| After ten years, Frances' marriage dissolved and due to financial misfortune she and her three-month-old daughter were forced to return home
to live with Frank and Rita. It must have been an extremely stressful period for everyone concerned. Frank and Rita were more than happy to be of assistance in any way possible; however, while her daughter attended classes in the field of Laboratory Technology, Rita now had the responsibility of rearing a grandchild. Spoiled rotten was Marguerite Marreé, named after both grandmothers and Frank and Rita's only grandchild for almost nine years. Such a tiny,
wiry little thing, they nicknamed her "Midge." They adoringly put up with her demands for "Little Golden Books," her tree climbing, tricycle riding on the living room rug, draping overturned rocking chairs with Rita's best bedspreads to make secret houses, rummaging through Rita's jewelry box, or roller skating around the dining room table. When she became too feisty, Rita threatened to wash out her mouth with soap or to use a peach tree switch. Every year, I always knew exactly when guava jelly making time rolled around. In the middle of summer Rita and I gathered buckets full of ripe yellow guavas and brought them into the kitchen for the jelly making preparation. But the oddest part of this process was Rita's request for all of my marbles, which she washed as carefully as the guavas. The guavas were brought to a boil then the liquid was strained through a cheese cloth. The remaining
guava liquid, sugar, a little lemon juice and my marbles were placed in the large deep well in the electric stove and allowed to slowly simmer. The marbles made a funny sound but they kept the jelly from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Quite suddenly events changed and Rita's boys were called to war. Mentally and emotionally Rita went right along with them. She waged her own private war - a war of personal anguish, deep worry and constant tears.
Battles were raging in Europe with man's insatiable desire to conquer man in the most destructive war in history. She fretted and cried frequently over the safety of her three boys. She tried to conjure up something to take her mind off her problems and she taught herself to crochet. This seemingly mild activity helped expend some of her worries and soothed her frayed nerves but never for a moment did she lose the fear of losing one of them. Fortunately,
the boys returned from the war unharmed. Francis and Edwin went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. Glenn worked as Clerk Of Court in downtown Miami. Frances changed jobs from secretary to an Army Colonel at Opa-locka Air Base to that of a laboratory technician in a busy office on Coral Way with two prominent doctors - Dr. Sackett and Dr. Dix. Fé and her husband moved to Los Angeles, California, where she continued teaching. Rita had a variety of
different flowers and plants which she loved to grow and cultivate. She pinched back her "hens and chickens," encouraged the sprawling azure blue plumbago, loved the brilliant red poinsettias, grew an abundance of spider lilies and marigolds, and had pots full of aloe, shrimp plant, begonia and phlox. She frequently cut back shrubs of croton and bougainvillea along the side of the house as well as pink and white periwinkle and variegated lantana. These latter
two grew wild in the yard and were considered weeds. She liked the fragrantly sweet smell of the frangipani blossoms but she hated to rake the leaves which constantly fell from this tree. There was a perpetual visiting back and forth of friends and relatives. The Kings, and their daughter, Ann; Uncle Claude Brown and his daughter, Mary Katherine; Uncle Jim and Aunt Dolly Brown and their son, George; George's wife, Grace, and their daughter, Bonnie; Aunt May
Gaunt and her children; James Gaunt and his children; W.B. and Carrie Gaunt Griffin and their children, Fred and Caroline; Daisy Gaunt Brown and her children; Edith Gaunt Brown and her children, Doug and David; Uncle Jim and Aunt Allie Brown Carmichael and their grandchildren, John and Kathy; Jack and Kathleen James Price and their daughter, Jacqueline; Leif and Esthera Frohock Braksve and their daughters Selisa and Shirley; Bea Brown White; Kate Russell Richardson; Nell Noyes and her
brothers; Frank and Gladys Noyes and their daughter, Sabra; Marguerite Godley Reddick her son, Tommy, and her niece Madena and nephew Andy; Annie Maude Godley and her brothers and sister; Uncle Marion and Aunt Florrie Pacetti and their children; Theodore and Marian Pacetti DuBose and their sons, Marion, John, Harry and their daughters, Annie and Willie; Dora Fay Frohock Finn and her daughters, Harriet Fay and Dutchy; the Langs, Wilsons, Atkinsons, and many others. These are only a few
