When I was a child in the 1950s, my father farmed a piece of property near Pawnee TX which he rented from Grace McIlvaine. Once a year we would go to San Antonio to pay her the rent which was based on the farm income that year. We did not live on the property because we owned and lived on a farm in Karnes County. She was a secretary for an insurance company which had an office in one of the upper stories of what was then called the Transit Tower. She was a very gracious lady and through her work, she had learned about and purchased farms which came up for sale. I’m not sure how many she owned but there were several.
Once she asked us to come to her home instead of her office. It was late summer and she lived with two of her sisters on a large piece of property off Blanco Road. The house was quite large, two stories, and with no other homes nearby. I recall that she and her sisters, none of whom married, had a huge garden in the yard which was surrounded by a fence and a number of shade trees. In that garden they grew huge tomato plants and other vegetables. She provided snacks and iced tea. I always looked forward to seeing “Miss Gracie” as we called her.
Jeanette Nelson
Spring Branch TX
Once she asked us to come to her home instead of her office. It was late summer and she lived with two of her sisters on a large piece of property off Blanco Road. The house was quite large, two stories, and with no other homes nearby. I recall that she and her sisters, none of whom married, had a huge garden in the yard which was surrounded by a fence and a number of shade trees. In that garden they grew huge tomato plants and other vegetables. She provided snacks and iced tea. I always looked forward to seeing “Miss Gracie” as we called her.
Jeanette Nelson
Spring Branch TX
