Mamie Louella Jackson Miller, our grandmother

Mamie Louella Jackson was born on March 26, 1895 in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, N.C. She died of cancer on Oct. 7, 1951. She was married twice, first on June 25, 1916, to Charles Norman Martin Sr. (1889-Nov. 4, 1918), who died in the great influenza epidemic, then to Clyde Clifton Miller (on March 24, 1923). She had four children: Norma Martin and Arline, William Alton and Marilyn Miller. (Charles Norman Martin had a son by a previous relationship, Charles Norman Martin Jr., born Sept. 15, 1913.)

Mamie at about age 19, in a stellar hat.

That's Mamie in the middle of the back row. We're not sure who all the people in this photo are, but we're very sure of some of them, including beaming Brother, Cissie and Marilyn, in the front row. The back of the photo says: Front row: Roy Lee, Brother, Marilyn, Cissie. Second row: Anna Frances. Third row: Virginia Holcomb, Dude, Mamie, Ola. Fourth row: Grandma (Tennessee Isabelle Gough Miller), Thelma.

Mamie (second from left) in 1945 with daughters Norma, Marilyn and Cissie.

In 1951, shortly before her death from cancer.

Brother Miller was serving in the U.S. Army in Schwabisch Hall, Germany, when he received this sad telegram. He wrote in his grandson's memory book that he was unable to come home for her funeral because of military regulations.

He wrote of his mother:
My happiest memories of childhood are of the fun we had gathering at our house with friends, drinking coffee, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts and playing games. My mother was always tolerant of our noise and just enjoyed having us all at home rather than out somewhere. Although I am certain we caused a lot of work for her, she never complained.
Here's what Mamie's little brother, Robert Alton Jackson, wrote about her in a family memoir:
My sister Mamie was, like my sister Hattie Belle, a good and wonderful human being. She was married twice, the first time to Charles Martin, who died in the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918, and later to Clifton Miller.

Charles Martin had been previously married and had a son, Charles Jr. To Charles Sr. and Mamie was born one child, a daughter, Norma. The marriage of Mamie Jackson and Clifton Miller brought forth three children, Arline and Alton, twins, and Marilyn.

Mamie was a patient soul, taking the harshness and goodness of life with stoical fortitude and cheerfulness. She had been crippled with what was called "white swelling," leaving her left leg shorter than the right. Her second husband, Clyde Clifton Miller, had a short right leg, and the two, walking in step together, brushed each others' shoulders at every other step. They got a lot of amusement out of this rather than feeling embarrassed.

Mamie was, like her mother, a wonderful cook, and as my first mother-in-law said, she made, among other delicacies, "the best cheese pimiento sandwiches ever." I can personally add to that such things as pinto beans, corn bread, fried chicken, cakes of every description, pies and you-name-it.

Mamie was a heartwarming, good Christian woman who always thought of others before herself, and this was especially true in regard to her family. She had friends galore, and bore her good times as well as the bad with never-ending faith and fortitude.