b. May 30, 1909m. February 8, 1941, Clarence Lloyd King
(b. September 19, 1914, d. September 30, 1971)
d. March 8, 1982
pb. Ebenezer Cem., Malesus, Tenn.
In 1940, Lloyd King was employed by the County Board of Education under the leadership of Supt. Kit Parker. He was the truck driver and part of the general repair and transfer crew that supported the local schools of Madison County, Tenn. Clara Mai was teaching at the Madison Hall Elementary School and boarding with an elderly family that lived within walking distance of the school. There were repairs and improvements to be done and as the crew worked there Lloyd and Clara Mai met and their courtship began. Both were of mature years and Lloyd had been through an early marriage and was single again. Clara Mai had been helping support a large family of brothers and sisters during the depression years and had postponed romantic alliances.
It surprised us younger Watlingtons when we heard that ``Big Sister'' was going to be married--and real soon. They chose a simple wedding at the Malesus Methodist parsonage on Feb. 8, 1941, when the pastor was Brother Robert F. Wiley. After the early evening wedding Brother Wiley attended the Malesus High School basketball game in the new WPA constructed gymnasium and congratulated the family of the new couple.
Lloyd and Clara Mai made their home in an apartment of the Hiram Jamerson home at the junction of the Harts Bridge Road and the Old Pinson Road. With their combined salaries they felt well-to-do and the next year they bargained for a 1939 four-door Nash automobile -- practically new as it seemed then. They were still making payments on it when Lloyd was drafted for U.S. Army service in March of 1943, but it was a joy to have during the War Years when new cars were not being built.
Lloyd followed his interest and gifts in the armed services and the Army put him in the Field Artillery where he was needed to keep those ``Caissons a rolling along.'' Trucks, machinery, mechanics and drivers were in demand. He went to mechanics school and continued with the Field Artillery into Germany. His training was primarily at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma, and since it seemed he would be there sometime, Clara Mai left the school room and moved to a nearby town where they could be together as time permitted. She found part-time work as a sales clerk in 1943 and 1944. When his unit started on their way to Europe she returned to Tennessee and to teaching, her life-work with over 40 years in the class room.
It seems that Lloyd's Field Artillery Batallion trained, traveled, and shipped overseas on August 12, 1944 as a group with their equipment. They arrived in France on August 22, 1944 and were in active service in two of the main battles leading to the defeat of the Nazis. At the termination of hostilities his 691st Field Artillery Battalion was stationed near Kastel, Germany, while his brother Paul W. King was with a Field Hospital unit at Bad Vildunken, about 30 miles away. They got together several times while Lloyd's unit was still held there. Lloyd started his return voyage Feb. 21, 1946, and was discharged at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, March 7, with rank of Corporal. Soon after returning home he took an apprenticeship in iron working and continued in this type of work until his death in 1971.
He and Clara Mai were given three acres of land near the Hammond-Watlington Homeplace on which to build their home. Mack and Elton helped lay the foundation and get enough built to move in early 1947. The home was completed in the following years as money and materials became available. In 1949, at the age of 39 Clara Mai gave birth to Jenniebeth King, and in 1951 to Emma Jane King. After taking off from school for two or three years with the babies she continued to teach as well as care for the family. She arranged for her Aunt, Emma Mai Hammond, to care for the little ones as she returned to the classroom. This created a special bond between the King and Watlington families.
Mrs. Clara Mai Watlington King died Monday March 8th in Parkway Hospital, Jackson, Tenn. after a brief illness. She had suffered from a weakening heart condition for the previous five years which had been partially corrected by a cardiac pacemaker.
Clara Mai was married Feb. 8, 1941 to Clarence Lloyd King (b. Sept. 19, 1914, d. Sept. 30, 1971) and is survived by their two daughters, Miss Jenniebeth King of Jackson, Tenn. and Mrs. Emma Jane King Williamson of Bartlett, Tenn. She was the oldest daughter of Jennie Hammond and U. A. Watlington and had been ``big sister'' to the younger brothers and sisters. Graduating from Malesus High School in 1927, she attended Union University for a year and then began teaching in the Madison County Schools. She taught at Mason Wells, Adee, Fairview, Madison Hall and Bemis schools and continued summer studies to complete her permanent teacher's certification. She continued to teach following her marriage and completed forty years of public school teaching before retirement in 1972.
Clara Mai was active in the Malesus Methodist Church and during many years was nursery supervisor for the church. Her funeral service was held in the Mack Watlington Fellowship Hall since the new sanctuary was under construction at the time. Interment was in the Ebenezer Cemetery at Malesus beside her husband Lloyd who preceded her in death.
The family has greatly missed Clara Mai because she had become our family center after Papa Watlington became feeble. She not only gave a lot of tender care and affection to Papa and Aunt Mai but ministered to the rest of the family as well. Family memorial gifts have gone to the garden and landscaping project around the new sanctuary at the Malesus United Methodist Church.
She had a special interest in family history and had known intimately her maternal grandparents, Orson Ward and Mary Eliza Hammond and Grandpa Watlington. She had encouraged and helped in every phase of the oral tradition of the family but had not written many notes to leave with us. Her passing makes it even more important to record our bits of family history before it slips away from us.