ELIAS FLEMING CRIM, JR

The following bio was taken from page 164 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

I, Anna Katherine, was born to Isaac Parker and Nina Butler Elder in Greenville, Texas.

In 1942 amidst the uncertainties of war, E. F. Crim, Jr. and I became engaged while we were attending Baylor University. Many young men were entering military service, and rather than take a college deferment, E. F. entered the Air Force as a private in August 1942.

Because of his father’s illness, E. F. got an emergency furlough. While he was home we were married on December 14, 1942. His family took us to Longview to board the train to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. "F" was stationed at Boca Raton Radar School and we were there three months. Here we were together very little before he was sent to England with the Eighth Air Force in May 1943.

E. F. returned July 4, 1945 and while he was at home on furlough the atomic bomb was dropped. Terrible as this was, our relief was for the lives that would be saved by the hastened end to the war. My brother, Gerald Parker Elder, had died in the Anzio Invasion.

Besides the tragic loss of lives, the hardships suffered by the "G.I.’s" – the separation of families, the war years were a time of continual shortages and rumors of black markets. We had ration stamps for shoes (3 pairs a year), gasoline (5 gallons a week), sugar, and coffee. Nylon hosiery was replaced with rayon – ugh!

E. F. loved Henderson (Big "H") and this is where we were to live. Like his father, he went to work at the First National Bank.

Our generation’s goal was to have a happy marriage and family. Many young mothers had domestic help who sometimes cared for the children. We would often go to a downtown drug store for a morning coffee break and visit in the car, as there was curb service then.

E. F. served as State Representative in 1953 and 1955. He also served on the School, Hospital, and Boy Scout boards, and was a deacon in the First Baptist Church. He was Postmaster from 1956 until 1975, when he became associated with Henderson Insurance Agency. I taught school from 1967 to 1981. We live in the family home at 310 East Main where E. F. was born.

Otis Crim was E. F.’s brother. His sister is Lucille Crim Mitchell, whose son was Ronald Crim Engle. Lucille’s husband is Robert W. Mitchell. E. F. and Lucille’s mother was Mattie Spharier, daughter of Kate Burt and F. H. Spharier.

When E. "Flem" Crim, Sr. (1878-1946) was eighteen, he left the family farm at Crim’s Chapel and came to Henderson, riding in a wagon on a bale of cotton. He attended business school at Omen (Smith County). For over forty years he was employed by the First National Bank. He served as city alderman, was on the school board, and for many years was Sunday School Superintendent at First Baptist Church.

Our son, E. F., III is editor of publications for the Chicago Board of Trade. Our daughter, Amanda Crim Rawlinson, lives in Winona with her husband Glenn and their daughters Rachelle and Cortney. Another daughter, Nina Katherine Crim Loritsch, lives in Chicago with her husband John.

Submitted by Katherine Elder Crim