Susie Johnson, 1916-1974

Susie Johnson,
My Maternal Grandmother

Susie Johnson, my maternal grandmother, was the daughter of Robert "Bob" Johnson and Sarah Herrin.  She was born 01 July 1916 in Marion County (present day Lamar County), Mississippi.  She is listed with her parents on the 1920 and 1930 census records of Lamar County, Mississippi.  

On 04 July 1936 in Forrest County, Mississippi, Susie married Woodrow Wilson Simmons, the son of James El Simmons and Harriet Woodard.  

Marriage Record- Woodrow W. Simmons
and Susie Johnson, Book 19, Page 393

Susie and her husband resided in Lamar County, Mississippi between the small communities of Pine Burr and Baxterville.  From their union, four children were born- Alton, Lula Sue, Gertrude and Elton.  Susie and Woody's marriage officially ended in 06 November 1951 when their divorce was made final.  Woody was absent most of the time, working and residing across the country.  Susie was left to raise their four children on her own, but thankfully, had the assistance of family members who lived nearby.  

According to my late mother, Lula Sue Simmons, Susie worked as a seamstress for many years at the old Reliance Manufacturing Company in Columbia, Mississippi.  The company then produced men's dress shirts and pajamas, then later expanded their clothing lines.  Mom said that her mother would rise early in the mornings, go to work at her public job, then return home in the evenings and work some more.  Susie had a hard life while struggling to support her family during the absence of her husband.  

On 26 July 1952, Susie married Warner Tisdale Ramshur, the son of Thomas Jefferson Ramshur and Corena A. Knight.  He was the man that my siblings and I called "Grandpa T" and was a big part of our lives while we were young.  Susie and W.T. moved around quite often, residing one time in Columbia briefly and in the Improve community of Mississippi.  They also lived near my parents for a while when we lived in Westwego, Louisiana.  Susie and W.T.'s first marriage ended in divorce and they stayed apart for a while, but years later they remarried.  Their second marriage occurred on 26 September 1961 in Marion County, Mississippi.  

Marriage Record- Susie Simmons and
W.T. Ramshur, Marion County, MS

Marriage License- Second marriage of Susie Johnson
and W.T. Ramshur, Marion County, MS

Susie and W.T. Ramshur remained married until her death on 18 June 1974.  Susie died at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi as a result of a pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lung).  She had been hospitalized for three weeks prior to her death.  She was 57 years old.  Prior to her illness and subsequent death, Susie had cared for her husband W.T. for a while when he became debilitated from a stroke.  The stroke affected his speech and left him paralyzed on one side of his body, and he was chair ridden then eventually bedridden for years before his death.  Susie tried to care for him at home as she didn't want to place him in a nursing home, but as her health began to diminish, she was left with no choice but to have someone else care for W.T.  He was placed in a personal home which had only a few elderly residents, and he received good care until his death on 19 September 1991.

Death Certificate- Susie (Johnson) Simmons Ramshur

Susie Johnson was laid to rest in the Pine Burr Church of Christ cemetery, Lamar County, Mississippi.  I visit her grave site every now and then and I often remember the times spent with her.  More can be read about her in the posts below, click on links to view.

Children of Susie Johnson and Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Simmons:

i.    Alton Simmons, married (1) Joyce Thornhill  (2)  Sylvia Thompson  (3) Elizabeth Darlene Horn

ii.   Lula Sue Simmons, married (1) Charles Laverne Stogner  (2) Frank Dalton Powell, Sr

iii.  Gertrude Simmons, married (1) Berley Alton Powell  (2) James Wiginton

iv.  Elton Simmons, married (1) Barbara Moore  (2) Margaret "Peggy" Sturrock  (3) Helen Donaldson

See also:

Blog Post- Tombstone Tuesday: Susie Simmons Ramshur

Sunday's Obituary: Susie (Johnson) Simmons Ramshur

Sentimental Sundays: Granny's Front Porch

Sharing Memories: (Week 27) A Conversation With Granny

Finally! Woodrow W. Simmons-Susie Johnson Marriage Record Found

Sharing Memories: (Week 27) A Conversation With Granny

My granny, Susie Johnson Simmons

I spent a lot of time with Granny when she lived near us in Westwego. If my memory serves me correctly (which I can't always guarantee) Granny lived in an apartment above a bakery, just down the street from us. It was a tiny but cozy place with only enough room for a few pieces of furniture. I spent the night with her often because I just enjoyed being with her. Perhaps I enjoyed the "quiet" at her place too. It felt good to get away from the noisy atmosphere at our house sometimes.

