Matagorda County Centenarians

Deceased County Residents Who Reached the Age of 100 and Beyond


A centenarian is a person who has attained the age of 100 or more.  This page is for centenarians who were born in Matagorda County and are buried out of the county. These are the centenarians who have been identified to date. Submissions can be emailed .

 

Centenarians Buried in Matagorda County
 

 
106
Mary Petrucha Blair
June 28, 1914 - March 14, 2021
 
106

Mary Petrucha Blair passed away on March 14, 2021 at the age of 106. She was born June 28, 1914 in Wadsworth, Tx.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband Glenn Blair.

She is survived by her children, Glenda and husband Frank Tvrdik of Rosharon, Charles Blair of Houston, and Linda and husband Ken Kram of El Campo.

She has 8 grandchildren, 3 step grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, 1 great great grandchild.

Private services will be held with family.

Serving as pallbearers will be Jeff Kram, Kevin Kram, Jon Kram, Kris Kram, Kale Kram, Kade Kram, Randy Tvrdik, and Ronnie Tvrdik. Honorary pallbearer will be Marty Cerveny.

Memorial donations may be made to Houston Hospice-El Campo.

Triska Funeral Home El Campo, Texas 979-543-3681

[buried Holy Cross Cemetery, El Campo]

Triska Funeral Home
 

 

108
Emily Dorothy Perry Brown

 
108

Buried in Livermore, California.
 

 

101
Dorothy Mangum Gest

June 19, 1889 - February 13, 1991
 
101

 

Dorothy Mangum Gest was born Juneteenth in her home in the country in Matagorda County near what would later become Bay City, Texas. At the time, there was no town.

 

She was one of 16 children born on a farm. Her birth date: June 19, 1989 [1889].

 

Her father, William Arther Mangum [Arthur William Mangum], had seven children by his first wife, including Dorothy, and nine children by his second wife, Lola Rozanna [Roxanne] Lee.

 

She’s not quite sure whether Benjamin Harrison or Grover Cleveland was president on the day she was born, but she is certain about the first president she remembers: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1901-1909).

 

“When he went into the White House I remember a line they had – ‘He was elected more than I expected,’ ” Gest recalls, adding, “I’m a Democrat.”

 

She also remembers her mother’s description of the day she came into the world.

 

“Daddy had a farm, and on the day I was born the woman who had cared for my mother was called about 11 a.m. We lived about halfway between Matagorda and Wharton. She was having her dinner and it really broke up her Juneteenth celebration. She said, ‘Wait ‘til I’m through, then I’ll come over.”

 

The alert 100-year-old smiled.

 

“You know, Juneteenth was really something big in those days.”

 

At the ripe old age of 17, she married Otto Gest, all of 21, who “was from this part of the country.”

 

“He inherited a farm in the little community of Piney Creek. The farm is where the big lake is now. That’s Lake Bastrop.”

 

Her husband was an engineer and moved around a bit, but she settled in Bastrop County with little trouble.

 

“I went to school in Matagorda County and at that time, graduated in the 10th grade,” she recalls. “There were 47 students, no grades, and the teachers let us older ones take care of the younger ones. There were four in my graduating class, one boy and three girls. I felt like I got a good education.”

 

“I had meningitis when I was 8 years old. That was a deadly disease then and nobody expected me to live. Not very many people got over it. Me and my neighbor, a little girl friend that later became my sister-in-law, both had it.”

 

“I’ll never forget that old four-poster bed with the mosquito bar. Oh, it was so hot. I think I was unconscious for a week. I didn’t know anything until I came to and saw my little brother walking around the house. But I had to stay in that bed for over a month.”

 

Not long after that, she had another exciting experience.

 

“When I was about eight or nine, I always had to act smart. I heard my Daddy’s boat (which he used to bring supplies like flour, sugar and coffee from Wharton) was filling up with water. I took off down there and starting dipping water. It was about to sink.”

 

“I heard a noise behind me and I thought it was my brothers so I didn’t even turn around. Then the noise got louder. I looked around and saw an alligator with a mouth this big,” Gest recalls, indicating an alarming distance with her hands.

 

“He was trying to get in the boat, so I took a paddle to it. He finally fell out of it and I went to the house. I never told anybody about it until I was 15 years old. You saw a lot of alligators in those days.”

 

After her marriage, she and her husband commuted between Bastrop and Matagorda County, where her husband and brother were in the rice business together – her husband having designed one of the first irrigation systems for rice fields there.

 

But as she recalls, it was 1916 when she and her husband moved here.