to mention from my childhood memories. Rita adored guests dropping by for planned or unplanned visits and they shared a mutual respect and admiration for one another. About 1946, Rita started taking Midge with her on her trips to Camden County, Georgia. When they stayed with Annie Maude Godley near Midriver, Marguerite Reddick or another family member would pick them up at the Jacksonville bus station or the train station in Woodbine and drive them through
rural country roads to Annie Maud's house. There were a number of relatives who graced Annie Maude's dining table during these sojourns. Annie Maude was a fabulous cook whose recipes (particularly her chocolate cake) would have won blue ribbons! Her own appetite contributed to her bulk, for she was an enormously large woman. She was a kind person who loved everybody, especially little children. Early each morning Annie Maude stuck pieces of Juicy Fruit
or Dentyne on the thorns of the Mock orange tree growing beside her house. Of course, she concocted an elaborate story about a Good Fairy who had traipsed by during the night and left the gum! Always with a twinkle in her eye, Annie Maude told tales weaving a remarkable combination of fiendish and funny.
Jack Godley told me that Andrew and Maud Godley's first home burned on December 28, 1928. Jack was about twelve years old and remembers
this dreadful incident quite well. It was just after Christmas and they lost everything. Jack said, "Then in 1929 my daddy, Andrew, purchased a sturdy wooden house from Houston Brown and his wife, Mary Rebecca "Minkie" Godley Brown. This house was not too far from our original homesite and not too far from Godley's Landing. Andrew Godley liked this place because years before he built a fireplace in the dining room for Minkie." When I was young,
my contemporaries and I always called this "Annie Maude's House." Unyielding to the influences of gradual decline, Annie Maude's historic old house still stands on Godley property. Rita also stayed with her brother, Marion Pacetti and his wife, Florrie, at their house out on Cherry Point. Marion Pacetti was a large-framed, strong man who towered over everyone else. His wife, Florrie, was just the opposite. She was a thin, small lady with
flashing dark eyes, more energy than most of those around her and seemed to always wear an apron over her dresses. Marion and one of his sons, Harry Lee, farmed their many acres of land on Cherry Point and raised cows, pigs and chickens. One of Marion and Florrie's sons, Elmer, was crippled and confined to a wheelchair. Another son, L.D. (Lewis David), lived nearby. A daughter, Marian Pacetti DuBose, lived in St. Marys with her husband, Theodore, and their children. The
get-togethers were exciting and pleasurable. Marion and Florrie Pacetti's large two-story house, built in 1898 on Cherry Point faced south, overlooked a tributary called Big Creek and salt marshes beyond. Big Creek was a branch formed from the Crooked River and the Marianna River, all of which empty into Kings Bay and eventually into Cumberland Sound. There were numerous oyster beds visible when the tide was low. The Pacettis loved to fish, shrimp and
catch crabs. For years they made their living on the water by transporting goods, fishing and shrimping. A few still own shrimp boats and earn their living from the sea to this day. They always had fresh seafood for every meal, including breakfast. I well remember them boiling the crabs in the enormous iron cauldron down by Big Creek (Rita always referred to this creek as "The River"). It took all afternoon to pick the crab meat but the next morning it was worth
the work because Aunt Florrie's crabcakes were out of this world! She served crabcakes, fried fish, grits, cornbread, homemade biscuits with fig preserves and hot coffee at breakfast. I was not allowed to drink coffee but instead was given fresh milk straight from the cow which, strangely, tasted exactly like the animal smelled. Uncle Marion presided over the dining table for all three meals mumbling a rapid, monotone prayer then closing with a loud, clear, "Amen, please
pass the fish and grits." Roaming around and exploring the extensive property on Cherry Point certainly was an adventure for me. Never heeding Rita's warnings about snakes, "ground itch", or cutting my feet on discarded oyster shells, I always went barefoot. Walking toward the east under the canopy of trees, before one comes upon that jutting bit of land which they called "The Point," was a pipeline continually spurting
forth with artesian water. Uncle Marion had connected the pipe into a wooden trough which was always completely full of crystal clear water and which overflowed down the embankment into Big Creek. The constant gush of the artesian water made a deafening sound, was always icy cold and refreshing to drink. On hot afternoons I begged to be allowed to go swimming in The River (Big Creek). It was preferred that I go in during low tide, stay near the dock, and
