My Trails into the Past

Eighty-five years ago today was the birth of my mother, Lela Nell (Johnston) Hork, the only daughter of Tom J. Johnston and Pansy Louise Lancaster. She was born in Stephenville, Texas, a small-sized town southwest of Fort Worth. In 1930, there were about four thousand residents in Stephenville. Here is the earliest photo I have of my mother with her mother. She lived in Texas most of the 1930s and then near the beginning of World War II, her father worked on construction sites in Idaho, Oregon, and California. They finally settled in California, living in Walnut Creek and finally in Pleasant Hill. I have many photos of my mother, at least half with either her mother or her cousin, Sandra, in them. In high school, she was very active. She served as social secretary during her freshman year at Acalances High School and kept track of all of her dates. She never seemed to have a free night. She met my father at the annual Walnut Festival and they married on 19 April 1...