Mary Beth Lenamon Fife

 

 

MARY BETH LENAMON FIFE
Submitted by Frank Butcher, updated May 11, 2007

Mary Beth was the oldest child of Bart and Kate Lenamon and was possibly named after her great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Clancy Rutherford.  Mary Beth always hungered for knowledge and wrote that “I could hardly wait to read—I would prop myself up in a big chair on days the snow was deep on the ground and read Bible stories all the way through. I would read on the front porch until the sun went down, so much until it ruined my eyes.”  Commenting on Mary Beth’s love of reading, her cousin Colleen Clancy said Mary Beth would beg and plead with her to spend the night. “Then when I came over, she would get out a book and start to read.  I knew then that she was going to be a teacher.  I told her that I wasn’t going to spend the night any more if she wasn’t going to talk with me.”  Mary Beth wrote that she taught herself to read music and play simple hymns on an organ that looked like an upright piano.  Kate used homegrown produce to barter for 6 months of piano lessons for her daughter, and according to Mary Beth “with this much help we spent many happy hours singing and playing hymns.”
 
Mary Beth attended elementary school at Box Church, Texas, and graduated from Groesbeck High School near the top of her class at the age of 16.  She attended Southern Methodist University for one semester and Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University) for one semester.  Her bags were packed for a return to TSU, when the Ben Hur school board president showed up at Mary Beth’s door pleading with her to teach. Because money was tight, she accepted—and at the age of 18, with one year of college experience, Mary Beth was teaching sixth graders.  While teaching in Ben Hur she met Haskell Fife, a local farmer and rancher. After a whirlwind courtship of three months they were married in December 1946.  The wedding took place at Haskell’s parents’ home in Ben Hur so that Haskell’s mom (who was in poor health) could participate in the wedding.  Mary Beth’s dad, Bart Lenamon, did not attend the wedding because he had reservations about a 19 year-old marrying 32 year-old, and because he did not think it proper for the wedding to be at the groom’s parents’ house.

Mary Beth worked as a housewife for five years and had two children (Linda and David).  She returned to school at Baylor University, and received a bachelor’s degree in 1956, and a master’s degree in 1962. Mary Beth resumed teaching at the fourth grade level in Mart, Texas when the Ben Hur School consolidated with Mart schools.  Mary Beth had a rugged schedule, balancing college studies with full time teaching duties and the demands of young children and a husband.  It is a testimony to her character and ability that Mary Beth made excellent grades under these very difficult conditions.

The home that Haskell and his brother James built in 1941 for their parents on the family farm in Ben Hur became Mary Beth’s and Haskell’s home in 1954, but burned to the ground on November 12, 1963.  Valuable collections of silver dollars and Fostoria crystal were lost and many irreplaceable photos burned.  The Fife family moved to Mart after this tragedy and thereafter Haskell commuted to work on the farm.  In Mart, Mary Beth’s house was a social hub where frequent church parties, teas, showers, and family gatherings took place.  Neighbors referred to their spacious home at 203 North Pearl as the “Mart Hilton” due to the constant influx of visitors.  After Kate’s death, Mary Beth’s house became the site for Lenamon family Christmas reunions.

Like her grandmother, Frances Rutherford Thomason, Mary Beth had a gift for remembering names and connections of even distant relatives.  She spent considerable time at “Grannies” when she was growing up, and absorbed a lot of family history.  Mary Beth was the unofficial family historian and editor of the Lenamon-Lenamond family newsletter.  Family was everything for Mary Beth and even as an in-law, she was the driving force behind many Fife family reunions.  Mary Beth also loved to attend theatrical productions, and was an active member of the American Association of University Women in Waco.

Mary Beth was a very intelligent woman, and as a child had an independent and boisterous spirit, often invoking the disapproval of her mother.  In a ‘self-therapy’ letter written to her daughter Mary Beth lamented “Mother has made it plain since I was very small that because I didn’t conform to her mold of a gracious, polite, gentle, soft spoken, good figured person, I wasn’t really acceptable.”  Kate’s disapproval was a heavy burden that affected Mary Beth for her entire life.  In the same letter she wrote “I was reminded constantly of how large I was – from the dinner table to the sewing machine.  I had little pleasure in that house for the first 16 years of my life except eating and reading…My burning desire for years and years was to get away from home-and the sooner the better - and at 16 I did!”  

The later years of Mary Beth’s marriage to Haskell were somewhat stormy, mostly caused by the difference in their educational backgrounds, and aggravated by Mary Beth’s independent spirit.  Nevertheless, they continued to love each other and persevered in their marriage that lasted for 46 years until Mary Beth’s death.

As one of the four children of Kate and Bart Lenamon, Mary Beth received a quarter interest in the natural gas deposits beneath the old family farm near Box Church when Kate died in 1983.  For a long time Mary Beth had wanted to retire from teaching, and this royalty income enabled her to quit work at the age of 62.  Gas royalties also enabled her to make an inspirational visit to the Holy Land, and she enjoyed trips to Hawaii and Branson, Missouri with Haskell.  Mary Beth and Haskell used their newfound freedom to take grandchildren to Disney World in Florida and Mary Beth vacationed with her daughter Linda and husband Frank and their children, when Frank attended summer programs at Princeton and Montana State University.

