Ocean Springs schools and churches

20^th CENTURY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Contents

Agnes Grinstead Anderson

Estelle Chatelain

William H. Cole

Lucille Magee Dennison (1895-1961)

Merrick J. Chatelain (1908-1986)

Albert O. Garr (1909-1981)

Mamie Gordon

Hilda Friar

Katherine Hadley

Alice Emily Hague

Rita Johnson (d. 1926, see The Jackson County Times, March 20, 1926, p. 6)

Olive Keith (1873-1903)

Lucretia Money (1910-

Florence E. Morrow(1868-1936)

Mary Cahill O’Keefe

Inell Orrell

Marie Louise Ratelle Preis (1911-1965)

Amy Quick (1904-2-21-1994 at Hattiesburg, Ms.) this is Amy Z. Quick and may not be her.

Elinor Wright Scharr (1913-1953)

Ruth Dickey White Scharr

Francesca Spencer Howard (1912-1963)

Mildred Swim (1914-1985)

N.E. Taconi

Terry Thibodeaux (1935-1992)

Katherine Varnado

Edith Graham Wall (1909-2001)

Sibley S. Wall

W.H. Wood

May Belle Oakes Woods

William H. Cole

            William H. Cole came to Ocean Springs from Hillsboro, Illinois.  In the summer of 1929, he attended the University of Michigan before arriving in Ocean Springs as the guest of A.P. “Fred” Moran.  Mr. Cole had accepted the job of principal at the Moss Point, Mississippi high school.(The Jackson County Times, August 31, 1929, p.3)

            Football coach.  Acquired for $1472, Lot 7-Block C from H.L. Girot in  September 1926.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 59, p. 536)  Cole married to Clarabel Day Cole, a native of Marshall, Michigan.  They lived at present day 1108 West Cherokee in the first house in Cherokee Glenn other than that of H.L. Girot and Emil A. Granitz.  Left Ocean Springs probably for Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona in 1936.  Sold home for $2100 cash to Elmer A. Rehnberg in late June 1936.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 39, p.  66)

Lucille Magee Dennison (1895-1965)

            Lucille Magee Dennison was born on December 15, 1895, at Collins, Mississippi.  She married Minter J. Dennison (1886-1945).  Mrs. Dennison began her teaching tenure at Ocean Springs in 1942, and later became principal under S.S. Wall.  She left the Ocean Springs Public School circa 1949.  Lucille M. Dennison also taught at D’Iberville.  She was survived by a son, James C. Dennison, and two sisters, Mrs. M.H. Thompson of Collins and Mrs. Christine O’Cain of Jackson.  Mrs. Dennison expired on May    1961 at the Baptist Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.  Her corporal remains were passed through the Belle Fontaine Baptist Church and interred in the Evergreen Cemetery at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.(The Daily Herald, May 26, 1961, p. 2)

Hilda Friar (1911-1987)

            Graduated from Mississippi State College in June 1934, and joined the Ocean Springs Public School Faculty in September 1934.(The Daily Herald, June 1, 1934, p. 3)

Albert O. Garr (1909-1981)

            Albert O. Garr was born on April 12, 1909, probably in Louisiana.  He married Julia Garr (1909-1995) also from Louisiana.  Mr. Gaar taught and coached football at the Ocean Springs Public School in the early 1930s.  In 1950, he resided in Atlanta, Georgia where he was employed by the Carroll Dunham Smith Pharmaceutical Company of New Brunswick, New Jersey.  A son, C. Gaar (1932-1988), was born at Ocean Springs on July 6, 1932.  He entered college in the fall of 1950.(The Gulf Coast Times, October 6, 1950, p. 1)

            Coach Gaar died at Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia in February 1981.  His son passed on November 15, 1988, while Mrs. Gaar died on January 22, 1995.(SSDI)

Mamie Gordon

            Married S.I. Martin and was residing in Sacaton, Arizona in 1928.  Came to Ocean Springs to visit Mr. and Mrs. Theo Bechtel in June 1928.(The Daily Herald,

June 26,1928, p. 12)

Katherine Hadley

            Daughter of Mrs. L.M. Hadley of Montreal, New ?  Taught school here in 1926. Sister, Annie Hadley.(The Daily Herald, November , 1926, p. 3)

Alice Emily Hague

            Alice Emily Hague may have been married to a Mayne.  From Pascagoula.  Teaching at Lihue, Kanai, Hawaii in 1949-1950.  Went to Europe in the summer of 1950 with Gloria Parrott of Richland, Minnesota.  Visited England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and France.(The Gulf Coast Times, August 25, 1950, p. 5)

Olive Keith (1873-1903)

            Olive Keith came from Chicago to teach at Ocean Springs.  She passed here after only two months in the classroom.(The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, November 27, 1903, p. 3)

