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Mr. Homer Dillard Lemons Adamsburg, SC
Mr. Homer Dillard Lemons, age 66, husband of Mrs. Loise Fowler Lemons, of Rt. 4, Union, passed away Wednesday at 5:25 A.M. at the Wallace Thompson Hospital after a brief illness.
Mr. Lemons was born in Greenville County on July 6, 1906. The son of the late Marshall and Minnie Wood Lemons. He was a member of Mt. Joy Baptist Church and a retired mechanic.
Also surviving are three daughters: Mrs. Doris Canupp (Ed) of Rt 1, Sharon; Mrs. Easter Steele (Randy) of Union and Miss Sue Lemons of...
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Mr. Homer Dillard Lemons Adamsburg, SC
Mr. Homer Dillard Lemons, age 66, husband of Mrs. Loise Fowler Lemons, of Rt. 4, Union, passed away Wednesday at 5:25 A.M. at the Wallace Thompson Hospital after a brief illness.
Mr. Lemons was born in Greenville County on July 6, 1906. The son of the late Marshall and Minnie Wood Lemons. He was a member of Mt. Joy Baptist Church and a retired mechanic.
Also surviving are three daughters: Mrs. Doris Canupp (Ed) of Rt 1, Sharon; Mrs. Easter Steele (Randy) of Union and Miss Sue Lemons of the home. Five sons: Mr. Ned Lemons (Rachel) of Pacolet, Mr. Dean Lemons (Loretta) of Lockhart; Mr. Orien Lemons (Marjorie) of Plainview, Texas, Mr. Ray Lemons and Mr. Jimmy Lemons of the home. He was predeceased by one son: Mr. Willie Lemons Three sisters: Mrs. Nada Lemons Miles (Delos) of Columbia; Mrs. Jennie Reece (Floyd) and Mrs. Helen Lemons Richards (Talmadge) of Whitney. Four brothers: Mr. Henry Lemons (Ruby) of Whitney; The Reverend G. Allen Lemons (Mae) of Lockhart; LCDR. Joe Le Mons (Dot) and Mr. Elvon Lemons (Dot) of Clearwater, Florida. 11 Grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Saturday at 3:00 PM at Mt. Joy Baptist Church by the Reverend Fred Murray and the Reverend Ronnie Porter. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Active pallbearers were Steve, David and Henry Lemons Jr., David Edmonds, Layton Garner and Bill Bentley.
The following formed the honorary escort: Willard Farr, Steve Bogan, Julian Fowler, Roy Little, Terry Bentley, Everett Gallman, Dr. R.M. Wentz, Phillip Lemons, Harold Fowler, Burgin Howell, Pinckney Webber and James Farr.
The S.R. Holcombe Funeral Home had charge of the arrangements.
HOMER DILLARD LEMONS FAMILY wife: Louise Fowler Lemons
Daughters: Doris Lemons Canupp (d. 2003) Sue Lemons Farr Easter Lemons Steele
Sons: Willie Lemons Dean Lemons Oren Lemons Ned Lemons Ray Lemons Jimmy Lemons
THE JAMES MARSHALL AND DAISY LOUISE DICKERSON LEMONS FAMILY
James Marshall Lemons was the son of Benjamin Franklin Lemons (1858–1920) and Martha McGill Lemons (1861-1912). Marshall was married twice. He was first married to Minty Marinatha Woods Lemons (1885-1909). She died at a young age from tuberculosis. Marshall and Minty had two children - Homer (1909-1973) and Etta Edmonds (1908-1972). Marshall then married Daisy Louise Dickerson Lemons. Together they had nine children: Jennie (1913-2007); Joseph (Bud) LeMons (1915-2004): Marion (1919-1965), Henry (1917-2000); Elvon (1923-2006); Helen (1921-1998): Twin boys - Allen (1926-1989) & Albert (1926-1971); and Nada Lemons.
Homer Dillard Lemons
Today, I want us to think briefly on the life of Homer Dillard Lemons, the eldest of the Lemons clan.
Homer was born on July 6, 1906, in Greenville, S.C. to our father and his first wife, the former Minta Marinatha Wood. Minthy, as she was called, died at a very early age of tuberculosis. She and daddy were parents of two children, Homer and Etta.
After Minthy's death, daddy married our mother, Daisy Dickerson, while Homer and Etta were still very young. Mama was only 17 years of age when she and daddy married, so she took on an awesome responsibility at that young age of becoming stepmother to a ready-made family. Homer and Etta called Mama "Daisy." In time, she would become the family Matriarch.
It wasn't long before Mama and Daddy began adding to the family. When they had finished, there would be nine more children, making total of eleven.