Mary Beth was a devout Christian lady and a pillar of the First Baptist Church of Mart, taking leadership roles in almost every area of church service.  She sang in the sanctuary choir and had a beautiful voice that was often featured in solos.  Mary Beth was active in the McLennan Association Women’s Missionary Union and was the Baptist Women’s president at the time of her death. Mary Beth was generous to a fault, giving money and time to Christian activities and causes.  She sent regular donations and gifts to missionaries, and was especially supportive of the Hospitality House in Huntsville (a ministry to people visiting relatives in the state prison), Baylor University, and the Hawaii Baptist Academy.  Mary Beth is also remembered for a very distinctive and infectious laugh that everyone enjoyed.  Rudean Davis wrote about the first time she met Mary Beth.  “She knocked on our door one afternoon after school and said, ‘I just had to come by and meet you’.  You know how her voice had that happy sound when she spoke.” Rudean’s son was in Mary Beth’s class and that day had said to his teacher that if she would tell him how old she was, he would tell her how old his Mama was.  After describing the incident, Mary Beth laughed and said, “I told myself I had to meet the mother of this child—I just know we are going to be great friends”.  “And we were”, Rudean wrote.

Letter writing was a passion with Mary Beth.  When her daughter was going through family files after Mary Beth’s death, she found letters to publishers, congressmen, and senators, the president, state local officials, as well as family and friends.  The problems she addressed in her correspondence included an opposition to abortion, fiscal responsibility of government, and opposition to the New Age movement.  Mary Beth was part of the “Dirty Thirty”, a group of Mart teachers who challenged a decision by the local school board to give only the football coaches a pay raise.  This politically active group also addressed other educational concerns, and Mary Beth’s active participation was in character with her desire to translate her convictions into actions.  At her funeral, Pastor Bill Smith made the comment that Mary Beth had strong feelings about political and religious issues, but unlike most people who are satisfied to just complain, Mary Beth acted on her concerns.

Mary Beth was 5’, 8” tall and weighed about 150 pounds as a young lady, increasing to about 220 pounds in middle age.  She had dark brown (almost black) eyes and brown hair.  Mary Beth had very painful knee problems that began as arthritis in her thirties.  She eventually had two knee replacement operations that were moderately successful.  She also suffered from hypertension, and experienced problems with congestive heart disease, but maintained an active lifestyle.  Mary Beth was being given a pedicure in the living room of her home in the afternoon of April 20, 1993, when she suddenly complained of feeling faint, and fell forward out of her chair onto the floor, unconscious. Medical help was summoned from the clinic directly across the street, and was on the scene within minutes. Nurses managed temporarily to restore her heartbeat, but Mary Beth died in the ambulance without ever regaining consciousness.  She was 65 years old and the cause of her death was listed as congestive heart failure.

In a tribute to Mary Beth, in 2003 Baylor University dedicated the Mary Beth Lenamon-Fife Boathouse on their campus adjacent to the Brazos River.  Mary Beth’s grandson, Brad Butcher was a founder and first president of the Baylor Crew, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth Butcher, was also active in the rowing club.

Mary Beth was an excellent cook, carrying on in the tradition of the many good cooks in the Lenamon family.  Her family kidded Mary Beth that every dish she cooked started off with two sticks of butter and a cup of sugar.  She was especially renowned for her sourdough bread, making 20+ loaves at Christmas to give to friends and loved ones.

MARY BETH’S SOURDOUGH BREAD (As she wrote the recipe for the Lenamon Family Cookbook);

STARTER:

Sprinkle 1 package of yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water in a small plastic or glass bowl.  (A large Cool Whip container will do nicely).  Allow to stand 5 minutes and add 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar, 3 heaping tablespoons of potato flakes and 1 cup of flour.  Beat until smooth.  Cover with wax paper (loosely) and leave at room temperature for 3-4 days. This ferments.  Stir down several times.  Put into a large stainless or plastic bowl for step two.

STEP TWO:

Add to the starter 4 level tablespoons of potato flakes, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of flour.  Mix well and cover loosely, leaving it out of the refrigerator for 10-12 hours (overnight or all day).  Divide the mixture into halves.  If you don’t want to use both mixtures, and be through with it, you can put half (loosely covered) in the refrigerator and continue with step three.  You can leave it in the refrigerator for 4 to 9 days.

STEP THREE:

Add 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup cooking oil, and 1-1/2 cups of water.  Mix well and add 5 or more cups sifted flour. This makes a stiff dough, yet it is easy to knead.  I don’t like to make cooking a chore, so I just stir my dough with a spoon and let it rise (covered with wax paper) 8 to 10 hours (or all day or all night). Turn out on a floured board or pastry sheet.  Knead a short time, then make the dough into loaves, round pones, or rolls.  Put them in well-greased pans (I use oleo). Let them rise uncovered for 3 to 4 hours or until as desired.  Place in a COLD oven.  Bake 1 hour at 300 degrees.  Turn out on a rack to cool.  Brush tops of hot bread with melted oleo.  (I just keep a stick ready and brush the stick on top).

It is easier to make up just half of the starter, but since I make up so much, especially around Christmas, I usually make up 2 starters.  In fact, I often make 2 starters up and when I divide them, have 4 makings of bread.  That is almost too much, but then I run out of time as much as I run out of oven space.  The thing I love about this recipe is that you can make your own starter any time you want.