Press release
Two women have been chosen to receive the Sara Maples Chapter NSDAR Women of America History Award. Each will receive a certificate, a gold medal and a quilt made by our very own Jacque Vaughn. Her two caregivers helped with the festivities.
Francis Lois Reasonover
Frances Lois Reasonover is an outstanding, 99 year-old member of our chapter who has spent her life living the three main pillars of NSDAR— God, Home and Country.
Frances was born in Kemp in 1917 and still lives in Kemp. Her father was born near Kemp in 1872 and her mother, Katie McDougald, was born on the John McDougald Jr. farm near Kemp in 1884. Her mother was a direct descendant of John McDougald who emigrated from Scotland to NC, then Florida and Texas. She has been active in preserving the history of Kemp as well as her family history for many years. Most recently, she placed a Texas Historical Marker in a family cemetery that is located just a few miles SW of Kemp. An article in the local paper in the Spring of 2016 outlined the family genealogy that has been so important to her own life. In 2009 she had published, along with Peggy Myers and Clifton Smith, a 329 page book, John McDougald, Sr. His Descendants and Relatives from Florida to Texas. This book includes valuable genealogical information, sources and proof of lineage and even favorite family recipes passed down over the years.
Frances is very dedicated to God and her family. She was baptized in the McDougald Lake at age 16. She was active with the Church of Christ throughout her long life. She wrote that the most special thing about he McDougald Community was the Tabernacle. It was a gathering for families for about 2 weeks each summer, where a special preacher and song leader would come in and they would listen in the evenings to the word of God. Later these meetings were moved to the Styx Church of Christ.
Frances was dedicated to home. She taught Home Economics in Kaufman, Texas and also at Kemp High School. She became a Home Management Supervisor after WW II with the Farmers Home Administration. She was a County Home Demonstration Specialist which led to the position of Foods and Nutrition Specialist at the Extension Service in College Station, Texas. She worked continuously in her career to improve living conditions for those living in Texas including 4-H Clubs until she retired in 1979. For 3 1/2 years, she was a caring home provider for her sister who had cancer. She cared also for her mother who died at the age of 96. On the home front she also was active in a Homemakers Club and the El Progresso Club of Kemp.
Frances loved her country. In the middle of World War II she joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps December 13, 1942 (WAAC) and served until the U.S. Army took over. She had an Honorable Discharge on August 6, 1943. She was a Mess Sergeant and received the WW II Victory Medal, WAAC Service Medal and Honorable Service Lapel Pin. She continued to honor patriots in her family and was member/officer in many heritage societies. She was a Founding Member of our Sarah Maples Chapter in 1984. She served as an officer in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Huguenot Society, Daughters of 1812 and Daughters of the American Colonies. She also held a MA in Education from Texas State College for Women. It is with honor and respect that Sarah Maples Chapter presents Frances Reasonover the Women in American History Award.
Jean McCallum Small
Jean McCallum Small has always had a passion for service and helping people.
She has carried on the tradition of service that she learned early in life from her grandmother. Her grandmother was a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, and also worked as a Travelers Aid for Union Station, helping people with children board the right trains and assisting them with their luggage.
When Jean was not old enough after high school to enter nursing school, her intended vocation, she entered the Navy WAVES, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, during World War II. WAVES helped to fill positions normally held by men, who were fighting in other parts of the world during the war. She was stationed in Washington DC, where her duties were filing, shorthand, and sorting mail.
Her service continued when as a wife and mother, she served her community and school as a member of the Parent Teacher Association, the Garden Club and as a Cub Scout leader. She was active in her church women’s group, helping with projects such as collecting and distributing school supplies to children in Latin America, and birthing kits and layettes for new mothers in Honduras and Jamaica.
In later years she was chairman of the Missions Committee at her church, which was responsible for programs such as the local food pantry, the prayer blanket ministry, service to firemen, police, and other local service organizations, as well as supplies to local schools. She started the Love’s Outreach program in a low-income area near where she lived, which still continues today. She also was responsible for the Angel Tree program where gifts were supplied by church members for children in low-income homes, and seniors in local nursing homes.
She achieved her dream of becoming a nurse, where as an LVN she was able to serve patient’s basic needs, allowing RNs and doctors to concentrate on more urgent needs. While serving as a nurse, she and other nurses went into the community collecting funds to start a hospital in their local area, which was accomplished, and the hospital is now a part of the Baylor Hospital organization.
When her daughter-in-law was in a wheelchair with Multiple Sclerosis, Jean traveled many miles each week to care for her for many years. Then when her son suffered a stroke, she cared for him until his death. She was again called to be a caregiver when her husband suffered and died from cancer.
In DAR Jean was chapter chairman of the National Committee for DAR Service for Veterans. She was instrumental in the collection of gifts for local veterans in nursing homes over the holidays that still continues in her chapter today. She has been a member of DAR for 23 years.
During World War 11 Jean enlisted in the Navy as a WAVES “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service” and was stationed in Washington DC. She remembers hearing about Pearl Harbor. She had just left church when she heard the news. She remembers rushing to the window in the building where she worked to see President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s flag draped coffin ride by on a horse drawn caisson down Pennsylvania Avenue. She remembers his funeral procession was on April 14, 1945. Jean has a remarkable memory and it is a pleasure to talk to her. She is now 97 years young and you would never know it.
Jean loved the quilt that was made by Jacque Vaughn. With the help of her son William and daughter in law we were able to surprise Jean with the quilt, the gold medal and a certificate. She had no idea we were coming. She now lives in Sherman, Texas in an assisted living home.
Jean McCallum Small is an exemplary example of a lifetime of service.