that I must be accompanied by someone because I could not swim. This task was usually left to the twins, Annie and Willie DuBose, who were good swimmers. They teased me about big fish, crabs, sting rays and alligators but I still persisted in going into the water. One morning Rete, Aunt Florrie, Uncle Marion, Harry Lee and I were out on the dock crabbing. I leaned down with the net to pick up a crab attached to the end of my line when I fell right into
Big Creek - dress, shoes and all. It must have been nearly high tide for the water was deep enough to be way over my head. Falling into Big Creek happened unexpectedly but Harry Lee quickly pulled me out. The Pacettis had lived in Camden County since the early 1820's, and for four generations on the Cherry Point land. Whoever would have thought that the Government would want the Pacetti property to establish an Army ammunition terminal (dumping facility);
then later, a Navy submarine base? All the people living in the Kings Bay area were told to move out. Rita seethed with indignation even though she never owned any of her father's land. I suppose it is a passionate feeling for heritage and roots - one of belonging - which are wrenched from your very core when someone or some Government appropriates the land of your forebears. The land the Pacettis owned was an important legacy to be treasured. In August 1955,
Marion F. Pacetti was forced to sell 11.40 acres to the US Government for the sum of $300.00. In September 1955, Marion F. Pacetti was forced to sell 43.9 acres to the US Government for the sum of $12, 515.00; and in another transaction on that same September day, he was forced to sell 96.6 acres to the US Government for the sum of $1,160.00 (yes, $1,160.00 for 96 acres! Camden Co. GA Deed Bk. 51, page 187; & pages 263-266). This was a traumatic experience for Marion
Pacetti, who, at his own expense, had to hire a professional crew to move his two-story house off of the Cherry Point property. Fortunately, he owned another small parcel of land located near the Crooked River State Park on Georgia Spur 40 where this house is today. This sadly decaying, unpainted hard pine structure with its now misshapen upper and lower front porches, broken window panes, rusted tin roof and two crumbling brick chimneys, stands as a tangible reminder of the past.
In 1948, Frances married a former high school sweetheart. Midge went to live with them, however this did not leave a void in Rita's life. For the next two years, Midge spent weekends as well as both summers in Rita's household. The year before, Rita's youngest son married a pretty girl from Germany. Ann Klutsch became Mrs. Edwin Brown and she and Eddie would have three children: Michael DeWitt, John Edwin Jr., and Marguerite Michelle. In 1952 Frank and Rita started planning the most thrilling vacation they had ever spent. Francis was going to drive them to California to see Fé and her husband. Frank and Rita were both excited and apprehensive. The arduous journey would be hot and tiring but well worth the effort. The trip took three overnights and four days. There was no air-conditioning in Francis' car but he installed a portable air-cooler in the passenger window. It was
difficult for Rita to accept the thousands of miles between herself and her first born daughter. It was as though she was in another world. Fé usually made arrangements to come to Miami but this time Rita was going across the country to visit with Fé! Frank Hopkins Brown was robust with energy and even though he farmed for many years, in between he held various kinds of jobs. At one time he worked for George Merrick as a foreman in planning the
right-of-way for streets in Coral Gables. Another was with the Parks Department as foreman of a crew of men directing the planting of the ornamental Ficus trees along Coral Way. One was a job with Dade County inspecting property for mosquito control. After his retirement, his gout and arthritis finally placed him on crutches and the family was aware that Frank was definitely not feeling at all well. On February 1, 1954, Rita's life companion, her pillar
of strength and husband of forty-eight years, died of a heart attack while at home. This fun-loving man who was fond of music, dancing, joking and teasing was gone. Frank had an inestimable number of friends and the funeral service with full Masonic rites held at Woodlawn Park Cemetery was well attended. It was lonely and terrifying for Rita to think that she would have to make decisions on her own. She would not have to suffer the agonizingly solitary