With such a large family and not having very much in the way of material goods, the children had to create their own fun. They became quite good at it. For instance, one time Homer and Jennie worked for three weeks building a cart to be pulled by a bull. It was a two-wheeled affair with shafts and set high up off the ground. They were so thrilled with their accomplishment and could hardly wait to try it out. Well, they hitched that bull to the cart and the two of them climbed up on the seat to go for a joy ride. Homer tapped the bull with a whip. With that, the bull let out a loud bellow and took straight off through the woods. Jumping over the bushes and small trees, the bull pulled loose from what was left of the cart, and kept moving on, leaving Homer and Jennie stranded atop a small pine tree with scratches and bruises all over them. That was the end of their joy ride.
Sometimes in such a large family, they would go to any means to get help with something, even if it meant deception. At one of the places where the family lived, there was a tunnel, called a cow chute, which was built under the highway to enable the cows to go through to get water. The highway department had to close the chute off for a few days for repair work, so the mules and cows had to either be led by ropes or ridden to the creek. ……Now to the deception part.
It was Christmas Eve and Jennie had gone to bed early, anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus. Homer awoke her saying, "Hey, Jennie, I've been to Lockhart with Daddy today. If you'll ride one of the mules to get water, I'll tell you what Santa Claus is going to bring you." Jennie, with much excitement, jumped out of bed to go with Homer. One the way back home, he told her, "Old Santa is going to leave you a real pretty doll."
Early Christmas morning, Jennie was up bright and early looking for that "real pretty doll," but all she found under the tree was two oranges, two apples, a few dried raisins and a four cents candy bar. Needless to say, there was quite a war of words from Jennie, and that was the last help Homer got with watering the mules.
Homer's ability at making things run didn't end with the cart he and Jennie built. He loved tinkering with motors. Joe and Henry were co-owners of an old, white motorcycle. Homer served as their mechanic and kept it in good running condition in order to ride it some.
When he was a little older, he began driving a long-haul truck, which was his primary occupation, for Carey Transport in Spartanburg back in the early 1930's. At times, he would take Joe with him, which Joe says he thinks might have contributed to the wanderlust in him.
Another time, Daddy, Uncle Lotten, Uncle Ben and Homer took off for Florida in an old Model T Ford to find work. Homer was their driver. They would stop and work at various places along the way in order to get money for gas and food to continue their journey. After about three months they arrived back home, with nothing to show for their trip but a trunk filled with sea shells.
Our housing was never adequate during those growing up years. I remember Mama telling about keeping a King snake in the rafters of the house to cut down on the number of rats.
When they lived at Bullock's Creek, it came up a bad storm one day. Everyone went to the barn for shelter except Homer, because it was in better shape than the house. He went to an old culvert, but the water rose so high it ran him out of there. He started for the barn, and had to cross a barbed wire fence to get there. Just as he was crossing, lightning struck close to the fence, giving Homer a jolt. When he got in the barn, he was scared to death.
Back in those days the Jehovah's Witnesses were called Judge Rutherfordton's. One day they came to the house in Union. The witness had brought with him a little record player and recording of Judge Rutherfordton discussing their beliefs. Homer came in about midway through the recording. When he saw the record player, he asked, "Can you play 'Come Sit by My Side Little Darling?' With a funny look on his face, the witness said he didn't believe he could play that one.
One of our all-time favorite stories concerning Homer is about the time Mama had cooked some turnip greens for supper. They had stuck to the pot a little bit, and when she took them up, she poured a little of the soapy dishwater in the pot and set it back on the stove so it could loosen up a little bit. Homer came in from work after everyone had gone to bed and looked for something to eat. He found the turnip green pot with the dishwater, crumbled a little cornbread in it and ate it. The next morning he said to Mama, "Daisy, those turnip greens sure were good last night." "What turnip greens, Homer?" "Those on the back of the stove," he said. "Homer that was dishwater." Well, he said, "it sure was good."
When Homer was 39 years old, and was about to be drafted into the Army during World War II, he along with Allen, Henry and Marion, visited the Naval recruiter and a deal was made that allowed Homer and the other three brothers to join as volunteers in the Navy within a period of a week. They joined Joe, Elvon and Albert who were already serving in the Navy at that time. Henry, Marion and Homer left for Camp Perry, Virginia and Allen left the following week for the Great Lakes.
On the day that Allen, the last of the seven brothers left for the Navy, there was a ceremony held at the old Whitney School where the Governor, Olin D. Johnson, presented Mama with the Seven-Star Medal for having the most sons in service.
