BANKS Summer-Fall 2013
October 12th & 13th It’s almost time for the
78th Reunion
of the Thomas Marion Banks Family Details enclosed
A Salute to Thomas Dean Dixon Thomas Dixon has long-been the Thomas Marion Banks Family’s Historian. Not only is he the keeper of family data and photos that are so dear to us today, he also has firsthand familiarity with Thomas Marion Banks, as you'll read in his biography. Thomas, we thank you for your untiring commitment to our family. You are loved and appreciated!
Thomas Dean Dixon was born in Charlotte, N.C. in the Old Presbyterian Hospital July 28, 1930. He was the first of four children and the only one of Willard Rodolph and Bertie Banks Dixon 's children born in a hospital. He lived in Charlotte until he was nine months old when he
moved his family to Spartanburg, S.C. His father, Willard was working for the Southeastern Railroad when they went out of business as a result of the Great Depression. Willard was offered a job in Spartanburg with the Southern Railway/Railway Express Shortly thereafter, Willard was transferred to Greenville and the family moved to the Sans Souci community of Greenville. The family consisted of Willard, Bertie, Thomas Dean and grandparents Thomas Marion Banks and Sarah Jane Aderholt Banks. The grandparents lived with the Dixon family the rest of their lives. This meant that Thomas Dean had four people looking after him and they did a very good job!!! His sister Martha Jane was born at home on Brockman Avenue in Sans Souci, bringing the family to six. Then the family moved a house or two down the street and Volina was born there. Now there were seven.. It was while living here that Willard was told by Dr. Brown that for his
health he needed to move to the country and have a cow so he could drink fresh raw milk. The family moved to Moonville, S.C. which is ten miles south of Greenville on Augusta Road. The farm consisted of 100 acres including the home place and a dwelling for "Aunt Hester" and her family. The rent was 16 bales of cotton per year. Yes, Thomas Dean went to the cotton fields, first sitting on a blanket where his mother was working but later on as a farm hand. He has been told he was never a good cotton picker, but there were plenty of other jobs to be done. It was while living here that Rodolph was born on a bitter cold, snowy day in January. Dr. Stoddard of Princeton and Dr. Brown of Greenville were both called. Rodolph could not wait and he arrived before either of the doctors. Dr. Brown got there in time to "cut the cord" and he signed the birth certificate. It was about this time Willard and Bertie deInside this issue: cided to purchase land to build their own brick home P.2 about five miles closer to Thomas Dixon continued Greenville on the Augusta Road. The family moved to a P.3 News from the house about two miles Branches above Moonville and farmed there until the house on Augusta Road was built. P.4 Graduation 2013 They moved into the new Dylan Byrum Aaron Banks house in 1938. For a month La’el Ankerich or so prior to moving, a Mari Gayler wagon was loaded with manure each afternoon and then in the morning Bertie with Thomas Dean would go up Augusta Road with the mules pulling the wagon. Thomas Dean would unload the manure while Bertie would make sure the carpenters and brick masons were doing their work. At that time all of the workers smoked and they would stop every hour and pull out their little bags of tobacco and a thin strip of paper and roll their own smokes. Bertie did not like this so she
Summer-Fall 2013
gave Thomas Dean money to go up Augusta Road to Buck Hunter's store and purchase a pack of cigarettes. She then would have the workers give her their little tobacco bags and she would give them each one cigarette and ten minutes once
in the morning and again in the afternoon to smoke them.. Needless to say, the house was finished in record time. Thomas Dean attended Pepper School at Moonville starting on his birthday July 28 , 1936. Students in country schools attended school for eight weeks and then school was out for eight weeks to allow the children time to harvest the cotton crop, then classes resumed. His first teacher was Mrs. Barton who was also the Principal's wife. They lived next door to the school. About this time, the highway department put up sensors on the highway just below the school to monitor traffic. Mrs. Barton had all of the children go as a group down the road and walk in front of the sensors a dozen times or so each day. She thought this would let the highway department advisors know there was a lot of traffic so they would do major repairs. Years later they did. Thomas Dean attended Greenville Junior High School in the eighth grade and then on to Greenville Senior High school where he graduated in 1948 in the only graduating class in South Carolina as Greenville Senior High had the first 12th grade in the state. He attended Furman University in Greenville as a day student. During this time he had numerous jobs such as Great Southern Trucking, Acme Freight, The US Post Office, Southern Railway, Poe Hardware, Belk Simpson and Ivey's and a host of other places. August of 1950 war started in Korea and Thomas Dean enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was shipped to Lackland AFB in San Antonia, Texas. After basic training of only four weeks he was transferred to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi where he studied Electronics. His next assignment was Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska. This was overseas duty as Alaska was a territory of the US. This base was part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line of defense against invasion from Russia. This was an exciting time for him. No fields to plow and
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lots of polar bears, reindeer, ice and snow to photograph. After two years he was transferred to Hunter AFB, Georgia right on the ocean at Savannah. Thomas Dean completed his enlistment and returned to Greenville and Furman University. At Furman he met and won the heart of Virginia (Ginger) Coleman of Cross Hill, S.C. They were married August 26, 1956 after she finished Furman. Thomas Dean graduated from Furman in 1957 with a BA in Business Administration and he went to work for Universal CIT Financial. After two years, Thomas started working at Judson Mills of Deering Milliken. Tim was born in 1959 while the family lived in Travelers Rest. Then Becky joined them in 1960. They bought a new house and moved to West Gantt Circle when Becky was nine months old. The family attended West Gantt Baptist Church and Tim and Becky made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized. In 1969 Thomas was transferred to Manchester, Ga. and the family moved. Thomas had been Personnel Assistant, Shift Supervisor, Maintenance Manager and Training Director at Judson and was now Training Director of Manchester Mills, formerly Callaway Mills.. The family lived in Manchester for three and onehalf years before Thomas was transferred to Abbeville, S. C. to be Training Director of a new plant named Sharon. After 18 months, he was transferred to start up the Avalon Plant of Milliken & Company located between Lavonia and Toccoa in Georgia. The family moved to Lavonia and, almost 39 years later, Ginger & Thomas still live in Lavonia. Later Thomas was transferred to Millikan Corporate headquarters in Spartanburg as Lubrication Engineer and he stayed on this job until retirement in 1994. During retirement Ginger & Thomas have traveled to visit with the children. Becky lived in Wilmington, N. C. for a time, now in Greenville. She is an ordained minister and regional manager for Volunteers of America in North and South Carolina. Tim, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, Irm, Theresa and Daniel have lived in Germany and Paris, France as well as parts of the US. Theresa was born in Tacoma, Washington and Daniel was born in Santa Ana, California. Theresa finished high school in Germany and graduated MIT in Cambridge, MA. She works with the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC. Daniel completed high school in Germany and graduated in 2012 from Furman University. He married his classmate Kirsty Ubermuth of Connecticut. He is in the U.S. Army and they live in Tacoma, Washington. AND LIFE GOES ON!!!!! Thomas Dixon
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Banks Family Tree Like branches on a tree, we may grow in different directions, but our roots remain as one.