existence that some must endure for Francis was living with her and Glenn and Edwin were two doors away. She was never alone and her house was never empty. Aside from the immediate family there was the constant stream of relatives and friends who maintained steadfast contact with Rita. Another portion of Rita's heritage was kept alive through the Floyd family reunions. She attended the first Floyd reunion in 1954 which was held at Incachee Plantation near
Waverly. She loved seeing old friends as well as the enormous number of Floyd relatives in Camden County, Georgia. Alice Collar Tonge sent me photographs of Rita standing beside Kitsy Foster Atkinson, Ida Foster McCaskill, Ruth Foster, Jule Foster, Nell Noyes and Jule Graves. Alice Tonge, a truly wonderful lady, who was the Floyd family historian and who organized the reunions for many years, said to me, "Everybody dearly loved your Grandmother Rita." Rita had always wanted to fly. She had never had an opportunity to go anyplace in an airplane and the thought of flying immensely appealed to her sense of adventure. To everyone's amazement, Rita decided to fly up to one of the Floyd family reunions! Everyone she knew in Camden County thought it was remarkable that Rita had the courage to initiate something like that in her late seventies. The city of Miami decided to widen 27th Avenue into
four lanes and in order to do this they needed more land. The new 27th Avenue encroached onto Rita's property, in fact, it took the entire front yard. Obliterated were the oleanders, the crepe myrtles, the sapodilla tree. The screen porch was at jarring blows with cement sidewalk and asphalt street. People walking past could look straight in at you and it was no longer fun to sit in the rocking chairs on the porch. Rita felt this was a humiliating affront
and with futile exasperation berated the powers who destroyed her property. One day in 1960, Rita complained of annoying chest pains and shortness of breath and Ann Brown became alarmed enough to drive her to the doctor's office where Frances worked. Due to an abnormal electrocardiogram, the doctor, who felt she probably had had a coronary, admitted her to Mercy Hospital. With rest and medication she immediately began to feel better but was told she must stay in
the hospital for a while. I was home on a brief vacation break from nursing school in New Orleans when I visited Rita at the hospital. My cousin, Jackie Price, was working the switch board at Mercy Hospital at this time. Rita was so glad to see me but she fussed about this decision of having to stay in the hospital because she found it difficult to comply with orders to remain still and quiet. When Rita came home, she flatly denied having had any heart
attack and refused to believe the doctors or their reports. A stubborn woman, she would do what she had always done in the past. Did the fear of dying touch a chord of rebellion? She was not through living, yet! A few months after her recovery, Francis was no longer living at home and Glenn decided to move away into an apartment closer to his job. This left Rita by herself for the first time in her life. She was not exactly afraid to be alone,
however, the prospect of waking up and going to bed in an empty house left her perplexed. She was not sure she could manage alone. It was decided that Edwin and Ann and their three children would move in with her. Rita enjoyed knowing the house would be literally bursting at the seams once again and this suited her just fine. How could a mother-in-law who had done things her own way for years possibly live with a daughter-in-law? How
could a daughter-in-law who was independent, competent and efficient possibly live with her mother-in-law? Two very exceptional people. They accepted the situation and did what they had to do to adjust. Separately and yet together, they carried on their daily lives. For the rest of their growing years, Ann's three children, Mike, Johnny and Shelly would have their Grandmother Rita in the house. When I was a child, I never saw Rita's
faults. As an adult, I had fleeting glimpses of her impetuous, impulsive behavior and heard her jealous remarks. Most of the time she kept her thoughts and true feelings to herself in almost stoic fashion. She never criticized anything any of her children did or neglected to do, nor was she a "silent critic." I never saw her genuinely angry although she was given to uttering hyperboles to make her point. Her children experienced the anguish, pain,
disappointments, love, joy, and excitement which is universal. Rita innately experienced their feelings just as mothers world wide feel for their offspring. She lectured the same lectures, doled out the same punishments, responded wholeheartedly with insight, approval and acceptance. She made the best of appalling situations and in the manner of a true lady retained a positive and noble spirit.
