Bernice, William and Mary's Oldest Surviving Grandchild



Bernice with niece Deborah (8/2010)



I recently interviewed my aunt Bernice (Bea) Garrett Sigler, the oldest surviving grandchild of my maternal great-grandparents, William and Mary Long.  Here are her answers to the questions I posed. 

How are you related to William and Mary Long?  William and Mary are my grandparents.  They had six children.   Of their six children, only 2 had offspring: my mother, Julia and my Uncle Agustus.    

What are your parent's names?  Julia Mae Long Garrett and Selmo Garrett.  My father's nickname was Dyke.  They had four daughters.  I'm the oldest; the next two passed away as toddlers, and the youngest is my sister, Betty.  My mother died in 1999 at age 89; she was the last of William and Mary's children to pass away.  

When and where were you born?  I was born on February 8, 1930 in Gadsden, Alabama.  Where do you live now?  Akron, Ohio.

What are your memories of your grandparents, William and Mary? I did not know my grandmother Mary; she died when my mother was 16 years old.  My grandfather married two more times.  I'm not sure of my first step grandmother's name.  I think it was Ms. Travis, and I think his third wife's name was Ms. Phillis.  My grandfather was a store-front preacher.  Betty and I called him Papa, but our first cousins called him Papa Willie.

How many children do you have, and what are their names/ages?  I have 5 children: LaKeia Lashon (Mary Louise) Turner Neeley born August 29, 1947 – she was named after my grandmother (Mary) and great grandmother (Louise).  

Kathy Turner, deceased

My second child is Kathy Jo Turner.  She was born on September 5, 1954 and passed away on April 24, 1998.  I named Kathy after a girl on a soap opera and my girlfriend Nancy Jo.  My sister, Betty, had her second child, a daughter, Deborah, five days later. 

My first son and third child is Kevin Ray Turner who was born on February 26, 1956.  Kevin's middle name is for my brother-in-law, Raymond.  Kevin was born 2 days after my sister's birthday.  This was the second time my sister Betty and I were pregnant at the same time.  She had her second daughter, Sharon, earlier in the month on February 5. 

My fourth child and second son is Gregory Myles Turner; his birthday is May 2, 1958. 

My baby, Vickie Renee Turner Millender, was born on June 23, 1961. 

What do you want to say to the descendants of William and Mary Long?  My mother, Julia, was named after her father's sister, Julia Crawford.  My mother came to Ohio in 1941.  My mother used to have a rooming house on Valley Street in Akron.  I came to Ohio in 1938 and lived with my great aunt Julia Crawford. She and her husband, William, called me Bertha and enrolled me in school as Bertha Crawford. But everybody knows me now as Bernice. My sister, Betty’s children couldn’t say Bernice, so I told them to call me Aunt Bea.   I only met three of my mother's siblings: Gertrude (Bay Bay*), Uncle Gus, and Uncle Brown (Allan).  I think a first cousin named his son Lavelle after our Uncle Lavelle (note: the name Lavelle does not appear on the 1930 census for William and Mary's offspring). 


What do you want your descendants to know and/or remember about you as your legacy?   I opened up my heart and told my life story to my children.  I’m just Bernice.   I’m open-hearted, free-hearted and will do anything for anybody that I can.  I don’t meet any strangers.  I’m alright until you back me up in a corner.  Since the Lord has touched me, I’m not what I used to be, and I’m not what I ought to be.  I want my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to know I’m on my way.  I’m on the right track.  You have to work at it, pray, and go forward. 

Thank you, Aunt Bea for sharing part of your story with me and all of your descendants, including those not yet born!  Next up: my mother's first cousin, Thomas Long, the second oldest surviving grandchild.

*The 1920 census does not list a Gertrude or Lavelle; the census list Bula, a girl 3 years older than my grandmother, and Jessie, a girl 3 years younger than my grandmother - no middle names are given for either of them, so perhaps one of them is Gertrude.  The other boy named in the 1920 census is Iver Ella - perhaps his nickname was Lavelle.  I will explore these name differences with the other grandchildren.)