From the Alice Banks Terrell Branch: Congratulations to Alicia and Sam Daugherty, as they celebrate their first anniversary on September 21, and welcome a new baby in early March, 2014. Alicia is the daughter of Rusty and Karen Terrell. Rusty Terrell’s Daytona Beach vacation led to a nice dinner and a great visit with cousins David and Loretta Byrum this Summer!
News from the
From the Viola Banks Byrum Branch: Born June 25, 2013, in Wellington, FL, Gabe and Laura Schumm are proud parents of their first child, a son, Gabriel Zane Schumm, Jr. He will go by Zane. Doting grandparents are Gabe’s mother, Connie Hatch Jahnke (granddaughter of Viola Banks Byrum and daughter of Betty Byrum Hatch Al-
From the Groves Banks Branch: Dan Coles took a week-long backpacking trip to the Linville Falls/Gorge (The Grand Canyon of the East) with old friends from Appalachian State University and from his church. Highlights included seeing two Copperhead snakes, eating a lot of wild blueberries, swimming in the river, and seeing "table rock". Dan is the eldest son of Donna Banks Dodd, and the grandson of Bill and Colleen Banks. Below: Dan (far right)
len.), and Laura’s parents, Darin and Roxanna Alexander. Both grandparents live locally and can watch Zane grow up! Above: Laura and Gabe Schumm with little Zane. Left: Connie Hatch Jahnke with new grandson
Calling all musicians & singer/songwriters Monte Stack In the 1980s I belonged to the Nashville Songwriters Association and learned how to write song lyrics. I have a number of songs but, need help with melodies. Since our family is such a talented bunch, let me know if anyone can help me with these, and we could make it a family affair. Monte Stack is the daughter of Ruth Byrum and Harwood James Wiggins. II. Email: monteelizabeth@yahoo.com phone: 719-964-0366.
Truitt Banks recently suffered cardiac arrest along with a sudden case of double pneumonia, and was admitted to c c u at Laurens County Hospital. Pneumonia in his left lung along with fibrosis complicated the pneumonia. He improved enough to leave the hospital, but was admitted to a nursing home for continued therapy. As we can imagine, Margaret is exhausted. In a recent conversation, Margaret said she calls Uncle Truitt “The Come-back Kid”. There contact information is as follows: Home - (864) 683-4067 Nursing home - (864) 984-6584 NHC HEALTHCARE 379 Pinehaven St. Ext., Laurens, SC 29360 Got Money? If you’d like to contribute to the gravesite operating fund, help with the reunion or Banks Newsletter expenses, contact Rusty Terrell : 706-491-2714, or email rbterrell58@gmail.com. Mailing address is 1982 North Fairview Rd., Lavonia, GA 30553
Got Scoop? For stories and other newsletter submissions, contact Donna Dodd: 678-574-7071, or email donnabdodd@yahoo.com. Mailing address is 3425 Spinnaker Way, Acworth, GA 30102
Summer-Fall 2013
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Graduation Day 2013 Congratulations, Cousins! Dylan Byrum recently graduated from the Police Academy at Daytona State. Dylan is the son of David and Loretta Byrum; great grandson of Homer and Joanne McKenzie Byrum. L to R: David Byrum, Dylan Byrum and Loretta Byrum
Aaron Banks was accepted into the Honors Program at the University of Florida, where he will be attending in the Fall. Go Gators! (side note from dad) Aaron is the son of Allen and Margaret Banks, grandson of John and Eleanor Banks. L to R: Allen Banks, Eleanor Banks (Aaron's Grandmother), Aaron Banks, John Banks IV, and Margaret Banks
La’el Ankerich recently graduated from Franklin County High School, Carnesville, Georgia, and is now working at Northeast Georgia Bank.
Mari Gayler graduated from Hoover High School, North Canton, Ohio, and is now attending the University of Akron.
La’el is the daughter of Sandy and Chris Ankerich, granddaughter of Elaine and Charles Honea, and great-granddaughter of Verner and Evelyn Banks
Mari with proud dad, Paul Gayler. Mari is the granddaughter of Bill Banks, and great-granddaughter of Groves and Ethyl Banks.
