On August 4, 2015, Velma Jane (Conklin) Rawson crossed the finish line one last time as she entered the gates of her heavenly home. She began the race on April 3, 1935, on a dairy farm owned by her parents, Pearl Elizabeth Smith and John Henry Conklin near Ellendale, MN.
The oldest daughter of the Conklin family, Velma and her four siblings lived a happy, but busy life on the farm. When Velma was five, she began her formal education in a one-room schoolhouse near her home. She graduated from Ellendale High School in 1952.
Velma enlisted in the U.S. Navy in April 1953 and completed basic training at the U.S. Naval Training Center for women at Bainbridge, MD. She was accepted for training at the U.S. Naval Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, IL., where she met fellow student Jack Rawson from Texas.
For Jack, it was love at first sight and he proposed marriage on their first formal date. The two were married on February 26, 1954. In November 1954, Velma was discharged and moved to Millington, TN, to be with Jack. For many years, Velma leveraged her naval training by working as a nurse in a variety of private physician practices.
On August 8, 1955, the young couple had a daughter, Regina (Gina) Coleen. Their son, Brian Scott, was born on January 20, 1962. Velma ultimately left the nursing profession to take care of her family. And take care of her family she did. She was quite simply the definition of a perfect mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She adored her children, their children, and their children’s children, and they all adored her. Velma was fond of saying, “other people may raise crops, animals, or hell and make money but I raise children and make memories.”
In addition to husband, Velma is survived by Gina Butcher and Brian and Carol Rawson, granddaughters Brianne Butcher and Brittney Simmons and her spouse Trevor Simmons, grandsons Luke Rawson, Justin Rawson, and Will Rawson, and great granddaughter Scarlett Simmons. She is also survived by two sisters Eva Byram, Helen Kraudy, and their extended families.
A celebration of Velma Jane’s will be held at the Smith Family Chapel at Riverbend Church in Austin on Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 10 a.m. Interment of ashes will be at Riverbend’s Remembrance Gardens. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Hospice Austin.