Rita was staunchly a Democrat and
never considered another view. She was asked to volunteer her time to help at the polls for both state and national elections. She really liked that function and enjoyed directing people to the voting booths. Checking the voter registration papers was an important job which gave her certain responsibility and she proved she was an able and capable worker. Time seemed to be passing quickly for Rita because in the Fall of 1962 she was invited to the wedding
of her first grandchild. "Unbelievable!" said Rita. She knew the day would come but never thought she would be around to actually participate. From this union, Rita would see her two great grandsons, David and Robert. When David was born, Rita held him and talked to him and he looked up at her as if he could understand exactly what she was saying. Rita used to like to drive various cars - Fords, a Buick Touring Car, a Buick Sedan and
others she and Frank bought over the years. All their automobiles were the stick shift type and Rita drove every chance she could. When her vision became dimmed with cataracts she was abashed that the authorities refused to renew her driver's license. She had stopped driving years before but wanted to keep her license. Rita's steadfast advice was, "Do everything you can while you are young because you may never have another chance." The city of Miami certainly was squeezing in around the house on 27th Avenue. Rita and Edwin decided the time had finally come to sell the house and move. The very thought was painful and the decision was a wrenching one. An infinite number of memories were sold to the highest bidder. By January 1968, they resettled in another home much farther south, very near the Gables line, two blocks south of Bird Road. This quiet neighborhood was made
up entirely of permanent houses and there was no fear of bustling businesses or condominium complexes pushing them out. One of Rita's favorite pastimes was fishing. If anyone dropped by and said, "Let's go fishing!" She immediately changed into flat shoes, donned her intricately decorated fisherman's hat, grabbed her cane pole and shouted, "I'm ready!" She never turned down an opportunity to go fishing under any circumstance.
Folks offered to take her fishing in the many canals, rivers, the bay or even deep sea fishing. She loved it all. Once when she and Francis were out fishing in a small boat and a terrible storm suddenly blew over, she didn't even mind having to be rescued by the Coast Guard! Edwin had a fairly large outboard motor boat and he often took Rita fishing in Biscayne Bay. One day this octogenarian lost her balance while out in the boat and fell. The
result was a broken hip which forced her to use a walker and then a cane. James Gaunt said that Rita never complained about her broken hip, or about anything else. He said, "She was a lively lady and I admired her spirit." In 1974, Rita was ninety-two years old. She had to have a cataract operation which left her with blurred vision in one eye. Her mental faculties were better than ever but she still used a cane to maneuver about. She
played the familiar hymns on her old piano and she crocheted all of her Christmas gifts. The untimely, sudden and unexpected death of her son, Glenn, left her grief stricken. She could not erase the fact the he was by himself and Rita was horrified that he died alone. She would not have been able to do anything to help him, however, this did not ease her loss. Proceeding through life was becoming poignantly painful. Many of those she loved and
cherished were gone. Ruth Foster and others in the Foster family, Marion and Florrie Pacetti, Annie Maude Godley and others in the Godley family, Frank Brown's brothers and sisters and a few of the younger generation of the Brown family, including her own husband and son had passed away. She repeated the unanswerable question, "Why am I still here? The Good Lord must have some reason." During holidays and on other special occasions family members
invited Rita to join them. She spent long weekends with Francis and Helen Brown and entertained them by playing their organ. Sometimes, Frances and her husband encouraged Rita to spend time with them. Even Fé and Mais Durand would try to come to Miami for visits with her. In a letter I received from Rita in December, 1975, she said that writing made her hand shake and that she was partly crippled and half blind. She stayed home for Christmas but did
entertain a few family members who dropped by. The Episcopal Minister and the Lay Reader from the Church came by to give her communion. Since she could not get to Church, they tried to visit once a month and see her. When they stopped coming, they sent tapes of the service and she listened at her leisure and then mailed the tapes back to the Church. Her Episcopal beliefs never swayed. In 1976, Rita received a special congratulatory birthday greeting