I would bundle up with Granny in her bed and either read or color some pictures as she dozed off to sleep. Soon after I would fall asleep beside her. The next morning we would go to the bakery and she would buy us some doughnuts or rolls and milk. She would then either drive me back home or she would drive me to school.

Granny just always made me feel special. We had a bond, unlike the relationship she had with my other siblings. Perhaps it was because Mom and I lived with her for a while when I was a baby so therefore she spent more time with me. I loved her so very much. I respected her. I knew she felt the same about me. I recall once that while on a visit in Mississippi, Granny was driving me to my Grandma Ivy's house. I was probably about 5 or 6 years old at the time. On the way, I brought up the subject of death. This was normal as most children that age become curious about death and the meaning of it. I guess I was beginning to realize that death is a permanent situation.

Of course, I am unable to recall all the details of our conversation that day, just bits and pieces, but it went something like this:

"Granny, where will you go when you die?", I quietly asked her.

"Well I hope I will go to heaven to be with Jesus", she replied with a slight smile.

"When will that be, Granny?"

"I'm not sure baby. I hope it will be a long time", she answered.

After considering her answers, I remember saying to her, "Granny, when you die, I want to die too. I want to go wherever you go".

Then she tried to explain to me, "But you're still young. I am getting older. One day it will be time for me to go live with Jesus. I will be happy and I will be okay. Then one day when you are old, you can come and live with me in Heaven".  

"But Granny, I don't want you to leave me, ever." I said.  I remember feeling sad at that moment while thinking about her leaving me forever.

There was silence until we arrived at Grandma Ivy's house. As Granny took me inside, she proceeded to tell Grandma Ivy about our conversation in the car. She wiped a few tears from her eyes as she talked.  I remember her saying something like, "How do you tell a child so young that one day you will have to leave them?". After I watched her drive away, I felt worried about Granny. I didn't want anything to happen to her. It weighed heavily on my mind for some unknown reason. Maybe it was just a sense of insecurity, being a child facing the realization that death might come and take her away. Fortunately, it would be a few more years before God called her home.

Sentimental Sundays: Granny's Front Porch

On the front porch with Granny-

Watching her lazily swing back and forth,

Her floral cotton dress dotted with

Spots of dark perspiration,

Her tosseled hair dampened with

The sweat of summer's dew.

Silly giggles echo

From my summer time friend and I,

As we throw pebbles from the gravel driveway

At buzzing bumble bees

Trying to steal sweet nectar from Granny's flowers.

Our dirty bare feet

Rush us to grab a fishing net

Just in the nick of time,

To greet hummingbirds that flock

Around Granny's pink crepe myrtles.

Mischievous laughter from silly girls

As we watch the scarlet wings flutter by

Lightening quick, too fast for untrained hands.

Then suddenly Granny's annoyed threats

Thunder above our loud laughter, and

Capture our brief childish attention,

And we watch her lazily swing

Back and forth, holding

A thin wooden twig, swooshing it

Over the hem of her floral cotton dress

As if to frighten us with the threat of lashes

Upon our tanned little legs.

We nearly believe her, 

And we sit quietly for a moment,

Which seems like forever

Exchanging playful glances and

Whispering silly nothings,

Sweeping the dusty wooden porch

With our dirty summer feet,

While we watch the return 

Of hummingbirds and bumble bees

Shamelessly steal the

Sweet nectar from Granny's flowers.

In Loving Memory of my Granny,

Susie Johnson

Originally written by Susan Bourgoyne,

July 7, 2010

Memoirs of Lula Sue Simmons: Part 6, Love Carried Us Through

Our present lives are far different than those of our ancestors.  We have so many modern conveniences that we take for granted, because we've always had them.  Most of us have jobs outside our homes and we depend on the grocery stores for our food, the gas stations to fuel our transportation and the utility companies to provide us with the conveniences of indoor air conditioning and heat, running water, cable or satellite television, internet connections and phone service for landlines.  I often wonder, what if... all those things were stripped away and I had to survive without them?  What in the world would I do?  I'm so spoiled to those things which make my life what it is.  

In her memoirs, my Mom shares her story of what her childhood was like growing up in rural southern Mississippi, without the modern amenities I'm so blessed with.

The above photo was taken about 1943.  My Mom, about 2 years old at the time, was in the arms of her mother, Susie Johnson Simmons.  Mom's brother Alton is standing in front of their father, Woodrow Wilson Simmons.  When I study this photo of my grandmother, I see a young woman with a hard life- her skin deeply tanned by the sun, her dress stained.  She didn't have many choices of clothing, she wore what was provided to her.  My grandmother would have two more children- Gertie and Elton.  Life became even harder for the family when their father, Woodrow, left and they had to survive the best way they could.  

My Mom's story continues....

