Lola Myrtle Stancil Eason

• Born June 4, 1917 Johnston, NC
• Died May 8, 2004 Bishopville, MD
• Buried in Evergreen Memorial Park, Wilson, NC
• Married Grover Cleveland Eason Sr. on Jan. 23, 1933

Lola Myrtle Stancil Eason was born June 4, 1917, and died May 8, 2004. She married Grover Cleveland Eason Sr. on Jan. 23, 1933.
Myrtle's children with Grover Cleveland Eason
Wyla Jean Eason
Lelon Woodrow Eason Sr. June 14, 1939 Beulah Township, Johnston, NC-Nov. 28, 1999 Wake Forest, NC; Buried inside mausoleum chapel in Pine Forest Memorial Gardens, Wake Forest, NC
Frank Edwin Eason May 31, 1941 Johnston, NC-2022 Cathedral City, CA
Margaret Carol Eason Cole Oct. 10, 1945 Johnston, NC-Dec. 16, 2008 Corona, CA
Grover Cleveland Eason Jr. July 22, 1949 Beulah Township, Johnston, NC-April 7, 2015 Victorville, San Berdardino, CA
Jo Ann Eason Alexander

Lola Myrtle Stancil Eason, daughter of George Ira and Eva Ann Mercer Stancil, was born on June 4, 1917.

When Myrtle was 4 years old, Ralph's dog, Gent, bit her.

At the age of 6, Myrtle asked her Aunt Minnie, “Why don't you go eat at Aunt Bertha's or Aunt Esther's?” Her aunt replied, “Because we know your mama is going to have plenty of something good to eat.”

Myrtle had the whooping cough and pink eye when she was ten.

She also suffered from typhoid fever, for which a poultice was put around her neck. Myrtle contracted chickenpox around the age of ten or eleven and later developed shingles. Emmette drove Myrtle and their Pa to see Dr. Coleman in Kenly. He diagnosed her after researching her condition and gave them an ointment.

Paul Eason asked Myrtle if she would go out with his brother. Myrtle agreed, and she began dating Grover, who was almost six years her senior.

Grover's Pa passed away in 1929, leaving behind a large family: Cora, Lilly, Effie, and Meg. They endured the tragedy of Meg dying from diphtheria at the young age of six.

Grover farmed full time and lived with his Ma and brother Paul. Myrtle and Grover dated for two years before they married.

Grover smoked cigarettes and later switched to a pipe.

He owned a two-door 1929 green Model A Ford sedan. Myrtle (15) and Grover (21) often went on double dates with Vazelle and Grover's brother Paul.

Grover proposed to Myrtle on Christmas of 1932 at her home. Myrtle was attending Glendale High School at the time. They were sitting on the sofa in the living room when he surprised her. He gave her one minute to say “OK” and then told her to keep their engagement a secret. She did for several weeks, and when she finally mentioned it, no one believed her. Her Pa eventually found out and said, “Myrtle, I don't want you to marry him because he's one of Dan Starling's grandsons, and Dan is known as a mean man.”

Eva's concerns were related to Myrtle's young age, the fact that one of Grover's brothers had three divorces, and that his sister Effie and her husband, a Peacock, fought frequently.

Ralph Stancil knew Effie Peacock's husband. On one occasion, he told Ralph that if he would furnish a car, he would provide whiskey, gas, and girls. Ralph shared this information with his mother.

Grover (21) and Myrtle (15) decided to marry in January 1933. Myrtle had never enjoyed school. She didn't like sports, couldn't hit a ball, and was never chosen for any teams.

George and Dessie took Myrtle shopping for wedding clothes in Emmette's car. Emmette and Dessie rode in the rumble seat when Grover and Myrtle drove to Smithfield for their license. They all had dinner together in Smithfield.

Myrtle's wedding attire consisted of a navy hat with a veil and a navy blue dress with a white collar, purchased at J.C. Penney in Wilson. Myrtle married Grover Eason on January 23, 1933, in Nevell's house, where Nevell himself officiated. Those attending the wedding included Delanie, Norma, Effie, Mamie, and Vazelle. Effie, Mamie, and Vazelle traveled to the wedding in the Hoover Cart pulled by Trixie. Witnesses for the wedding were Vazelle Stancil, Buron Smith (Nevell's sister's husband), and Mrs. J. R. Renfrow Jr.

Myrtle and Grover's wedding gifts from Eva and George Stancil included a trunk, a set of sheets, a feather bed, a pillow, and two quilts.

They lived with Grover's mother and his brother for a year. Grover was known as a good farmer. The following year, they hired a hand to help with the crops. After two years of marriage, they became tenant farmers.

In 1934, Grover traded the Model A for a new V8 black Ford with yellow wire spoke wheels. Gasoline cost 20 cents per gallon at the time. Grover once took Robert Renfrow to the hospital in Richmond, VA.

Wyla Jean was born on August 17, 1934, weighing 7.2 pounds. Myrtle's mother was present for the birth, and Jean was delivered by Dr. A. P. Strickland in the Parnell House on Old Princeton Road, located between Rev. Debro's and Nevell's houses.

Lelon Woodrow was born on June 14, 1939, weighing 6 ½ pounds. He was delivered by Dr. Woodard in the John Thomas Stancil House. Woody graduated from high school and joined the Air Force for six years, serving from 1957 to 1963.

Frank Edwin weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Myrtle had high blood pressure during this pregnancy, and Frank arrived early on May 31, 1941. Dr. Woodard delivered him in the Nevell and Delanie house, which had four fireplaces in the center. This was the same house where Myrtle and Grover were married. Frank served in the Navy for eight years, including a tour in Vietnam. He later moved to San Diego for work and retired to Palm Springs, CA.

