Happy Birthday Bess!

By Terri (Bess, Buffy Boy and Sandy)

We are so blessed to have Bess and Buffy Boy to greet us every Mops meeting.

We would like to spotlight Bess and tell you a little about her and what MOPS means to her.

Happy Birthday Bess!

August 10, 1928

Bess and her husband Galen met while she was pursuing a Masters Degree in Home Economics at the University of Texas.  Bess’s landlady who rented her a room introduced her to Galen.  After a short courtship they married and enjoyed living in an area which was being developed.  Galen rode horseback to read meters at the time.   Two years later, their daughter, Sandy was born.  There were no churches in their area and as churches were built further and further out, they moved their membership closer to home.

Bess and Galen ran the Maverick Market, the first grocery store in the area and then went on to run the Lake Austin Estates Recreation Club which was built on Lake Austin. In 1967,  Galen built their house on Bahama Road.  Sandy was three years old and Bess has lived there ever since.  Sandy attended the UT nursery and then Kindergarten in Tarrytown.  She enjoyed the Drama Department and earned a scholarship at Wellesley College.  She attended many colleges and earned a degree in Sociology at UT. Sandy presently resides in Houston and is a bookkeeper.

Every summer Bess and her husband would enjoy long visits from Steve, Galen’s son from a previous marriage.  He was 9 when they married and now resides in New Jersey.

Around the time Sandy finished College, her father Galen,  passed as a result of problems that developed in the Military while serving in the Korean War.  Bess and her daughter miss him greatly.  She knows how overjoyed he would be with the current renovations that are being done to their house to make life a little more comfortable for Bess and Buffy Boy.

Bess and Buffy really enjoy coming to MOPS on Thursdays to help welcome us and our children and to lend a helping hand if needed.  She loves it when our children interact with Buffy.  She became involved with MOPS when Susan McCormack was Children’s Ministry leader and her daughter was responsible for the group being welcomed and helped them  inside with their dishes prepared for brunch.  She asked if Bess would be interested and of course she was and still is.

Bess feels having an opportunity to be a mom is definitely an education in itself with many lessons learned as the children develop in all areas.  It also makes her very grateful for her parents’ love and caring patience in her family of 7 kids. They were disciplinarians but they acted as though they enjoyed having each one of their children on the scene.  What a blessing!  She had fun growing up in her own “little democracy” as her mother said, with fair treatment for all.

Happy Birthday Bess and We truly appreciate all that you and Buffy Boy do!