Lucretia Money (1910-199

Lucretia Money was born in Washington D.C.  The Money family moved to the Rose-Money Farm, north of Ocean Springs before 1920.  Lucretia was an outstanding scholar at Biloxi High School where she graduated with the Class of 1925.  She matriculated to Mississippi State College for Women at Columbus where she majored in English.  Lucretia was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Freshman Class.  (The Jackson County Times, October 24, 1925, p. 3 and The Daily Herald, April 26, 1930, p. 9)

 Miss Money was involved in drama and journalism serving as the editor of the Spectator while at MSCW.  Upon graduating from college in 1928, she attended school at Asheville, North Carolina taking a special scholarship course.  In the fall of 1929, Lucretia taught English at Ocean Springs High School.  She was elected by a unanimous vote to be the sponsor of the Senior Class of 1929-1930 at the high school.  In this capacity Miss Money advised and directed the class on all occasions as well as directing the senior class play.

             Lucretia Money pursued her education at Columbia University in 1936.  After graduation from the New York City University, she taught school at Meridian, McComb, and Lafayette, Louisiana.  Miss Money married Henry Grady Parlin (1912-1984) of Ocean Springs on July 5, 1946, at San Francisco.  Parlin was born at Mobile, but was reared in Ocean Springs.  After serving as a flight officer in the glider corps of the Ninth Air Force in the European Theater during WW II, he worked as an accountant in the San

Francisco Bay area for the DNE Water Company.  They resided initially at 2211 Van Ness Avenue.  The Parlins retired to Modesto, California in 1954.  The widow Parlin still resides at Modesto, California.

Florence Morrow

            Florence E. Morrow (1868-1936) and Maude O. Morrow (1875-1952) visited brother, Percy Morrow, at Birmingham, Alabama during Christmas 1930.(The Daily Herald, January 6, 1931, p. 2)

Marie Louise Ratelle Preis (1911-1965)

            Marie Louise Ratelle Preis was born at Ocean Springs the daughter of Albert Paul Ratelle (1870-1920) and Maria Josephine Faessel (1877-1946) of New Orleans.  She attended the Sacred Heart Academy at Biloxi and was a graduate of the Class of 1930.  She studied music there.(The Daily Herald, May 31, 1930, p. 5)

            Attending Dominican College at New Orleans in December 1932.(The Daily Herald, December 29, 1932, p. 2)

Marie Louise Ratelle married Edward Jacquet Preis (1913-1996), the son of Dr. Emily Preis, of New Orleans in February 1939, at St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church in Ocean Springs.(The Jackson County Times, February 18, 1939)

Francesca Spencer Theriot Howard (1911-1971)

            Francesca Spencer Theriot Howard, the daughter of Pennsylvanian, Stewart Courtenay Spencer (1867-1959), and Ethel Griffiths (1871-1945), like her mother, was a native of Louisville, Kentucky.  The Spencer family arrived at Ocean Springs circa 1920.  Here Mr. Spencer

Matriculated to Randolph-Macon College at Lynchburg, Virginia in September 1929.(The Daily Herald, September 16, 1930, p. 2)  Graduated in 1933 with a degree in

            Began teaching career at the Ocean Springs Public School in the fall of 1934.  She had taught at the rural Daisy-Vestry school in northwest Jackson County before coming to Ocean Springs.(The Jackson County Times, May 31, 1934, p.3)

Attended summer school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the summer of 1936.  Came home with Mrs. J.L. Dickey and daughter, Dorothy Dickey.(The Daily Herald, July 31, 1936, p. 7)

Married Numa Theriot circa 1942.  Divorced 1946?  One daughter, Francis Spencer King (1942-1963), the wife of Thomas L. King. 

            Francesca Spencer resigned her position at the Ocean Springs Public School in May 1948, to teach English at St. Martin High School.  Mrs. Spencer had problems with School Superintendent, S.S. Wall.  She had aspired to be named principal of the school.  When Mrs. Spencer approached Mr. Wall with this request, she alleged that he rejected it in an “intolerably rude” manner.(The Jackson County Times, May 14, 1948, p. 1)

Inell Orrell

Miss Inell Orrell left the faculty at the end of the 1924-1925 school term and returned to her home at Holly Springs, Mississippi.(The Daily Herald, June 16, 1925, p. 7)

Amy Quick

Taught from circa 1924 until 1932.

In the fall and winter of 1951 and 1953 respectively, Miss Amy Quick visited at Ocean Springs with Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Jordan.  She was assistant principal at Bogalusa High School.(The Gulf Coast Times, October 18, 1951, p. 2 and December 31, 1953, p. 3)

Elinor Wright Scharr (1913-1953)

Eleanor Wright (1913-1953), a native of Whittier, California, was the daughter of John C. Wright (1879-1941) and Florence Hunt (1875-1961).  In January 1940, she married Orwin J. Scharr and taught English in the Ocean Springs public school.  She wrote the script for the 1699 Pageant in 1949, the 250th anniversary of the D'Iberville landing.

