Ahnentafel #7 Viola Elizabeth Wade

 Back from vacation and time to get back on track with this.  Today's entry is short, as I'm afraid many of those for the women will be. 

My grandmother Viola Elizabeth (Vicky) Wade was born on 9 December 1907, the fourth child (third surviving) of  Ed Wade and Carrie Horne, in Crawford County, Georgia.  She lived her entire life in Crawford County except for the last 3 or 4 in a nursing home in LaGrange.

Vic was pulled out of school early, mostly claiming that she only went through third grade, because of the need to help around the house.  The 1940 census, however, claims that she finished 7th grade, which was fairly normal for the area she lived in.  It is possible, of course, that she did not want to admit at that time to less education and she was the one answering the questions.

Viola Wade married Frank Becham on 10 July 1932.  He was a widower with 5 children.  Two of his children were severely (Frances) or mildly (Sarah) mentally handicapped and, according to Frank's daughter Louise, it was Vic who insisted that they be put in a home.  So while they frequently visited, only 3 of the older children actually lived with them.  She and Frank then had 3 children of their own.  Betty, born in May 1933, was the first child in the family ever to be born in a hospital.   The next child, Gladys, was premature and was born at home.  Viola's sister Clyde, a nurse, was visiting at the time and reportedly nursed her through.  The youngest child, Paul, was again born in the hospital.

Vic and Frank lived in Crawford county their entire married life.  For a period they were in Musella, where in addition to Frank's carpentry work, they ran a motel and a small store.  A new highway was put in which made the motel unprofitable, at which time they built a new home just outside Roberta.  Vic lived there even after Frank's death, until she was too old to cope with the house on her own.  At that point, she moved to a nursing home near her son Paul, in LaGrange, where she died  on 30 January 2000, at the age of 92.