When the Little Brown-Eyed Durgan Lived with My Grandparents

Remembering Marilyn LaVerne Rainey

           Marilyn LaVerne Rainey was born in the Big Bend on November 8, 1933, to Eugene and Raucie Snow Rainey. Eugene “Gene” was the younger brother of my grandmother, Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith. (See the blog post of February 9, 2014, entitled Alice Rainey – The Valentine Baby to see a photo of young Gene Rainey.) My mother recalled what a pretty, little girl Marilyn was with enormous brown eyes. Marilyn’s father called her affectionately his little brown-eyed durgan. A durgan is another name for a dwarf. Marilyn was always petite.

Earliest Photo of Marilyn in
Grandma's Collection

            In 1943, Marilyn and her older sister, Billie Jean, moved to Tulsa with their mother. Her mother became a riveter in the booming airplane manufacturing industry in Tulsa during the World War II era. However, in April of that year, Marilyn’s mother died of double pneumonia leaving Marilyn at age nine and Billie at age 11, suddenly without their mother. The heartbroken girls moved back to the Big Bend and lived with their father and other relatives.

Marilyn LaVerne Rainey

           Within a year, Marilyn came to live with my mother and my grandparents, Marilyn’s aunt and uncle. She lovingly called my grandfather “Cul” that had its origins in his Cherokee name. Marilyn never had to walk to school because he always drove her to Belford School even though it was only about a half mile from where they lived.
           She used my grandfather’s nickname for my grandmother “Lyde” when she referred to her. Grandma braided her hair, created custom-made dresses for her, and provided stability and encouragement for Marilyn.

Marilyn with a custom-tailored dress.
Trademark signs of Grandma's attention
 to creative details and tailoring are the
 buttons on the shoulder seams, rickrack
 trim, and the inset sleeves impeccably
tailored to Mailyn's shoulders.

             In her final days of her life, Marilyn recalled treasured memories of activities at her beloved grade school. Other than her daily school classes, she also attended weekly Sunday School and church services at the Belford School. Actually, almost any community-wide event enjoyed by the close-knit group of relatives and neighbors took place at this hub of activity since it was the only building large enough to allow all to participate.

8th Anniversary of the Belford Sunday School taken
in 1938 - Marilyn is the shortest girl on the front row.

           For the Christmas program of 1944, my mother taught Marilyn, her other cousin, Delores Dean Rice Littlestar, and Nadine Clifton to sing “White Christmas” in three-part harmony. That level of singing was quite a feat for the three eleven-year-olds to accomplish, as well as for my mother who coached them to a flawless performance!
           Marilyn, like her mother, loved nature and the outdoors. (To see a photo of Marilyn with her pet rabbit, see the blog post entitled The Bittersweet Shared Birthday posted on August 10, 2014.) From the stories I’ve heard, Marilyn was allowed by grandparents to keep every stray, sick cat she brought home. Grandpa never spoke a negative word to her, even when one of the homeless, weak felines died under the porch of their house. He just retrieved the dead cat for her!
          Marilyn’s father’s missed her so much that he asked her to move back with him and her Grandma Rainey and Aunt Alice Rainey. In her later high school years, Marilyn joined her sister who was living with their aunt, Emma Rainey Buckley, in Washington, D.C.
          Marilyn completed her education and became a registered nurse. This accomplishment pleased my grandma since she herself was a nurse. Perhaps Marilyn had observed the nursing provided pro bono publico (Latin meaning “for the public good”) by my grandma in the Big Bend community during the Great Depression.
          Neither of my grandparents verbalized very frequently, but it seemed they wished Marilyn had lived longer with them. She always seemed to express that this time in her life was such a happy one.
          Marilyn passed peacefully from this life on October 22, 2014. Her memorial service was in Dallas, Texas, on November 8, 2014, on what would have been her 81^st birthday. Our thoughts and prayers continue for  her daughters, Suzan Firestone Brawner and Lisa Firestone Feagins and her son, Craig Firestone.