Ruth Dickey White Scharr

Mildred Swim

            Mildred Swim (1914-1985) was born in 1914, the daughter of George A. Swim (1878-1958) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Taught at Ocean Springs from              to                      .  Miss Swim was at Birmingham, Alabama in April 1958.  Step-aunt, Mrs. T.O. Peters, lived in Biloxi.  Expired at Birmingham in January 1985.(The Daily Herald, April 23, 1968, p. 2 and SSDI)

Nolan Edward Taconi (1910-1971)

Nolan Edward Taconi (1910-1971) a native of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, came to Ocean Springs in the fall of 1950, as Superintendent.  He was a 1935 graduate of Mississippi Southern University.  Taconi’s previous experience was as a coach, principal, and superintendent in Hancock County, Vancleave, and St. Martin schools.  Taconi married Expired in his office on March 1971.(The Gulf Coast Times, April 7, 1950, p. 1 and The Daily Herald, March 9, 1971, p. 1)

Terry Thibodeaux (1935-1992)

            Terry Thibodeaux was the son of Joseph Wilson Thibodeaux (1911-1972) and Ruth         .  Terry’s father was a native of Youngsville, Louisiana and came to Biloxi in the 1930s.  Terry was born at Biloxi, Mississippi on January 16, 1935.  Expired at Ocean Springs on December 17, 1992.  Evergreen Cemetery.

Katherine Varnado

            Miss Varnado was from Gloster, Amite County, Mississippi.  She taught at Ocean Springs in the 1920s.  In 1927-1928, she was on the faculty at Mississippi College at Clinton.(The Daily Herald, June 26, 1928, p. 12)

Edith Graham Wall (1909-2001)

            Edith Graham was born at Dixon, Newton County, Mississippi.  She married S.S. Wall.  They were the parents of Martha Wall Russell and Joseph H. Wall.  Came to Ocean Springs in July 1945, from Pascagoula.  Taught school at the Ocean Springs Public School and Howard II Elementary in Biloxi.  Member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ocean Springs.  Expired at Ocean Springs on April 6, 2001.  Buried in the Decatur Cemetery at Decatur, Mississippi.(The Sun Herald, April 9, 2001, p. A-9)

Sibley Sylvester Wall (5/1916-2/1978?)

            In July 1945, when he was elected as School Superintendent of the Ocean Springs Public School, Sibley S. Wall and his family were residence of Pascagoula.  Mr. Wall was born at Decatur, Newton County, Mississippi and completed his high school education here.  He matriculated to Mississippi Southern College where he was conferred a B.S. degree.  Mr. Wall had attended the University of Texas and Alabama summer sessions.  S.S. Wall’s previous experience as a school superintendent was seven years at Beulah-Hubbard and Vancleave High Schools.  He also had four years as an athletic coach.(The Jackson County Times, July 28, 1945, p. 1)

May Belle Oakes Woods

            May Belle Oakes Woods was a native of Glenwood, Arkansas.  She was the daughter of  Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Oakes and.  Miss Oakes came to Ocean Springs in 1925 to teach Spanish.  She had matriculated to Henderson-Brown College in Arkansas where she was an honors graduate with an educational degree.  May Belle Oakes married John Albert Woods on July 7, 1927.  He was a graduate of Union College, New York.  During WW I, he enlisted in the British Army and was a veteran of WW I.  Mr. Woods came to Ocean Springs from New Orleans where he represented Jungle Gardens.  His assignment was to act as the landscape architect for Gulf Hills.  Woods left the company to operate his own architectural landscaping firm headquartered in Ocean Springs.(The Daily Herald, July 9, 1927, p. 2)

W.H. Wood

            W.H. Wood arrived at Biloxi, Mississippi in Harrison County in 1908.  Taught at schools in Ocean Springs, Vancleave, and Woolmarket.  In August 1915, W.H. Wood ran for the office of Harrison County School Superintendent.  Some controversy about him being qualified because of permanent residency in Harrison County because of his teaching career in Ocean Spring and Vancleave in Jackson County.(The Daily Herald, August 2, 1915, p. 1)

            Professor Wood was appointed Harrison County Superintendent of Education in August 1915, by the Harrison County Board of Supervisors when J.J. Dawsey resigned the position to move to principal of the Lamar County Agricultural High School.(The Daily Herald, August 12, 1915, p. 1)

REFERENCES:

The Daily Herald, “W.H. Wood”, August 2, 1915.

