Eva Gail Dennis

Eva Gayle Griffin Dennis Our Sister and Aunt Billy Jo: When we were in our twenties my sister Eva Gayle and I went on a diet together—it was the latest fad diet. Each day we had to eat just one food and eight servings of that food. One day it was 8 boiled eggs, one day it was 8 weiners one day it was 8 bananas, etc. On the banana day I was at the hospital all day to be with a good friend who was having a baby. When I got home I sheepishly confessed to Eva that I’d slipped and gone off the diet, she said “Oh good! I’ve eaten all day!” When I lived in Whitehouse, Texas Eva and Jerry came to visit. Eva was such a good cook and everyone in the family looked forward to the delicious food she made the one thing I didn’t look forward to was the aftermath of the tornado she left in the kitchen. I was on my hands and knees in my kitchen pantry looking for some ingredient she needed and Jerry said “What are you doing” and I replied “praying Eva doesn’t make a mess in my kitchen”. Eva was a good seamtress and she had lots of thread and lots of needles and lots of sewing paraphernalia at her house. I was not a good seamstress and the lack of thread and needles and sewing paraphernalia at my house attested to that fact. Whenever Eva came to visit she always sewed on buttons that I had safety pinned on and repaired hems that I may have used scotch tape on. She always began these favors by saying “Billy Jo go bring me your needle.” Lucinda: My aunt Eva was indeed one of a kind and I am deeply sad to know that she is gone from this world but I know she is at peace and surrounded by our family members who have gone before. She was my aunt but like all my aunts I thought of her also as a sister because she lived with us when I was little. Eva made clothes for me sometimes and there were a couple of fad styles that I got early because Eva made them for me. One was the “sack dress”, the one Eva made for me was blue and green plaid with patch pockets. I loved that dress. She also made me a white pantsuit, the pants were hip huggers with wide flared bottoms and the top was cropped with a deep v-neck that tied in front—very, very hip. I remember her cooking of course, like everyone does. She made food that kids like—I remember the rice krispy treats and a cake she made once at Easter, I’ll never forget it, she’d dyed shredded coconut green and put jelly beans on the “grass” like Easter eggs. Nothing was too much trouble for Eva to do and yes she did make a mess but it was worth it. When Jerry died I stayed an extra day and night with her in Pampa after everyone else had left, it was just me and her and I made something special for her she liked, apricot butter and cleaned out her freezer while we talked and visited. It was a sweet time together. Precious Times. Precious Memories. Precious Sister and Aunt. We love you Eva.