from President Ford. This centennial year she crocheted everyone precious red, white and blue doilies! Rita's thick, white hair was rather short and the distinctive wrinkles which lined her face portrayed an inner strength and venerable character. Her weakest points were her physical frailties. Her bones seemed to break with regularity in later years. She still took her daily walk around the yard using her cane for support and stood at the kitchen
sink to wash dishes with support of her walker. Never would she let herself become lax and totally useless. She depended on Ann a great deal to help her with her correspondence. Ann was always willing to oblige and went out of her way to keep in contact with Rita's friends and relatives. Ann was a kind, responsible, caring person who truly looked after Rita's trivial as well as important needs. This entire family helped her get around, took her for doctors
visits, bought the special thread necessary for crocheting, encouraged her to play the piano. A few of her favorite songs were: "Annie Laurie", "Poor Nellie Gray", "Rock Of Ages", "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny", "Gentle Annie", "Way Down Upon The Suwannee River", "Tennessee Waltz", "I Come From Alabama", "Red Wing". Ann Brown invited her friends over for coffee and conversation. How Rita loved her strong, black coffee! Ann had pots of it ready all
day. Rita had a "sweet tooth" too, and Ann saw to it that she had her supply of sweet pickles, jam, cake and candy. In her last year with Edwin and Ann Brown, Rita often fell. She would fall when getting out of bed, by simply turning around or just walking through the dining room. Her two strong grandsons, Mike and Johnny Brown, were there to pick her up when she desperately needed them.
Rita's youngest son,
Edwin, who was her mainstay for these past twenty years was seriously ill. This situation would not be mentioned to Rita and she would never find out about his terminal illness. In October, 1979, Rita fell and broke her ankle. She was already difficult to manage because of the many prior falling episodes. Ann had her hands full with her own father who was seriously ill and in the hospital. Times certainly were not auspicious. Taking care of 97-year-old Rita
became a time consuming task. At this point Edwin Brown was still in fair health but it did nothing to quell the worry nor alleviate the responsibility if something did occur to him unexpectedly. It was decided that Rita must go into a nursing home. The Palmetto Extended Care Center located a few blocks from Edwin and Ann Brown's house in Miami was the facility they chose for her. Of course, Rita did not want to go and she unleashed a storm of protest. Nursing
homes had the stigma of simply letting people "fade away." Rita wailed, she cried and she balked but there was no other recourse except to spend her last few months in a nursing home. Quietly and alone, in the early morning hours on Sunday July 13, 1980, Marguerite Jule Pacetty Brown died. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aunt Rita Poem by Marikay Brown I can remember
when she was just another
one of the aunts
and that by marriage. There were many aunts and uncles
in those days...
although one aunt was special
it was not she. Now, with the passage of years
they all are gone -
my own parents, the aunts, the uncles.
She alone remains. Now I bring her flowers
and seek the sunshine of her years.
Now I discover
how precious she is. This poem was written by Mary Katherine Brown Eldridge. Her poems, including this one, have been published in various poetry publications and literary magazines under the pen-name Marikay Brown.
This is a song Rita used to sing to me:
COME LITTLE LEAVES Come little leaves said the wind one day,
Come ore the meadow with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold,
Summer has gone and the days grow cold. Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow
Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow
Soon as the leaves heard the winds low call,
Down they came fluttering one and all.
Ore the brown meadow they danced and flew,
Singing the soft little songs they knew: Cricket goodbye, we've been friends so long,
Little brook sing us your farewell song.
Say you are sorry to see us go--
Oh, you will miss us right well, we know! Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold.
Fondly we watched you in vale and glade,
Say you will dream of our loving shade! Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow
Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow Dancing and Twirling the little leaves went,
Winter had called them and they were content.
Soon fast asleep in their earthly beds,
Snow made a coverlet over their heads. Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow.
Winter is coming Yo Ho Ho Ho
Winter is coming with ice and snow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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