 

“Camp Swift took the land first. Then Lake Bastrop took it. Our place is in the lake right now,” she says.

 

Gest worked for six years for Albert Elzner (now Elzner’s Corner) in his store.

 

Her eyes gleam with remembrance recalling the store:

 

“It had everything from groceries to dry goods to furniture. There were big barrels of pickles and barrels of molasses. In those days everyone came into town on Saturday and spent the day. They shopped, ate, walked up and down the street, and visited with friends and neighbors. We had a bench in Elzner’s so people could come in and sit down.”

 

After Elzner died, she worked for Dave Cohen for a while on Main Street. During the Drought of 1925, when business slowed in Bastrop, Cohen’s son Max asked her to go to Bay City and run the store the Cohens owned there. She said she was pleased to do so, as her husband “was already down there running a rice mill.”

 

The store soon closed and the two were back in Bastrop for good. They had no children, but in the tradition of those times, they took in a relative’s child – Fred Herms – who still lives with Gest at her Cedar Street home.

 

Otto Gest died in 1964 and her only other living relative is an 89-year-old brother, Harvey Mangum, who came from Matagorda County to her 100th birthday party at the First Methodist Church.

 

After the drought, came the Great Depression, which according to Gest was “no big thing.”

 

“We raised everything we ate. We had a garden winter and summer. We had chickens and eggs. We had hogs and a smokehouse filled with bacon and sausage. The neighbors came and helped anytime we needed help and we went and helped the neighbors anytime they needed help. I remember a lot of good times.”

 

She’s also contributed to a lot of good times for many people through the years.

 

Recently, she received her 50-year pin from the Home Demonstration Club, an accomplishment of which she is very proud.

 

Gest also remembers her days with the Piney Creek Methodist Church. When it was no longer, she joined the First Methodist Church in Bastrop.

 

She also belongs to the Bastrop County Historical Society.

 

“I was always interested in being involved in the community and I still would if I could,” she says.

 

Gest remembers her first automobile ride clearly – her brother had a car.

 

However, she’s never flown.

 

“I didn’t want no plane ride,” she says with conviction.

 

She has traveled to Idaho in1942 to visit nephew Fred in Boise when he was in the Air Force and she’s gone to Dallas and Fort Worth.

 

Asked what was the best thing about being 100 is, she replies, “having friends who call. I’d love to hear from them Otherwise, I’d be lonely.”

 

She pauses before remarking on the saddest thing, then answers, “Losing so many of my friends. So many of my friends have gone on.”

 

Gest says she never thought about living to 100.

 

“The main thing is to be a Christian, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your family and take care of your friends.”

 

The Bastrop Advertiser and County News, June 29, 1989

 

(note: Dorothy died on February 13, 1991, just 4 months shy of her 102nd birthday.)
 

 

104
Mary Lee Smith Miller
August 22, 1910 - May 21, 2015
 
104

Mary Lee Smith Miller, 104, was born on August 22, 1910, in Markham, Texas to Ina and Dave Smith and passed away on May 21, 2015, at Holly Hall in Houston, Texas. Mary Lee is survived by her daughter, Ina Kathryn Miller of Houston, her brother, David L. Smith of Pearland and nieces Martha Singleton, Susan Lenamon, and Leah Bateman. She is also survived by "adopted" grandchildren Clay Robertson, Amy Killian, Polly Draper and Laura Onizuka. She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years Jack N. Miller, her brother Clarence Smith, sister Joyce Smith Miller, nephew Berry Miller III and niece Mary Helen Miller all of Pearland.

Memorial Services with a reception to follow on Friday, May 29, 2015, at 2 p.m. Holly Hall Chapel, 2000 Holly Hall, Houston, Texas 77054. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Holly Hall Retirement Community Mary Lee's home for the last 20 years. The family would like to thank all of the wonderful nurses and aides in Holly Hall Healthcare for the loving care they gave to Mary Lee the last years of her life. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.claytonfuneralhomes.com.

Published in Houston Chronicle on May 27, 2015
 


 
102
Hazel Houston Montgomery

February 22, 1911 - July 5, 2012
 
103

Hazel Houston Montgomery was born February 3, 1919, to Terrel B. and Earbell Josephine Hawkins Houston.  She grew up in Houston as an only child and married William Robert Montgomery June 3, 1943.  Hazel died February 20, 2021, at the age of 102 and went to join her Lord Jesus Christ and her beloved Robert.  A celebration of her life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, Palacios, TX, at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 27, with Rev. Chuck Kimball officiating.  Burial will be in Houston at Forest Park Lawndale on Thursday, March 4th, at 3:00p.m.

