She never intended to live so long, but Tennie Louise Hickox Hale celebrated her 104th birthday in May. She died Friday, March 2, in Dayton, Texas, where she lived the final part of her life being cared for by her granddaughter Susan Addington and her family.
Born on the family farm in Bosque County, near the town of Morgan, May 26, 1913, she was a real school girl. Tennie loved school as a student and as a teacher and was a lifelong learner. In retirement she read several books a week until her failing eyesight limited her to fewer.
Her parents were Charley R. and Daisy Moseley Hickox. She is also predeceased by her sister Leone Bynum, her husband Joe Hale, her son Charles Hale, and her daughter Katherine Hale Dittrich as well as a great granddaughter.
After two years at Clifton College, Tennie began her teaching career at the Locust Grove School in Odds, teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grades and secondary English in a three-room school. She met her husband at an ice cream social at the school where his younger brother was a student. (They were married March 31, 1934, in Marlin.) The next two years she taught in LaSalle and then returned to Odds. As people moved away from Limestone County during WWII, Locust Grove became a one-room school, where her three oldest children were among her students. She also taught in Falls County at Criswell, a one-room school with four of her five children in the room.
When her husband Joe died in 1953, Tennie moved her family to San Marcos to finish her degree at Southwest Texas State Teachers College. While she taught at Navarro, she completed her Bachelor’s degree and began her Master’s. They moved to Pasadena for higher pay but returned to San Marcos two summers for Tennie to finish her Master’s and to become certified to teach special education.
Tennie retired from teaching in the Pasadena school district in 1978, ending a 33-year career. She continued to substitute in Pasadena and then in the Hays school district when she moved to Kyle. She was a member of the San Marcos Area Retired Teachers, Kyle Garden Club and the First Methodist Church of Kyle. She was an avid reader who used and appreciated the Kyle Community Library. She volunteered at the library thrift shop.
She is survived by three daughters and their husbands: Dorethea and Bill Norville of Pasadena, Martha and Norman Brown of Dayton, and Mary and Eddy Etheredge of Kyle as well as her daughter-in-law Barbara Hale of Huntsville and son-in-law Bernd Dittrich and his wife Terry of Rockport. Also surviving her are 13 grandchildren: Nancy Brown Baker of Liberty, Dale Brown and Jo Brown Riley of Dayton, Robin Hale Moore of Magnolia, Susan Brown Addington of Dayton, Lee Norville of Pasadena, Sarah Norville Ludeke of Deer Park, Laura Etheredge Sobczak of Rapid City, SD, Jeff Etheredge of Austin, Charla Hale Cobel of Magnolia, Charles Hale Jr. (Chuck) of Huntsville, Robert Dittrich of Hurst and Richard Dittrich of Kyle.
The family includes 34 great grandchildren and 26 great great grandchildren.
A service will be held in Meridian on Wednesday, March 7, before burial in the Morgan cemetery, with the Rev. Holly Dittrich officiating. Tennie’s six grandsons will serve as pall bearers.
The family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Kyle Community Library, P.O. Box 2349, Kyle, TX 78640.
