Dean Myers, 100, of Big Spring died Friday, June 15, 2018 at her home. The family will receive friends from 6-7pm Thursday at Myers & Smith Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 11am Friday at Myers & Smith Chapel with burial at Trinity Memorial Park.
Dean Myers was born August 23, 1917 in Olton, Texas to Annie Daugherty Graef and Willie Graef. She was the middle of seven children. The United States had just declared war on Germany and entered into World War I; the first war… Read More » to see the use of tanks and planes though the armed forces still depended heavily on horses for transportation and the tactical use of cavalry.
Woodrow Wilson was President. Uncle Sam’s famed ‘I Want You for the U.S. Army’ recruited legions of soldiers. Life expectancy was 48.
4 years and the average US wage was 22 cents per hour. Dean was born two months premature and the doctor laid her to the side stating as she is going to die anyway he would concentrate his efforts on saving her mother. A neighbor lady picked up the feeble infant, began blowing in her face and massaging her tiny body.
She worked with the newborn all night, wrapping her in towels, laying her in a size 7 shoebox and placing her under a potbelly stove for warmth. This kindhearted but arduous process was repeated throughout the night and by morning the struggling baby was showing improvement. The tiny but tough infant, and her mother, had made it through the night.
She was born at a time when most homes had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. There were a few tractors and even fewer automobiles in Olton, Texas. Most people, including Dean’s family, still relied on horses for transport and working the land.
Her father eventually bought a tractor for the farm and would later buy a Ford Model T. He quickly earned the reputation as a hot-rodder for exceeding 20 miles per hour. At the age of eight Dean became ill with diphtheria, and in 1925 one rarely survived this disease. As antibiotics weren’t invented until 1928 and there was little medical intervention for a remote family of farmers, but Dean beat the overwhelming odds and, again, survived.
The roaring 20’s did not roar very loud in Olton, Texas. In fact, they didn’t even hear the crash of ’29. But by 1935 they knew about the Great Depression and more than that they knew about the drought, the Great Dust Bowl.
Like a lot of other farmers, Dean’s father lost the family home and both of his farms. He had 3,900 acres of “grassland” near Dimmitt, Texas. He packed up the family and moved from Olton to Dimmitt in 1935 to a two-room shack and those 3,900 acres of grass were really 3,900 acres of dust.
By the end of the depression, he had to sell most of the land, shrinking the acreage from 3,900 to 900. Later it was sold to the surviving children in parcels of 150 acres. Dean and one other brother held onto their share of the land until their death.
Like every other American family they were touched deeply and directly by World War II. Her younger brother, Billy Earl Graef, would die while serving in the United States Navy during the invasion of Guam in 1943. Henry Myers would return home from the war after serving in the United States Army in the Pacific.
Dean and Henry would soon marry. Henry was a very good man except for when he drank, and he drank a lot. So in the late 1940’s Dean left Henry with an empty coin purse and diaper bag on one arm while clutching a chubby 18-month old with the other.
The fighter instinct that had proved Dean so well in life before gave her the courage to protect herself and her son. In a time when family violence was swept under the rug, when women had limited res for help and economic security was scarce for a woman outside of marriage, this was a true act of heroism. With little formal education but a substantial work ethic, Dean held various jobs.
This included chopping and picking cotton but mostly house keeping and baby-sitting kept this small family unit afloat. The best job she ever had was in the school cafeteria where she worked for the last ten years of her working career. For over twenty years she also worked at the movie theatre 7 nights a week and every Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Hard work was a way of life for her since the day she was born until she retired. Three values summarize Dean Myers’ life very well. The first being family.
She loved her immediate and extended family very deeply and placed high value on loyalty. The second is hard work. She understood what it meant to toil and that not everything in life is easy.
She took great satisfaction in earning a paycheck for her diligence. The third, and perhaps most important was her faith. She was a prayer warrior and taught her family to pray for wisdom during challenging life circumstances and for the courage to live life more fully.
Dean is survived by one son, Bill Myers and his wife Charlsa of Big Spring. Two grandchildren, Charles Myers of Midland and Christi Myers of San Antonio. She is survived by one niece and three nephews and several great nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents she is preceded in death by three brothers, Clayton “Charlie” Graef, Pat Graef and Billy Earl Graef. Three Sisters, Marie Langford, Frankie Ryan and Betty Dimmitt, two nieces and three nephews. Arrangements are by Myers & Smith Funeral Home.
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