I will never forget the first time my Grandpa spanked me.  He used a saga [sic] brush broom straw   of course he could not have made a mark on a stick of soft butter with this.  But to me he broke both of my legs and a heart.

Running into the house screaming I crawled under the bed.  It took Grandma on her hands and knees at least a hour to beg me out from under that bed so she could love the hurt away.

My grandpa died in September 1952    three weeks later in October Grandma died.  After this we sort of losted [sic] some of our childhood.  But Love is ever present when you have nothing but that to carry you through hard times.

Our Mother was a good woman that worked hard and gave what little time she had lefted [sic] to her children.  I can remember her working all day then comming [sic] home at night cooking for her children but never going to bed without praying with them.

In the Spring I have seen her pull a plow like a horse.  Alton would guide it and I would drop the seeds so we could grow a garden and have food.  You see back then there was no welfare and food stamps.

We would wash sometimes at night with the light of a kerasine lanter [sic] and the light from the wash pot fire. We would hang the clothes on clothes lines and sometimes they would freeze stiff before we could get them hung up.

We didn't have electric or indoor plumbing.  The house was a four room shell.  No screens no ceiling or walls.  With a old wood heater it was cold in winter.  Once you got into bed you couldn't move because of all the quilts that was piled on top of you.

In the summer there was no fans or A.C.  So you could go to bed with windows and doors open   you didn't have to worry about being robbed because there was not one thing worth stealing.

On Saturday night people would gater [sic] up and listen to the raido [sic] boil peanuts.  There was no t.v.  the raido [sic] was battery opertor [sic].  Family and friends would be together for a few hours of peace and rest.  On Sunday we wented [sic] to church.  We had to walk most of the time but if the weather was bad Mama would drive us in the pick up truck.  We had the Love of God and our Mother to carry us through.

Tombstone Tuesday: Susie Simmons Ramshur

MOTHER

SUSIE SIMMONS

RAMSHUR

JULY 1, 1916

JUNE 18, 1974

IN LIFE WE LOVED HER

IN DEATH WE LOVE HER MORE

Susie Simmons Ramshur (maiden name Johnson) was my maternal grandmother.  Her grandchildren called her "Granny".  She was laid to rest in the Pine Burr Church of Christ Cemetery, Lamar County, Mississippi.

I was 15 years old when Granny passed away.  I can still recall the events surrounding her death.  Mom and Dad had planned a family vacation to Tennessee that June of 1974.  We were all excited about the trip, for it wasn't often that we could enjoy a family vacation.   Mom and Dad had planned to "pass through" the state of Mississippi, stopping briefly in Columbia to visit with Granny (our family lived in Louisiana at that time).  That's when Mom found out that Granny was in a hospital in Hattiesburg.  Our family spent the next couple of nights at Ms. Irene's house in Hattiesburg.  Ms. Irene was a family friend that Mom and Dad had known since the early years of their marriage.

  

The grave situation of Granny's illness was made clear to me when Mom called all her children into the living room at Ms. Irene's house.  I remember the solemn look upon Mom's face while she tried to tactfully explain how sick Granny was.  She struggled to hold back her tears, but in the end she failed and a few tears escaped her.  For a few moments, we didn't respond.  We didn't know how to respond, what to say, at a time like that.  I remember feeling hurt, not only because Granny was so ill, but because my Mom was hurting.  It was a rare occurence to see my Mom tearful, or even tactful, and it was something I wasn't exactly prepared for and didn't know how to respond to, except with silence.  

I remember going to the hospital with Mom the next day.  The silence within me still lingered.  It was lunch time and Granny was sitting on her bed, picking at the food on her plate, complaining about how bad it tasted.  Granny was different- she seemed distant and somewhat confused.  I hugged her and told her I love her but she didn't respond like the Granny I knew before then.  She appeared weak, frail and older than I remembered her.  I turned away so Granny wouldn't see the tears falling upon my cheeks.  I could tell that Mom was struggling to stay strong, and I wanted to stay strong for her but the emotions within me were so strong that I didn't know how to handle them.  Before then, I had not lost someone so close to me, someone I loved that dearly.  Neither had Mom.

That was the last time I saw my Granny in this life.  I don't remember how many days or weeks she was sick, but I do remember getting the phone call that she had passed away.  My Mom and her siblings were devastated.  It took a long time for Mom to come to terms with the passing of her mother.  I didn't understand the depth of Mom's pain until I lost HER. 

I am fortunate to have so many wonderful memories of my Granny.  She tended to spoil me a little bit and we had a special bond between us.  I plan to share some of my memories of her in future posts. 

Death may take away from us the physical presence of those we loved, but death may never take away all the memories.