The Daily Herald, “Dawson Resigns; Wood Qualifies”, August 12, 1915.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, June 16, 1925.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, July 9, 1927.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs News Paragraphs”, June 26, 1928.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs Plans Senior Class Play”, April 26, 1930.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, May 31, 1930.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs News”, July 4, 1930.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs News”, September 16, 1930.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs News”, January 6, 1931.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, May 31, 1934.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, June 1, 1934.

The Daily Herald, “Ocean Springs”, July 31, 1936.

The Daily Herald, “Mrs. Spencer Dies”, December 31, 1945.

The Daily Herald, “George A. Swim”, April 23, 1958.

The Daily Herald, “Stewart C. Spencer”, May 11, 1959.

The Daily Herald, “Mrs. Lucille M. Dennison”, May 26, 1961.

The Daily Herald, “Woman Stricken While Swimming Dies Suddenly”, June 8, 1963.

The Daily Herald, “Mrs. Marie Ratelle”, January 13, 1965.

The Daily Herald, “Francesca S. Howard”, January 12, 1971.

The Gulf Coast Times, “Returns From Europe”, August 25, 1950.

The Gulf Coast Times, “Rev. Hetrick leads heroic fight to save matrons life”, April 19, 1951.

The Gulf Coast Times, “Former Coach Visits Here”, October 6, 1950.

The Gulf Coast Times, “Personal Items”, October 18, 1951.

The Gulf Coast Times, “Personal Items”, December 31, 1953.

The Jackson County Times, “Local and Personal”, October 24, 1925.

The Jackson County Times, “Local and Personal”, August 31, 1929.

The Jackson County Times, “Preis-Ratelle”, February 18, 1939.

The Jackson County Times, “Mrs. S.C. Spencer Funeral Held Sunday”, January 5, 1946.

The Jackson County Times, "Parlin-Money", June 13, 1946.

The Jackson County Times, “Mrs. Spencer Quits School”, May 14, 1948.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Mrs. Francesca Howard Dies”, January 14, 1971.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Pauline S. Loper”, March 2, 1972, p. 5.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Estelle Hire”, March 9, 1972, p. 7.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Patricia Quave”, March 16, 1972, p. 9.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Jo Ree Pennell”, March 23, 1972, p. 5.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Millie Clark”, March 30, 1972, p.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Necia Rivers”, April 13, 1972, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Inez Galle”, April 20, 1972.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Linda McKay”, April 27, 1972, p. 7.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Jane Wade”, May 4, 1972, p. 7.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Barbara Powell”, May 11, 1972, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Judy Thomas”, May 18, 1972, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Patricia Drake”, June 1, 1972, p. 5.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Hermanell Barnett”, July 6, 1972, p. 10.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Mildred S. Richard”, July 20, 1972, p. 5.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Julia Hardison”, July 27, 1972, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Bobbie Thibodeaux”, August 3, 1972, p. 10.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Harriet E. Tremmel”, August 10, 1972, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Faye Newland”, August 17, 1972, p.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week- James M. Harrison”, August 24, 1972, p. 5.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Richard Walker”, August 31, 1972, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Allen T. Curry”, September 21, 1972, p. 2.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Billy G. Hubbard”, October 5, 1972, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Hugh L. Pepper”, October 12, 1972, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Former Ocean Springs Teacher To High Post”, October 12, 1972, p. 1. (Dr. Jack Gunn)

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Don Brown”, October 19, 1972, Sec. II, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Dwight L. Moody”, October 26, 1972, p. 3.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Charles W. Hardin”, October 26, 1972, Sec. II, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Ted Batson”, November 9, 1972, Sec. II, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-James O. Cawley”, November 16, 1972, Sec. II, p. 8.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Angela Saratsopolus”, November 23, 1972, Sec. II, p. 4.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Mrs. George Canaga”, November 30, 1972.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Mrs. Julia Platt”, December 7, 1972, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Elizabeth S. Smith”, December 21, 1972, Sec. II, p. 7.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Martha Stringfellow”, Deember 28, 1972, p. 3.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Jane McCarty”, January 4, 1973, p. 2.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Anna Cullefer”, January 11, 1973, Sec. II, p. 6.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Sarah Jackson named top young educator”, January 25, 1973, p. 1.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-John L. Ross”, January 25, 1973, p. 9.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-Vivian W. Dailey”, February 1, 1973, p. 3.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-

The Ocean Springs Record, “Teacher of the Week-

The Ocean Springs Record, “Repercussions from the past (Terry Thibodeaux)”, January 27, 1983, p. 11.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Terry Thibodeaux”, December 24, 1992.

The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, “Ocean Springs Locals”, November 27, 1903.

The Sun Herald, “Edith G. Wall”, April 9, 2001.