Theda Kathlyn Mora

Theda Kathlyn Dumesnil Mora was born to Ivy Virginia Peveto and Felix John Dumesnil on November 26, 1915 in Pear Ridge, Texas. She made me promise to sure & tell she was the first baby born there. Theda so loved life! At a very young age she discovered dancing. I think she would of rather dance than eat. It was back in the day when girls wore flowing evening gowns and had dance cards to keep track of who their dance partners were for the night. It was at the Pleasure Pier where she met Jack and on a dare with his buddies bet them he could get the pretty young girl to dance with him. He won the bet. Mom said it was a very romantic place with a huge mirror ball and the moon shining on the bay. She said there was always a full orchestra playing and the Pier hosted many big name people like Tommy Dorsey. Theda loved to talk about the past especially old Port Arthur. How she grew up on 7th Street with her grandparents. Grandpa Telismar Dumesnil was a butcher by trade and had the first meat market in the city. Theda even went to the cattle yards and sat on the fences to watch them dip the cows. He and Roberta had ten children and lovingly adopted little Theda. She liked to tell how he used to let her hop on his feet and dance with her. The Depression was a hard era to grow up in. But they took care of one another. Theda also loved to garden and had a very green thumb. She always said she loved to play in the dirt and it was her therapy from everyday life. She missed it terribly when age took over. We always had a perfectly edged front and backyard which she accomplished using a butcher knife. Edgers had not been invented yet. The yard came alive every spring with azaleas, geraniums, zinnias, caladiums, and daisies. Theda also loved watching old movies and could tell you who all the actors were. She especially loved Clark Gable and later Richard Gere. When I was twelve she took me to see her favorite movie, "Gone With The Wind" in Beaumont at the Julie Rogers Theatre. She could recite almost every line from Miss Scarlet & Butterfly McQueen. Theda was an expert seamstress and made clothes for most of us in the family. She made all my dresses and loved it when the Grandkids came along especially the little girls. She loved sewing frilly dresses with ruffles and lace. Mom didn't have a sewing room and I can remember her finishing up a dress on her sewing machine resting it on the sink in the bathroom. Later in life her love of crewel embroidery became works of art and she meticulously worked on them in the wee hours. She had found a new passion and again made each member of the family one of our own choosing. Theda loved her home and took great pride in keeping spick and span. Waxing her hard wood floors almost weekly, scraping window- panes with a little kitchen knife before painting them and changing wall colors and keeping everything just right. Her next love was the joy of cooking especially for all of her family. We can still smell the aroma of her famous chicken stew, stuffed roast with potato salad, and chicken gumbo. She did this religiously every Sunday after Mass each Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and yes Mother's Day. She loved to feed us and we loved eating at the little house on Evergreen Dr. If you were fortunate for your birthday or just needed some consoling you might get one of her famous lemon meringue pies. Oh my word what a treat! I think Roy Dale you were the last to pass your lips on one of these delicate beauties. Every summer we all would get the lecture about figs, how to pick each one, how to dress before picking, washing each fig, boiling the jars and the whole canning process. Then she would give them all away except for the ones Dad consume. Theda loved vacationing and traveling with her family. She and Dad were fortunate to travel to Guatemala and Europe. Closer to home they especially loved Colorado and Florida. When the family was younger we spent many summers at the beach. They always rented a cabin and packed us all up taking everything but the kitchen sink to stay for a week. Of course Mom cooked, crabbed and went on long walks with her granddaughter, Jeanine very early in the morning. I know she cherished that time with her because she talked about it often. Theda's next love was shopping. No one could do it better. We scoped out every mall known to mankind from top to bottom. It was the hunt, finding just the right gift for that someone special. Dad always said she was an expert at taking inventory. He was so very patient with us & always asked if we had spent all his money. We would say yes and he always replied, " Good that's what money is for, to spend". Good advise was something Theda knew how to give. Even if you thought you knew what to do you were going to get the, "Expert on everything," first hand knowledge. And after that she would follow up with an article she had cut from a magazine or the newspaper on the subject. What is so ironic most of the time, she knew what she was talking about. The one thing most important in her life and the one thing Theda cherished the most was her family. She loved each and every one of us unconditionally. No matter how much anyone of us hurt or disappointed her she didn't care. She was an expert on how to share her affection and did not play favorites with anyone. If it was your birthday or Christmas we all got a card and a check. She never expected anything in return either. What she gave she gave form her heart. She often asked, "Why is God keeping me here so long? Everyone is gone and left me here."I would reply, "Mom, I guess it is so you can teach us how to live a good life". Theda has done just that and given us so many memories of just how much she has loved life. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jack of 65 years. Theda leaves behind to cherish her memory her son Gerald & wife Delores Mora, daughter Cathy & son-in-law Doug Fournet, granddaughters Darlene & husband Don Rose, Jeanine & Chris Hebert, grandson Paul & wife Pat Mora, grandson Troy Lange, great grandsons Tyler, great-great grandsons Jonas, Conor, Logan & great granddaughters Haley, Kasey and husband Mark Hodge. Also, her beloved pet dog, Sadie Ann. Graveside services will be at 10:00 a.m., Monday, November 24, 2014 at Greenlawn Memorial Park with Reverend D. Stephen McCrate officiating under the direction of Levingston Funeral Home in Groves. The family would like to thank the staff at Holland Place and Pulse Home Health Care for their friendships and loving care. Friends wishing to make memorial contributions may send them to a charity of choice.