Kimble County, TX - Obituaries:  Stevenson, Mrs. Coke, 1942
Saturday, August 5, 2000

Submitted by:  burtwyat@ctesc.net  (Frederica Wyatt)
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    Found in the scrapbook belonging to the late Margaret Griffen Harrison, Junction, Texas
                                  (Name of paper not given)

                          Large Crowds Attend Funeral Of First Lady

  People from every section of Texas and from all walks of life were here Sunday to attend the
funeral of Texas' First Lady, Mrs. Coke R. Stevenson, Sr., who died in Austin Saturday, 
January 3, following an illness of many months.  Services were conducted by the local pastor, 
Rev. George B. McCrary; Rev. Ennis Hill of San Antonio, a former pastor, Rev. S. L. Batchelor,
district superintendent, San Antonio, also a former pastor, and Dr. Kenneth Pope, Austin. 
Mrs. Weaver H. Baker, a friend of Mrs. Stevenson for many years, sang "The Old Rugged Cross",
and Mrs. A. W. Loeffler, a close friend of Mrs. Stevenson, read Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar".
Favorite hymns of the family were sung by the choir.  Interment was made in the family plot
in the Junction Cemetery.
  Emil A. Loeffloer, C. T. Holekamp, W. B. Buster, S. S. Bundy, John Hankins, and Roy Borden
were active pall bearers. 
  Fay Wright Stevenson was born in Gillespie County October 3, 1896.  Her father, Dr. Preston
Wright, was a practicing physician.  The family moved to Kerrville for a brief period and in 
1905 moved to Kimble County and settled on the South Llano River a few miles from Junction.
Mrs. Stevenson attended the Junction High School and was graduated in 1912.  Her parents
desired to send her to college, but instead of going to college she and Coke R. Stevenson
were married at the Methodist Church on December 24, 1912.  They moved into their own home
that Coke had built largely with his own hands.  One son, Coke, Jr., was born to them.  She
is survived by her husband, Governor Coke Stevenson, the son, Coke, Jr., two granchildren,
Scottie Gayle and Linda Fay Stevenson; her mother, Mrs. Beatrice Wright, two brothers,
Howell Wright, Junction, and Dr. Carlton Wright, Dallas, and four sisters--Mrs. French Murphy,
Nacogdoches; Mrs. Creighton Secor, Hunt; Mrs. Grady Perry, Stephenville, and Mrs. Pierce
Hoggett, Kerrville.
  Mrs. Stevenson has spent as much time as her health would permit in the Mansion since her
husband became Governor in August.  She enjoyed meeting and greeting her friends and many of
them visited her during her illness.  She was a gracious and charming hostess and it is sad 
to think of a cultured, capable, Christian woman being removed from the walks of life in the
prime of womanhood.
  Mrs. Stevenson was not a college woman, but had been a close student and was one of the best
educated women in Texas.  She and her husband have been close students for many years, and 
have taken an active interest in the affairs of county and State.  She was an active member 
in the Eastern Star many years and was state officer.  She assisted her husband in his 
political campaigns, and was campaign manager when he made his race for Lieutenant Governor.
She has walked by his side in all his endeavors, and her wise counsel will be missed by the
Governor.  She has been popular in the political and social circles in Austin where she has
spent the past 13 years.  Before moving to the mansion in August, Mrs. Stevenson had presided
over the apartment in the capitol during the four years her husband was Speaker of the House,
and more than two years in the apartment in the other end of the capitol provided for the
Lieutenant Governor.
  Large numbers of State officials, State Senators, and State Representatives attended the
simple funeral services.  Before her death, she had requested that simple services be held.
Knowing for several weeks that the end was near she had given instructions about funeral
arrangements.
  The funeral offerings were so profuse that after her grave and the family burial lot was
covered with flowers, enough was left for a wreath to be placed on practically every grave
in the half century old cemetery.  Many comments were made on the beauty of the scene after
the beautiful floweres were placed on all the graves.
  Her greatest ambition in life was achieved when her husband was inaugurated Governor of Texas.
During the inauguration she said "It is the happiest moment in any wife's life when her husband
finnaly achieves the goal he has set."  
  She was a member of the Methodist Church in Junction and was a teacher in the Sunday School
when she lived here.  She was proud of her spacious ranch home on the South Llano and many
evidences of her planning and good taste are seen in this beautiful home.
  In her homegoing, Governor Stevenson has lost a devoted wife; Coke, Jr., a loving mother;
Kimble County, a sympathetic friend, and Texas, a patriotic citizen.
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