A letter to her brother Harold from Mamie, dated September 15, 1941, addressed to H.L. Stancil A.M.M. 3/C VP 94 USMC Air Station, Cherry Point, NC, read: “Hello Harold, I received your letter and money order last week and thank you very much. I hope you are fine. Mother, Myrtle, and Grover are coming Sunday to spend the day. I wish you could come to see us too, so if possible, come on, and when you get here, call us, and we will go get you. Harold, don't send as much money next month as you did this one because I am afraid it does not leave enough for you. I love you and hope to see you Saturday night. Love, Mamie.”

Grover gave Myrtle a gold wedding band after Frank was born in 1941. In 1962, he gave her a diamond ring with a matching band.

Hilda wrote to Harold Lloyd in a letter dated July 12, 1943, stating that Myrtle had a miscarriage the previous Sunday, July 4, at home. Her mother was with her. Myrtle had been painting a room, and Eva believed that this had caused the miscarriage. It was a baby boy. Grover carried him out to the garden and buried him.

Mamie wrote a postcard to Harold at the USMC Air Station, postmarked Cherry Point, NC, on September 15, 1943: “Hello Harold, I received your letter and money order last week and thank you very much. I hope you are fine. Mother, Myrtle, and Grover are coming Sunday to spend the day. I wish you could come to see us too, so if possible, come on, and when you get here, call us, and we'll go get you. Harold, don't send as much money next month as you did this one because I am afraid it does not leave enough for you to keep. Hope to see you Saturday night. Love, Mamie.”

Margaret Carol weighed 9 pounds and was delivered on October 10, 1945, by Dr. Woodard in Selma. She was born in a house that belonged to a policeman. Grover was working at a nearby dairy at the time. Myrtle always believed that Margaret Carol was a ten-month-old baby.

Grover Cleveland Eason, Jr., was quickly nicknamed Clevie. He weighed 7 pounds and was delivered by Dr. Woodard in her brother Emmette's tenant house on July 22, 1949.

Grover was able to leave farming and began working for the State Road Department, which provided a much better and more secure job. He moved his family to Wilson.

Grover started working for the State Road Department in 1950.

When Myrtle was seven months pregnant with JoAnn, she was crocheting when her hands became numb. Suddenly, she couldn't see and felt strange. She lay down. Jean, who was working for the phone company, came home early that Wednesday and found her mother incoherent. Jean called an ambulance. Myrtle was paralyzed in her left arm and hand. She was initially hospitalized in Wilson and then transferred to Chapel Hill. It was Friday before Myrtle regained consciousness. Nevell was there praying for her, and her mother, Eva, was by her side. Myrtle was told that only one in three people survive such an event without permanent paralysis. She had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

Myrtle and Grover were overjoyed when JoAnn was born healthy on January 13, 1954, weighing 7 ½ pounds. JoAnn was delivered by Dr. Spencer at the Woodard-Herring Hospital in Wilson, NC. Myrtle stayed in the hospital for the usual five days. Jean took six months off from work to help her mother care for the children. Myrtle worked hard to regain all of her faculties.

Myrtle and Grover found a church home at Winstead United Methodist Church in Wilson.

Myrtle suffered from migraine headaches.

Grover experienced several heart attacks. He retired after 33 years with the State Road Department in 1972.

Myrtle began working at Wilson's Belk Tyler Store in 1959 and retired in 1975. Her sister Rachel also worked there in the same department: fabric and notions. In 1975, Myrtle was in a car accident and was hospitalized for two weeks with two ruptured vertebrae. She made a remarkable recovery and spent 15 years at Belk Tyler.

Grover was very talented. He made Myrtle a turntable using white oak. He bent the wood by pouring boiling water over it and bending it a little bit each night. Myrtle had always longed for a turntable like the one she grew up with. Her Ma, Eva, had always said that the grandchild with the most children would get her turntable, but this never happened. The table remained on the farm and was passed on to G. I.'s daughter, Shirley.

Grover was a self-taught taxidermist, expertly mounting many beautiful fish. He helped his nephew, Harold Stancil (son of Ralph), learn the skill.

Cousin Robin Stancil Moser's daughter, Kim, couldn't say Myrtle, so she called her “Aunt Murder.”

On Thursday, July 14, 1976, Grover was admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital in Wilson. Doctors initially thought he would recover. He was sweating and in a lot of pain. Myrtle had an appointment at Duke on July 19 due to back pain she was experiencing.

Grover passed away at home on December 23, 1988, in Wilson, NC. He was buried in Evergreen Memorial Park. Several years after Grover's death, the family placed a concrete bench near his grave in his honor, engraved with “1911 IN MEMORY OF GROVER C. EASON 1988.”

On January 30, 1989, Myrtle flew to California to visit Frank, Joann, and Clevie. She stayed for two weeks, after which Frank returned to China.

Myrtle died on May 8, 2004. Her funeral was held on Monday, May 17, at the Winstead United Methodist Church, with Reverend John Wenberg officiating. One song she requested for her funeral was “Be Not Afraid” from the Catholic songbook.

Among the family who attended Myrtle's funeral were Ellen Jane (G.I.), and Martha and Charlie Brown, who had cared for Mamie Stancil Carraway Blair for many years.

Pallbearers were Carl Roberts (husband of granddaughter Kim LaVie), grandson Lee Eason, Ben Eason, Dwight Thompson (husband of granddaughter Christie Eason), David Warren (husband of granddaughter Renee Eason), and nephew Bill Batts.

Myrtle was buried beside her beloved Grover in Evergreen Memorial Park, Wilson, NC.

Myrtle will be remembered for her thoughtfulness and her sweet disposition. She always had a kind word and refused to participate in gossip or to criticize others.

— Renn Stancil Hinton, daughter of Ralph Stancil