Glenna Moore Stories

An Enduring Friendship — part two

a note from John:
Judy Reagan sent me a collection of vignettes tracing the history and friendship between her family and the Coffey family. This posting is the second of three in the series. Click here to read the first vignette and learn more of the backstory.

---

Margaretta brings Hazel to Big Spring
Margaretta had met “Coffey” (as everyone called John Askew) at Baylor, and they married and moved to Big Spring for school jobs after graduation. They convinced Hazel to travel by train to Big Spring in 1929 in order to work in the lab at Bivings and Barcus Hospital (later Malone-Hogan Hospital). Our mom had completed the requirements to become a medical laboratory technician (Texas license #27, if memory serves). After living some time in Big Spring and then in Lubbock, Hazel met our dad, Horace Burney Reagan, the son of early Big Spring settlers, and they married in 1931, making their home in Big Spring.

---

Support Group
Long before the term “support group” was fashioned, the Coffeys and the Reagans were faithful friends to one another through all the changes in their lives.

For years, the Coffeys and the Reagans lived just a few blocks apart in Big Spring. One of the really touching stories in the Reagan family history is the help Margaretta gave our family when we were quarantined in 1949 after Frances developed polio.

Despite the quarantine and the universal fear of that virus, Margaretta’s faithfulness and friendship led her to do all of our family’s laundry during the quarantine. The bundles were passed back and forth through our window, then Margaretta must have taken them to a laundromat and used the now-primitive (then-luxurious) mangle washers and now-primitive (then luxurious) hand wringers to complete our family’s task in addition to doing her own family’s laundry.

---

Gobble and Wobble
Several neighboring West Texas couples (the Coffeys, the Reagans, Sherman & Ila Smith—all of Big Spring, and Phil & Zelma Berry of Stanton, plus at one point Ira & Lillian Williams and Fay & Hilma Harding) formed their small dinner club, named (doubtless by Margaretta) as “Gobble & Wobble”.

For decades, these couples gathered with their most delicious covered dishes, stuffed themselves and visited, laughed and cried and worried and always supported one another. From time to time, their growing children attended these events, the kids ranging in age from Bob Tom Coffey as the eldest through Ross Reagan as the youngest.

In various configurations, these families occasionally took trips or vacations or hunting trips together. Ross remembers at least one deer hunting trip with Coffey as one of the hunters.

---

“Famous” Sayings
Our parents repeatedly quoted Margaretta. As a little girl, Judy (whose expected birth was to be on Margaretta’s birthday—but was delayed a bit) thought our family must be famous to know such a funny person. One statement frequently quoted was “That is the most important odor I ever odored.” In our childhood this was usually said by our dad to comment on one of the numerous skunk odors we encountered in West Texas.

---

End of Part Two ... Part Three to come.

---

An Enduring Friendship — part one

a note from John:
Judy Reagan sent me a collection of story vignettes tracing the history and friendship between her family and the Coffey family. This posting is the first of three in the series.

To put the stories in perspective, here's a little background: Margaretta Coffey (Glenna's mom) and Hazel Reagan were best friends. Their daughters, Glenna and Frances, were also the dearest of childhood friends. Judy Regan was the sassy tag-along younger sister of Frances. These childhood kinships have turned into lifelong friendships as Judy, Frances, and Glenna have traveled together, continue to chit-chat often and see each other whenever possible. Judy is no longer the tag-along--she's earned herself full membership in the sisterhood.

Thank Judy for sharing this wonderful multi-family history. (This posting is the first of three in a series.)

---

---

To: Al, Glenna, Lana, Marty, John, Trip, Jackie, Blair, and Hannah …

I think you might enjoy hearing some things about a friendship between two families that now spans over 80 years. The friendship began with admiration and laughter and continues with the same characteristics.

From: Frances, Judy and Ross Reagan

---

Margaretta’s Childhood

Glenna’s mother, Margaretta Sanders, was orphaned during her childhood and then raised by her much-older sister, Pearl, who never married (called in those days a “maiden aunt” or “spinster” or “old maid”).

Although I doubt that any of us now living had any encounters with Pearl, we Reagan kids concluded from the sketchiest details that Pearl may have borne some resemblance to the Old Maid in our playing cards. Wow, taking in a whirlwind like Margaretta was surely not an easy transition.

---

Margaretta and Hazel Meet

In 1921, our mother Hazel Smyth moved to Fort Worth and entered Central High School where Margaretta was a student. There, Margaretta and Hazel became lifelong friends after meeting the first summer at Broadway Baptist Church.

From our standpoint, that friendship was an especially valuable one for Hazel, for she tended to be quite somber and serious, but she could fall down laughing at one of the Margaretta hilarities. Oh, the tales Hazel, then our dad Horace, told us about Margaretta’s pranks and funny observations of life!

---

A Margaretta Bath
After high school, Margaretta went to Baylor University. In 1928 Hazel attended Baylor for a while to take science classes. Margaretta, and Hazel roomed together with a third young woman named Mary Lou McLemore in Baylor’s Burleson Hall (then the sole girls’ dormitory), sleeping in a screened porch with only one double bed.

A phrase originated during that time which we Reagan children later heard often—a playful accusation that one or the other of us had taken a “Margaretta Bath”. It seems that in the Baylor days, the roommates teased Margaretta that her baths consisted solely of climbing in one end of the flowing bathtub, running to the other end of the tub, and hopping right out. Glenna has described her mom as having done everything fast!

---

End of Part One ... Parts Two and Three to come.

---

Share Your Story

You’ve read and heard our stories about Glenna Moore. We’d like to read and hear YOUR STORIES about Glenna.

Any story from any time in Glenna’s life would be great. As her children, we’d love to hear more stories about her rebellious college years when she would catch a few drags off a cigarette outside a Baylor University dorm. Maybe you have a funny story to share about Glenna’s years spent playing tennis with the T Bar M Tamales ... playing Bridge ... playing Dominoes. Or perhaps, you’d like to share a story from her childhood spent in Big Spring, TX.

Please share your story about Glenna Moore and we'll post it on this website.

We prefer to receive stories no longer than 1,200 words but will certainly accept any story of any length. Please email your story to me.