My
great aunt Hazel Butler Awtrey was not well-known to me, but she was a
key person in the lives of my grandmother and my mother, and I wanted to
share some recollections and funny stories about her.
Hazel
was the second oldest daughter of R.E. and Beulah Butler, born in 1895. She attended the
University of Georgia, and graduated.R.E. sent his daughters to college, which was unusual for that day. Hazel was obviously very smart.She was also delightful, according to Mother.
Below, the entire Butler family, around 1922. Hazel is in the middle row, third from right. Wilma is 5th from right.
Of the 7 Butler sisters, Hazel was never considered a "beauty." To my mother Elva, though, Hazel was beautiful, because Hazel was such a funny, loving person.
Hazel was a school teacher in
Acworth for years. Her husband, Orlando Awtrey II [known as "Gan"] was
from a prominent Acworth family that owned a large store. Gan ran that
store and then opened his own store after a while.
Mother
[Elva] remembers visiting Hazel and Gan often as a child in the 1930's and 40's. She was
treated with great love and affection by Hazel and Gan both. They had no daughters, only one
son, "Sonny." Mother recalls the "gypsies" coming through town and Gan
making her hide under the store counter because gypsies were believed to
steal small children.
When
Mother went to the University of Georgia, she often received "care"
packages from Hazel and Gan, usually food which was badly needed, as
Mother worked her way through college. She often visited Hazel and Gan
in Acworth and sang at their church. (Mother had a beautiful voice and
sang at weddings, and around town, for the USO, and was a soloist for
the Men's Glee Club at UGA.)
Below, Mother and Hazel's son (Sonny, left, other guy unknown) in Myrtle Beach:
Hazel
was a mischevious little girl. She was once locked in the smokehouse
for some misbehavior, and the family had stored watermelons in there.
Hazel took a crowbar and destroyed every single melon. Another time,
there was a girl at school who had been mean, and Hazel picked up a cat
and threw it on the girl.
A
boy from a poor family always came to school wearing the same shirt,
and he stank. Hazel had to sit right behind him at school. All the girls in class
complained about the boy's odor. Finally, Hazel had had enough. She
announced to the other girls "He won't wear that shirt tomorrow!" and
she dumped an inkwell down his back.
When
Hazel and her sister Wilma [my grandmother] were teenagers, they were pretty wild. They liked to
take the family car and tool around town, although they were too short
to drive alone. In those days there were no licenses. One girl would steer and
shift gears, and another would work the pedals.
Below, from left: Hazel, Wilma, and sister Dorothy [Dot] when they were all in their twenties.
One time, teens Hazel and Wilma asked
Grandaddy if they could go to a party and he said NO. So both girls left
the house and caught the streetcar to get to the party. At the next
stop, guess who got on? Their father. Hazel and Wilma dropped down and crawled on their
hands and knees down the aisle of the car and got off at the next stop,
undetected by their father.
Below, Hazel and Gan.
When
Hazel was newly married to her husband Gan, she accidentally wet the bed one night.
Mortified with embarrassment, she got up and bathed and changed her
gown. She then poked Gan and hollered "Get up! You've wet the bed!"
Hazel
had a cook named Ora Dee, who worked for her for many years. As a
child, Mother feared Ora Dee because she didn't take any nonsense.
Ora
Dee and Hazel wore the exact same size dress. Ora Dee often borrowed
Hazel's best dresses to wear to church or to parties, without mentioning it to Hazel. Ora Dee always
laundered them and brought them back. Hazel knew what she was doing.
Wilma onceasked Hazel why she didn't chastise Ora Dee, and Hazel replied
that there was no harm done, so what's the big deal? [or words to that
effect]
After Hazel was elderly and her sight wasn't great any more, Hazel
was in the lobby of a big office building in downtown Atlanta one day. She mis-read the
door signs on the bathroom doors and wandered into the men's room by
mistake. There was nobody in there so she went into the booth and sat
down, thinking she was in the right place. She looked under the door, however, and spied men's shoes coming into the bathroom and realized her
mistake. Not knowing what else to do, she started to sing "Amazing
Grace" as loudly as she could. All the men's shoes went running for the
door, she observed. When she got out a few minutes later there were a
number of irate men outside.
My
main memory of Hazel is that she and Wilma went to Hawaii in the mid
1970's, after Hazel had retired. Both husbands had passed away. Mamaw had a
blast and brought me back a grass skirt and a purse made from a coconut
shell.
Hazel was one of a kind. I feel sure she and Wilma are up in heaven, having a good time.