Individual Details
Charles Thomas "C. T." Cantrell Sr.
(September 18, 1913 - November 5, 1984)
"La Marque, Texas - January 22, 1975 - Dear Cousin Ray, So many years have gone by since we last saw each other. It must have been thirty-five or forty at least. Much has happened here, as I'm sure it has there, since that time. I am your cousin, Charles T. (Tom) Cantrell, son of your Uncle Charley and Aunt Susie. While going through some old papers I ran into the letter from the Scurlock Oil Company which had all of the heirs' names and addresses in it in regards to the oilshare Grandmama left to us all. I decided to write this letter and mail copies to each of my cousins whom I haven't seen for so many years. I had lost track of everyone with the exception of my sisters and my son.
"I am sixty-one years old now, and a widower since my dear Rosalie passed away last May 6th. We had been married for 38 1/2 years. She suffered a severe heart attack on May 5th and they couldn't save her. The next morning she slipped quietly away. I don't think I will ever get over losing her.
"I have one son, Tommy, Junior, who is now 33 years old. He has a fine wife and two healthy, smart sons of his own. They are Charles Thomas Cantrell III who is now six years old, and Michael Dean Cantrell who is four years old. Tommy is a Viet Nam veteran, having served in the 13th Artillary in support of the 1st Inf. Division. Like me, in World War II, he came through the Viet Nam War very little the worse for wear. Tommy lives here in La Marque and is a pipefitter for the American Oil Company in Texas City, Texas.
"My mother and father, who were your Uncle Charley and Aunt Susie, have both been gone for more than twenty-five years. First my father died from a stroke and fourteen months later my mother went the same way.
"After WWII, I returned to my position in the Accounting Department at AMOCO Refinery. Then, in April 1947 I was near the big explosion that devestated Texas City and 'though I was pelted with flying glass fragments, I was uninjuried. I have been through two other big explosions in Texas City. "Lady Luck" was riding with me in each of them. After twenty years with AMOCO they found a button on the IBM equipment that could do my job so I was terminated ... automation, they called it. Though the switch from office work to labor wasn't easy, I worked on a drilling rig as a "roughneck" for a while. The hours were long, the work was hard and dirty, but the pay was good and I got to like it pretty good. Finally, I accepted the position of Chief Inspector for two cities at the same time and after eight years, I had all of the politics my stomach would stand. For the next two years, I built fine homes in and around Houston. Then I had a chance to go to Persia (Iran) on a pipeline construction project as an office manager and payroll supervisor. We built a 30" 600 mile long pipeline and nine giant pumping stations across the great salt Persian deserts and though the Zagros Mountains which are some of the most rugged ranges in the world. The line started at sea level at Abadan and terminated at the big Rey refinery just south of Teheran on the Caspian Sea, which is on the Russian border and is 9000 feet above sea level. Except in Teheran and a couple of other great cities, the people live much the same as they did thousands of years before Christ. This is all "Old Testament" country. After completing my contract I had made arrangements for Rosalie to come to Rome and we enjoyed Italy and also staying with her relatives in Palermo in Sicily for a while. She spoke fluent Italian and I do pretty good with Spanish. We returned home via Amsterdam, Montreal, and Houston. While waiting for my new assignment in Baghdad, I took a temporary position with the City of Texas City in January 1974. Since the flare-up of Arab trouble in the Middle East, the new job has been held up so I am still with the City of Texas City.
"Now, since Rosalie is gone, I live alone, doing my own house-keeping, cooking, washing, mending, etc. The house is too much for me so I am in the process of trying to sell it. I have drawn a set of plans for a smaller house which I plan to build myself. It is designed to specifically suit my needs. 'Though I do not rule it out, I have no plans at this time to remarry. I addition to my regular work, I do some freelance writing and photography. I hope to supplement my income through these efforts when I retire. I am beginning, finally, to get established in certain publications. This just about brings you up to now concerning me. If I haven't bored you too much with this letter, I hope some of you will feel like writing to me and bring me up to date on you. Seriously, I would like to hear from each of you. Best regards from your cousin, C. T. (Tom) Cantrell, Sr., 2603 Cedar Drive, La Marque, Texas 77568." (Letter from C. Thomas Cantrell to Ray Judia, Route 1, Cisco, Texas .)
