He managed at least 5 times for sure that we know of. While her husband was away, she had to assume the duties of both mother and father. She was always getting her children involved in anything that she possible could. The girls took piano and dance lessons, while John David, the eldest was involved with baseball and the Boy Scouts of America, of which Peggy was the troop leader. John was also a surrogate father to all his younger brothers and sisters and did all he could to help his mother. Not only did he help around the house and help care for all his siblings, he also took on a job with his very own paper route as a newspaper boy for the Henderson Daily News, throwing papers from his yellow Yamaha motorcycle. Anything to help make some much needed money.But no matter the hardship, Peggy always made sure all 5 of her children had everything they ever needed they were involved with all social activities and the church, and you could always rest assured that no matter her financial situation, that come every Easter Sunday all 5 of her children were dressed to the nines in something she'd either had on lay-away, or something she'd sewn herself. She always made sure everything was perfect; everyone had new shoes, and of course for the girls came the addition of hats, purses, and white gloves. Although she had virtually no money to speak of and a husband somewhere overseas, you'd never have been able to tell the dire straits she was under by the way she always insisted that her children be well groomed at all times. The clothes may not have been new but you can bet they were always clean and pressed. And then there was of course the "Peggy Pride homeschool of manners and etiquette." Although she never believed in spanking, all it took was just the thought of how disappointed she would be if something wasn't truly done to the very best of one's abilities. No one ever wanted to see that "Disappointed Mother" look. That's worse than a spanking. Manners came first, but doing your very best at everything else ran a close second. With all the children pretty much grown she spearheaded a movement to regain a nationally recognized organization for Campfire Girls of America, including Blue birds and Blue jays for boys. She also served as the National Board Chairperson for the organization throughout Rusk County for more than 15 years. She organized and put on fundraisers to raise enough money to renovate and rejuvenate the old Camp Fire Lodge which was renamed Camp Heoki Maraha where hundreds of girls and boys for 1 week every summer got to "camp out." They learned swimming, archery, arts and crafts, lots of old campfire sing along songs and made lots of new friends. At the end of the week the campers got to show off some of their new skills by putting on a farewell talent show for friends and family.Later in her life she did many things to keep herself busy. She was the manager of Lake Forest Park and helped to raise money for the miniature golf course that was added during her tenure. But perhaps her favorite job came when she went to work as a home healthcare aid for Jordan Home Healthcare. She positively loved helping others and making new friends. After many years working for Jordan, Peggy went to work on her own. So many families of the people that she had cared for spoke so highly of her and only wanted her to care for their loved ones in their time of need that she was able to work for herself. Peggy Pride did not know the meaning of the word "retire." She had even more physical back breaking work that ahead of her on her huge property. If it was daylight you could guarantee to see her working like a man in the yard, raking, dragging limbs, and burning brush. The very last thing she did outside the realm of her home was work tirelessly on Saturdays at the Children's Advocacy Center. Just like everything else in her life, this job had to be perfect as well. In fact it was while working on November 27th, that she started feeling more tired than usual. And by that Monday she knew something was wrong, so she called to tell the center the following Monday, she would not be back to work. Her baby "sis" Mary Hunt Ullom and daughter Lisa Powell finally convinced her to go to her doctor on Monday, Nov., 29, and that's what set everything in motion. By Monday Dec. 6 she'd already been moved to Hospice of East Texas. Lisa and Peggy's sis Mary along with Mrs. Pride's husband and other siblings were constantly by her bedside morning, noon, and night. Never did she open her eyes to an unfamiliar face. They all can't be praised enough for what each and every one of them did for her. Before all this, the only true pleasure she got when she finally did manage to sit down, have her cup of coffee, take a break and be alone, was either crocheting, or her absolute favorite, word puzzles. There's not a word in the entire world that could ever hide from the likes of Peggy Pride! And when it came to Pictionary, when everyone else was drawing stick figures Peggy would be drawing artist's masterpieces. She never did anything half way or second best. Everything had to be perfect or it just wasn't good enough. She did everything to the best of her abilities including fighting for her life to the end against this insidious disease. Peggy Pride always wanted to come out of everything the victor! Maybe she has done just that.

Peggy Ann Hunt Pride

June 4, 1936 - December 15, 2010