Marguerite Harriet (Margaret) Stillwell Couch, was born on 6 August 1909 in Denison, Texas, at a time when the town was a growing, bustling railroad center. She was the daughter of Edward Simco Stillwell (4 July 1869- 22 January 1937) and Nora Belle Fitzgerald Stillwell (18 Feb 1881 – 22 Sept 1964).
Margaret Stillwell married William Ernest Couch on 27 October 1931 in Durant, Bryan County, Oklahoma. Their children were:
• Bobby Ernest Couch (b: 13 Jan 1935 d: 10 Feb 2008)
• Paul David Couch (b: 1939 d: LIVING)
Margaret Stillwell Couch devoted her full attention to her family. Her husband completed high school at Denison High School, but she never had the opportunity to complete school. Because of the difficult times, she had to help out at home at an early age. She had a special skill with regard to mathematics. Balancing the checkbook in her head was extremely easy for her. She kept the household books, paid the bills, and performed all of the functions men normally performed in those days.
She was a devoted mother and housewife. For the most part she did not work out of the home. There were brief periods of time when she worked at the Denison Cotton Mill Company.
After the Great Depression, William Ernest Couch was determined that the family would always have food on the table and a good roof over their heads, even if another Depression were to come to the United States. Margaret and her two sons, Bobby and David, churned milk from the cows, with an old style hand churn. She skimmed the butter off the top of the churned milk, and the lower portion was buttermilk. The butter and some of the buttermilk were retained and placed in the "ice box," which was a large upright strange looking thing with a place for ice on top. Every few days, the "ice man" would deliver a new block of ice for the ice box. The boys sold some of the excess buttermilk to neighbors to make a little spending money. Margaret also canned vegetables and fruit from the large garden. The wonderful canned produce was stored in the storm cellar, adjacent to the house, in what was the well house. The home (all build by hand by William Ernest Couch) had a pier and beam foundation. Irish potatoes and new potatoes were stored under the house all winter.
Margaret was known as the best cook in the family. She prepared wonderful meals on holidays, with relatives from across the country coming in to enjoy fellowship and Mom's special cooking.
Margaret Stillwell Couch loved to fish, and she was a much better fisherman than anyone else in the family. After the boys grew up, Lake Texoma in Denison, Texas, was like a second home to her. Prior to becoming ill, she also was known as one of the more social members of the Fitzgerald, Couch and Stillwell families. Perhaps that is why so many folks visited the house when the boys were growing up. She was also a skilled canasta and domino player. Few were her match. As she grew older, she enjoyed going to downtown Denison to visit "The Snap," a gathering place for seniors who got together to play cards.
After the death of her husband, Margaret, decided to remain in her home town of Denison because her sister, Laverne Stillwell Martin, and her brother, Dale Stillwell, were living there. Her son, David, asked her to move to Tyler, Texas, where he and his family were working, but after thinking about it, she decided to remain where she had grown up, married, and raised her family. She eventually sold her home and moved to the Wesley Village Retirement Center. Laverne and Dale were daily visitors.
Margaret Stillwell Couch was a devoted wife and homemaker. She was a Methodist and a member of Harless United Methodist Church; whereas, her husband, William Ernest Couch, was a Baptist, and a member of Sunnyside Baptist Church. They normally attended the Methodist Church.

William Ernest Couch was born prior to World War I, lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He was an eye witnesses to history in the truest sense of the word.
William Ernest Couch was born July 3, 1912, in Hico, Texas, which is in Hamilton County. He was the oldest of the three sons of Homer Charles & Sarah Elvy Turner Couch. His younger brothers were: Wayne, born in 1914, and Orville, born in 1916.
Homer & Sarah Couch moved from Hico, Texas, to Denison, Texas, in 1918, with their three sons. Homer moved to Denison, either to go in the grocery business with Sarah Couch's brother, John Turner, or to work for the MKT Railroad.
William Ernest Couch married Marguerite Harriet Stillwell (Stilwell) in Bryan County, OK, on Oct 27, 1931. William Ernest Couch went by "Ernest" and "W. E." His wife went by the name "Margaret." Margaret met Ernest at The Denison Shoe Shop in downtown Denison where he worked. Margaret's brother, Dale Stillwell, related that she came home and told the family: "I just met the most handsome man." William Ernest Couch and Margaret Stillwell had the following children:
• Bobby Ernest Couch (b: 13 Jan 1935 d: 10 Feb 2008)
• Paul David Couch (b: 1939 d: LIVING)
The shoe shop in Denison, Texas, where Ernest Couch worked made and repaired shoes and was later purchased by his brother, Wayne. To this day, the shop is called: "Wayne's Shoe Shop." William Ernest Couch could make a very high quality pair of leather shoes, and the skills he learned at the shoe shop served him well in his future endeavors. The Great Depression started in 1929, but it lasted for over 10 years until the United States entered World War II. Ernest Couch was laid off from the shoe shop for lack of work, as no one was buying new shoes made by hand any longer. In the early 1930's, he related to his two boys, Bobby and David Couch, that he walked over 10 miles round-trip from home to pick sweet potatoes for $1 per day and all the sweet potatoes the family could eat. He was also a skilled craftsman, having built their home from the ground up, which included digging the water well by hand.
Ernest Couch observed that people who had good-sized gardens, cows, hogs, and chickens did not seem to be as impacted by the Great Depression as much as folks who did not have gardens and animals. He planted a very large garden after he built the house. The family had hogs, cows, fruit trees, and became rather self sufficient.
During the Great Depression, William Ernest Couch was hired as a janitor at the Denison Cotton Mill Company, where he was to work his way up in management to the position of Executive Vice President and Plant Manager. He probably knew more about making textiles than most cotton mill managers in the country because there were few jobs that he had not performed at the Denison Cotton Mill Company. During World War II, the company manufactured much of the duct material that was used to make tents for our troops. Because of his position in a vital defense industry, he was not drafted to fight in World War II. The Denison Cotton Mill was the very last duct material company to survive "Japanese competition," and the mill closed in 1977 on the day W. E. Couch retired. He retired from the Denison Cotton Mill Company at the age of 65.
William Ernest Couch was also a devoted member of the Denison Lion's Club. He served as President of the Club, as well as Chairman of the Texas Lion's Club Eye Bank almost until the time of his death. He was a City Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem of Denison, Texas. All who knew him would say "he was a man of his word, and that he served his community and family well." He was a member of Sunnyside Baptist Church in Denison, Texas.