"I am sixty-one years old now, and a widower since my dear Rosalie passed away last May 6th. We had been married for 38 1/2 years. She suffered a severe heart attack on May 5th and they couldn't save her. The next morning she slipped quietly away. I don't think I will ever get over losing her.
"I have one son, Tommy, Junior, who is now 33 years old. He has a fine wife and two healthy, smart sons of his own. They are Charles Thomas Cantrell III who is now six years old, and Michael Dean Cantrell who is four years old. Tommy is a Viet Nam veteran, having served in the 13th Artillary in support of the 1st Inf. Division. Like me, in World War II, he came through the Viet Nam War very little the worse for wear. Tommy lives here in La Marque and is a pipefitter for the American Oil Company in Texas City, Texas.
"My mother and father, who were your Uncle Charley and Aunt Susie, have both been gone for more than twenty-five years. First my father died from a stroke and fourteen months later my mother went the same way.
"After WWII, I returned to my position in the Accounting Department at AMOCO Refinery. Then, in April 1947 I was near the big explosion that devestated Texas City and 'though I was pelted with flying glass fragments, I was uninjuried. I have been through two other big explosions in Texas City. "Lady Luck" was riding with me in each of them. After twenty years with AMOCO they found a button on the IBM equipment that could do my job so I was terminated ... automation, they called it. Though the switch from office work to labor wasn't easy, I worked on a drilling rig as a "roughneck" for a while. The hours were long, the work was hard and dirty, but the pay was good and I got to like it pretty good. Finally, I accepted the position of Chief Inspector for two cities at the same time and after eight years, I had all of the politics my stomach would stand. For the next two years, I built fine homes in and around Houston. Then I had a chance to go to Persia (Iran) on a pipeline construction project as an office manager and payroll supervisor. We built a 30" 600 mile long pipeline and nine giant pumping stations across the great salt Persian deserts and though the Zagros Mountains which are some of the most rugged ranges in the world. The line started at sea level at Abadan and terminated at the big Rey refinery just south of Teheran on the Caspian Sea, which is on the Russian border and is 9000 feet above sea level. Except in Teheran and a couple of other great cities, the people live much the same as they did thousands of years before Christ. This is all "Old Testament" country. After completing my contract I had made arrangements for Rosalie to come to Rome and we enjoyed Italy and also staying with her relatives in Palermo in Sicily for a while. She spoke fluent Italian and I do pretty good with Spanish. We returned home via Amsterdam, Montreal, and Houston. While waiting for my new assignment in Baghdad, I took a temporary position with the City of Texas City in January 1974. Since the flare-up of Arab trouble in the Middle East, the new job has been held up so I am still with the City of Texas City.
"Now, since Rosalie is gone, I live alone, doing my own house-keeping, cooking, washing, mending, etc. The house is too much for me so I am in the process of trying to sell it. I have drawn a set of plans for a smaller house which I plan to build myself. It is designed to specifically suit my needs. 'Though I do not rule it out, I have no plans at this time to remarry. I addition to my regular work, I do some freelance writing and photography. I hope to supplement my income through these efforts when I retire. I am beginning, finally, to get established in certain publications. This just about brings you up to now concerning me. If I haven't bored you too much with this letter, I hope some of you will feel like writing to me and bring me up to date on you. Seriously, I would like to hear from each of you. Best regards from your cousin, C. T. (Tom) Cantrell, Sr., 2603 Cedar Drive, La Marque, Texas 77568." (Letter from C. Thomas Cantrell to Ray Judia, Route 1, Cisco, Texas .)
Events
| Birth | September 18, 1913 | ||||
| Marriage | Abt November, 1936 | Rosalie | |||
| Death | November 5, 1984 | Texas | |||
| Burial | Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, Dickinson, Galveston County, Texas |
Families
| Spouse | Rosalie (1916 - 1974) |
| Child | Charles Thomas "Tommy" Cantrell Jr. (1942 - ) |
| Father | Charles Clements "Charley" Cantrell (1867 - 1950) |
| Mother | Susie Scarborough (1875 - 1951) |
| Sibling | Mary Frances Cantrell (1907 - 1983) |
| Sibling | Maybelle Cantrell (1908 - ) |
| Sibling | Josephine Cantrell (1911 - 1985) |