When Homer, Marion and Henry came home from "Boot Camp" for a week's leave, and returned to base, Henry and Marion had orders to move on to Shoemaker, California. As they were about to board the train, Homer saw them and asked "Where are y'all going?" They told him they were being sent to California for further transfer. Homer, through tear-filled eyes said, "Gosh, I wish I could go with you. I'll be here by myself." All of the brothers served tours of duty overseas with the exception of Homer, who remained in California. Although they were all on the front lines of battle, they came out without a scratch.
Homer's widow is the former Louise Fowler. She was his helpmate in every sense of the word. It was Louise who kept the home running and worked so hard in the fields to provide food and sustenance for their family during those many times Homer was away from home.
They were parents of nine children. Two of them, Willie Marshall and Dean, are deceased. The surviving children are Doris, Orien, Ned, Ray, Jimmy, Sue and Easter. There are seventeen grandchildren, and thirteen great grandchildren.
Homer's favorite hobby was fishing. It was known to create problems at times. One such time was when he was operating a little store when Henry stopped by to visit him briefly on one of his fishing trips. Homer asked, "Where are you going fishing, to Wateree?" "No, I'm going to Santee." "Well," he said, "I'm just good mind to close up and go with you." "Come on," Henry replied. With that, Homer pulled up his pants saying, "I believe I will." When he returned home from his weekend trip, he found himself out of a job.
I think one of the greatest attributes that can be paid to Homer and Louise is to the wonderful, close-knit family they have reared. Over and over again you hear various ones remark about how sweet, well-mannered and loving they all are.
Homer and Louise resided much of their married life in Union, S.C. He died of cancer and is buried at the Mt. Joy Baptist Church Cemetery in Kelton, S.C. He was buried on Doris' birthday, February 14, 1973.
During World War II, the draft and enlistments continued throughout the nation, South Carolina, and Spartanburg County. In fact, more than 6,000 people from Spartanburg County served. Even though Homer Dillard Lemons had five children and was born in 1906, he was about to be drafted in early 1944. The Lemons brothers did something unusual. In a show of solidarity, seventeen year-old George Allen Lemons, twenty-six-year-old James Henry Lemons, and twenty-four-year-old Marion A. Lemons went to the local recruiter and offered to enter service with Homer if they could receive a guarantee they could all enter the U. S. Navy. When the four Lemons brothers entered active duty in April of 1944; this made seven Lemons brothers in the U. S. Navy at the same time. To recognize a South Carolina family with seven sons in one branch of service--the only family in the nation with such a record--Governor Olin D. Johnston came to Whitney School on April 22, 1944, to present the widow Mrs. Daisy Lemons with a seven-star decoration. He presented Mrs. Lemons with a 7-Star Service Emblem. The decorative pin was wing-shaped with seven stars; each star represented one of the Lemons brothers, aged 17 to 37. Homer Dillard Lemons had five children when his three brothers (Henry, Merion, and Allen) made their memorable St. Patrick's Day visit to the local U. S. Navy recruiter. Homer earned the rank of Fireman First Class. On September 18, 1945, he received the Honorable Discharge. Before his death on February 14, 1973, Homer and his wife Louise had nine children: Mrs. Doris Lemons Canupp, Mrs. Easter Lemons Steele, Sue Lemons Farr, Dean Lemons, Ray Lemons, Jimmy Lemons, Oren Lemons, Ned Lemons, and Willie Lemons. Mount Joy Baptist Church Cemetery in Kelton, South Carolina, is the resting place of this retired mechanic. On August 27, 1984, the U. S. Navy and the Charleston Naval Base honored the seven Lemons brothers who served in the same branch of service during World War II. unfortunately, all the members of the Lemons family could not be present at the ceremony. Mrs. Daisy Dickerson Lemons had died at the age of 64 on November 14, 1958. Mrs. Lemons was still living in the Whitney area, still a member at the Whitney Baptist Church, and had helped with the cafeteria program at Whitney Elementary School. Before the ceremony, the father (Marshall Lemons) and three brothers (Homer, Merion, and Albert) had died. The Florida residents (Joe (d. 2004)and Elvon (d.2006)were unable to attend. James Henry (d.2000) and George Allen Lemons (d.1989) were the only two brothers able to accept the commendation. Cmdr. David W. Cockfield presented the award. A reception and tour of the USS Nichols followed the ceremony. Sixty years have passed since the service of the Lemons family. Today all seven of the Lemons brothers are gone. Only one sister, Nada Lemons Miles is still alive and lives in Lexington, SC. The rest of the immediate family is gone. But as we recall the events of September 1945, we cannot forget the sacrifices of the Lemons family and the sacrifices of others, many of whom did not return. |