Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield

Lavern’s grandfather, John Butler Roper, with his wife and four children, two boy and two girls, came to East Texas from Hall County, Georgia, in the early 1900’s. They first settled in the Minden area and remained there for a few years; then they moved to Henderson. One of the sons, Ernest Franklin, married Evie Lena Roach, of Henderson. After J. B. Roper’s first wife died, he married Maggie Young of Henderson. They, together with three of the children and their families, moved to Wheeler in the Texas Panhandle. Ernest remained in Henderson. He and his wife had two sons, Leon and Lavern, and all lived in Henderson.

In February, 1953, Lavern married Delores Romans, daughter of Edward M. Romans and Fannie Lou Price. Lavern and Delores have three children – David, Stephen, and Rebecca. Lavern and Delores as well as their children went to school in Henderson. Delores’s parents, her grandparents (Abbie Cole Romans Copeland and J.H. Romans and Minnis Lee Silvey and C. Smith Price), and her great- grandparents were all raised in the surrounding communities of Oak Hill and Crims Chapel.

In October, 1976 Stephen married Susan Y. Wallace, and they are expecting their first child in February, 1982.

Lavern is a salesman, and Delores is a secretary at the First Baptist Church. Both are active in the church. Delores has been working with ten-year-olds in Sunday school for many years.

Even though our children are scattered in three different directions, Henderson will continue to be our home in the years to come as it has in the past. Our roots are deep on both sides of our families.

Submitted by Lavern and Delores Roper