KILGOROUND
LINDA BALLARD

"I, have been here all of my life," said Bebe Stone. "I was born here, lived here and will probably die here. That is with the exception of one year that we moved to Austin after Ray and I married…

"Ray, too, was born and raised in Kilgore. In fact, we built a home on family land on South Danville Road across from Ronnie Spradlin. Ray was born in a home where Region VII Education building now stands and his grandfather lived where the ETCOG building is located. Stone Road was named after his grandfather.

"We were raised with the changes, and we have been a part of Kilgore's growth. So, to look back and wonder what happened we didn't do, as we were a part of it.

"Growing up, I enjoyed going to the Longhorn Drug Store. It had sandwiches and a soda fountain and that soda fountain is something that I miss today. And I had a friend whose parents owned Leslie Drug Store. It was just past Longhorn Drug in a small building next to Two O Five. Dr. Leslie was what we called the

owner of the drugstore. He was called doctor because there was no veterinarian at the time and he would go out and take care of sick animals.

"Ray and I attended different schools, so it was not until I was in high school that we met. I had been at the swimming pool and had just got out and changed clothes to meet some friends. I was walking beside it when someone picked me up and threw me in the pool. It was Ray. I asked him why he did that and he had no answer. Years, later after we were married I told him that's what you get for throwing me in - a dunkin' all your own.

"Ray went to college in Austin where I attended for a short while until family illness brought me back home. While there, a waiter that worked in a snack bar set us up for a date and we continued to date afterwards.

"We married and moved to Austin for his remaining year of college. Afterwards, we moved back to Kilgore where he owned the Spunky Gas Station out on Highway 42 S. He sold it and bought a Gulf Station not too far from Merritt Tool Co. He then managed an appliance store on Kilgore Street and later went to work for Eastman where he retired," she said.

The couple had been married for 58 years when Ray died. They had two children; both live near.

"It's been a good life," said Bebe. "With the exception of the time I fought tuberculosis. My daughter was eight and a half months old when I was diagnosed with TB and it was the toughest thing for me to be away from her. I had to stay flat on my back for six months at the hospital and then another 3 months after I got to come home.

"My cousin, Sis Dickerson and her entire family - Nina Fern, Marian and Aunt Lottie stepped in and took care of my baby for me. All of them were so good to us, and especially Sis.

"Sis made all of Glenda's clothes and they were some of the prettiest things you ever saw. One would never think the woman that carried the large purse and a gun could do something so beautiful. She had a big heart, but, she didn't hesitate to do her job."

Hand-stitching was something Sis and Bebe enjoyed together and, along with yard work and scrapbooking, it is something that Bebe continues to do today.

"Yes," she says. "I was born, lived and will probably die here," she says with a laughter and a warmth in her heart.

People like Ray, Bebe and their families are what Kilgore is all about. They have watched the changes, but they are not complaining.

Happy Birthday today to Shonda Graham, F.W. Gillcoat, Chuck Roberts, Mabel Tate, John Squire, Matt Moore III, Chris Sullivan, Mrs. M.M. Harding, Jimmy Van Meter, Ruth Morris, Kimberly Ann Williams, Rosie Lee Russell, Christine Messer, Steve Van Meter, Christy Wright, Bobby Worsham, Traci Hall, Wade Pipkin, Maurin Smith, Larry E. Smith, Kalin Wilson.