A Special Lady- Margie Gerrard

Growing up in a small town, you seem to know everyone. I felt like that, although I didn’t exactly grow up in any town. I lived about a mile northeast of Cary, Mississippi and life was very good there. My grandmother did live in town and was the postmistress there, as her mother was before her. I called Cary home and felt that people were splitting hairs if they disagreed on the point of where I was from. My mailing address was Cary, Mississippi, after all.

Often we would walk into town. Of course, we walked through the cotton fields, over to a turn-row and walked that row to the dirt road that ran along beside the railroad tracks… Illinois Central, to be exact. The dirt road took us into town. We weren’t allowed to walk down the gravel road that followed the path of Deer Creek. It was too dangerous because of cars traveling down the road…. five or six a day, I believe. Later it was “black-topped” and became even more dangerous. I believe the traffic may have doubled at that point. In any case, we walked that dirt road right into town. After passing five or six tenant houses, the first establishment we would encounter was M. Grundfest. It was such a wonderful little general store, quite typical. The building remains today prominently located in the center of town.

When I was very young, Mr. Ike Grundfest was in the store every day. When his health took a turn, Roy Gerrard ran the store. Roy married my friend’s mom.  Lynette was a year younger than I, but we were very good friends. Miss Margie, Roy’s wife and Lynette’s mom, it seems was always a part of my life. We couldn’t slip into town without Margie stepping out onto the front porch of the store and asking us where we were going. You could practically throw from the store to Roy and Margie’s house and then to the Post Office and my grandmother’s house. They were all on the main drag in Cary. That street changed quite a bit through my lifetime and seems to continue changing each time I go back to visit.

Over the years, I would go to Margie’s house to play with Lynette after school, on weekends, or in the summer. Margie always came in to visit, asking what was going on in my life. We would carpool to Rolling Fork whether to the movies, band practice, ball games, or other school events. It was fun with Margie. It was always an adventure driving with Margie. I always remember her as being a warm, friendly person who would laugh often and laugh loudly. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? 

Margie was good to me, but I wasn’t the Weissinger for which she had a soft spot. That honor would go to my little brother, Lee. As a two year old, Lee would get bored and perhaps lonely so far out in the country. Several times, he eluded the maid and slipped out the back door. He would set his sights on Cary. He followed the same path his older siblings took in getting into town. The major difference was that he was most often clad only in a diaper (cloth- we called him “Droopy Drawers”) Miss Margie would intercept him as he slipped past the store. I suppose a half-naked little boy with very long blonde curls was fairly hard to miss. Margie would call my grandmother, Ep, at the Post Office who would call my Uncle Spencer, who would get my dad on the short-wave radio. My dad would then drop what he was doing to go retrieve Lee. Communication wasn’t quite so easy in that day, but it still got the job done; it just took a while.

Margie was always there, and she always had an opinion. Thank goodness, she seemed to be sympathetic to me, especially during our teenage years. She listened as Lynette and I bemoaned not having a date to the Football Banquet, the Homecoming Dance, Prom, and other significant events. She would give us moral support as we would try to muster the courage to call someone to escort us to the Sweetheart Parade. She was even there to help us through when Bill Marshall asked me out on a date one night, although Lynette was the one who had the mad crush on him. I was really glad that she convinced Lynette that if it wasn’t me, it would be someone else! Thank you, Margie!

Once Lynette got married and moved away, I didn’t see Lynette that often. However, every time I went home, I would see Margie. After I got married, Roy opened his own store next door to his house. It was in the old Sun Oil building. Across the street were the Bank of Anguilla and some offices. The Post Office was still nearby. If I had business in any of those places or Roy’s store, I would see Margie. It was always a joy. She always asked about my family and wondered when others of them would be in town to visit.

My little brother, Lee, ended up moving into town after he got married. His house was adjacent to the Post Office and kitty-cornered across from Margie’s house and the store. Lee and Margie continued to look after each other. I’m not sure who actually was looking after whom. I suppose it varied with the days and the circumstances. They remained close until Lee’s death.

Several years ago, Roy died. Margie stayed on in Cary for a while, but eventually moved to a facility in Clarksdale to be closer to Lynette and her family. Margie’s house no longer stands today, nor does the store. However, her memory continues on in Cary. If you walk down the main drag there today, you can almost feel Miss Margie watching where you were going and you wait in anticipation for her greeting.

Sadly, at about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 30, 2013, Margie Rial’s Gerrard died in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She will be brought home to Goodman Memorial Methodist Church in Cary on Monday, April 1^st to be buried. Services are at 11:00 a.m. She will be interred in the Cary Cemetery, just down the street from her former home. How fitting that Margie will again reside on the Main Drag in Cary, Mississippi.