Hazel was recognized by the American Rosie the Riveter Association for her distinguished service as a working woman of World War II.  Because Robert and Hazel loved fishing and the community, they retired to Palacios in 1980 and built their home on Tres Palacios Bay.   They were active members of FPC and the community.  Hazel and Robert were happily married for 60 years and were sad they had no children.

Hazel had a great sense of humor, a quick wit, and a caring nature which endeared her to so many.  She was a very talented artist, leaving numerous memorable paintings, including one of the Palacios Pavilion and a Noah’s Ark with all its critters painted across the nursery wall at First Presbyterian Church. 

She continued to be a loved member of First Presbyterian for over forty years.  When Hazel could no longer attend church in person, she used her computer to host an email prayer ministry, keeping the congregation and friends up to date on concerns and, of course, sending funny items even through age 101!

Hazel was very independent and did pretty much whatever she decided she would do, even with her limitations later in life.  With a big smile on her face, she shared that, at age 98, she secretly took herself for a short drive in the car--just because she could. 

Hazel’s generosity was abundant as she made donations over the years from the Montgomery Family Trust to many non-profit organizations in the local community and elsewhere.  The recent Rainbowland Day Care building and the new Palacios Medical Clinic are examples of Palacios projects blessed by support from the Montgomery Family Trust.  To honor her husband Robert, Hazel established an ongoing scholarship to benefit future engineering students at the University of Houston, Robert’s alma mater.  Hazel quietly touched the lives of individuals and families by giving funds that helped in difficult circumstances. The legacy that Robert and Hazel built though their Trust will continue to have a positive effect for many years to come. 

Hazel was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband Robert.  She is survived by cousins Henry Hawkins, Judy Englehardt and Ronald Hawkins.  She will also be greatly missed by her faithful cat, Cougar.  Among Hazel’s cherished friends were her caregivers Frances and Carl Bock, Colleen Claybourn, Carol Garcia and Margie Johnson. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to First Presbyterian Church, Palacios; the Palacios Community Medical Center, Rainbowland Childcare Center or a charity of your choice. 

Taylor Bros. Funeral Home
 

 

101
Mamie Marie Pennington

February 22, 1911 - July 5, 2012
 
101

Mamie Marie Pennington, 101 of Santa Fe, Texas went to be her Lord Jesus Christ on July 5, 2012. Mamie was preceded in death by her grandson Ted Pennington III, Brother Jimmy Murray & his wife Norene, Sister Jessie Fife. Mamie is survived by her son Ted Pennington Jr. and wife Christine; Two nieces Margaret Bonneau, Mary Beth Franks; nephew Jim Bob Murry; Grandson Christopher Pennington & wife Erin; Two Great Grandchildren Madison and Cooper.

Deer Park Funeral Directors
 

 

102


Virginia Ellen Thurber

January 12, 1917 - January 31, 2019

 

102

Virginia Ellen Thurber, 102, of Bay City, TX, passed away January 31, 2019. She was born January 12, 1917 in Independence, Kansas to Leonard and Lula Hall Sexton.

Virginia grew up in Independence Kansas during the great depression of the late 20's and 30's. After attending public school she became a beautician and completed one year of business school. When World War II came along in 1942 she received a civil service rating while working at the Holabird ammunition plant in Baltimore, Maryland.

After the war, she opened up a beauty solon in Neodesha, Kansas and ran it till she and the family moved to Old Ocean, Texas in 1947. After moving to Old Ocean she began a career with the post office and worked there until she retired in 1980. After retirement she volunteered as a Pink Lady at Sweeny Community Hospital.   

Virginia is preceded in death by her parents; husband William W. Thurber; daughter Hope Collier, and son Jack L. Thurber. She is survived by daughter Ann Tatsch and husband Rodney of Helotes, TX; son William L. Thurber and wife Kathy of Sugar Valley, TX; 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren.

The family will receive friends and relatives beginning at 1:00pm Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at Taylor Bros. Funeral Home. Services will follow visitation at 2:00pm.

Interment will follow at Sweeny Cemetery in Sweeny, Texas.

Online condolences may be shared with the family by visiting www.taylorbros.net

Arrangements are with Taylor Bros. Funeral Home, Bay City, Texas; 979-245-4613.

Bay City Tribune, February 6, 2019
 


 

Copyright 2011 - Present by Carol Sue Gibbs
All rights reserved

Created
Oct. 9, 2011
Updated
Oct. 13, 2012
   

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