Beulah "Frances" Peecher (Karamales)

Birth: She was born February 21, 1925 in Illinois.  

Family Information: Daughter of Chester R. and Florine Peecher.

Sister of Robert, Roy, Carl and Lyndle Peecher.

Grand-daughter of Frank Peecher.

Niece of Vera Peecher and cousin of her children, Richard and Dortha Peecher.

Description: Young and capable daughter. She had a "sweet voice [which] deserved cultivation." It was noted in the "Colonist" that she could "make an entertaining singer if she keeps the good work up. Her tones are natural, and she has very few vocal faults."  

Pre-Colony History: The family came to live in the colony in 1930.  

Home in Colony: In 1930 and 1935 the family was living in the Newllano Colony -- in 1930 Chester's father, Frank: his sister, Vera; and her children were living with them there.

Job in Colony: In 1933, along with Lucille Roe and Crystal Schutz, she was helping Mrs. Van Nuland plant tomatoes and pull turnips, after which they all went for a swim. Also helped out with dish washing at the hotel dining room.  

Other Info: In 1932 she was part of a program called "Gipsy Night" at the theater. She was one of the little gipsies picked up on the road who were instructed in the art of dancing and begging by the Gipsy Queen, played by Dr. Cecil Williams.

In 1933, in the high jump competition, she jumped 2'-5"; at another track meet that year, she placed second from her group in the sack race. Also, the second and third grades (which included both Frances and Robert Peecher) gave a presentation of selections from Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" -- Robert reciting "At the Seaside" and Frances reciting "Bed in Summer".

She was sick in October 1933 and didn't get to go to the parish fair -- which might've been a good thing. Frances Roe, another colony child, wrote in her story for the Junior Co-operator section of the "Llano Colonist" that the ferris wheel had caught fire while they were riding it and some people had said 'You'll have to jump,' but they didn't -- the fire was extinguished and the ride completed.

In 1934, she was part of the Easter program, along with the entire student body, and the "Halloween Play" along with Ruth Wooley, Jane Lentz, Byron Busick and Robert Peecher.

In June 1934, a group of 2nd-4th grade children were taken to the Sabine River for a picnic by their teacher, Mrs. Lentz and Lloyd Potter in his Pontiac, into which the group of eleven all managed to fit. At the river, they went fishing and Lloyd rowed them across the river so each could get a handful of Texas soil to take back to Louisiana with them. They mixed the dirt with Louisiana soil for co-operation and brotherhood. They watched when a car honked its horn for the ferryman at Burr's Ferry and was taken across to Texas. For supper, they built a fire and had biscuits and eggs with strawberry jam. The group included: Dorothy Loutrel, Frances, Charlotte Hewitt, Ione Quipp, Lenin Tabb, Robert Peecher, Noel Lentz, Ernest Joynes, William Yost, Mrs. Lentz and Lloyd Potter.

Also in 1934 she helped decorate the hotel dining room for Christmas.

In 1935, she gave a cute little number at the theater, where she was assisted by Margaret Easton on the guitar. Was a student in Mrs. Lentz's (south) school building, along with brothers Robert and Roy Peecher and others.

In 1936, she assisted her mother in the bakery department as she prepared sandwiches for the first of a series of Summer Dances at the Roof Garden. Also in 1936 she was a part of the "Night Before Christmas" program presented at the Llano theater under the direction of Mrs. Lentz.

In 1937, she sang "Home on the Range" for a theater program; later in the year sang "Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley."  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 the family was living in a home in the unincorporated New Llano, Louisiana (site of the old colony). She graduated from Leesville High School.

In 1988 and 1995 she was living in Leesville, Louisiana.

Death: She died in 1996 at her residence in Leesville, Louisiana and was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Leesville, Louisiana. Funeral services were held at the Hixson Funeral Chapel in Leesville with the Rev. Dr. Roger Sullivan officiating.  

Sources: US Census: 1930, 1940; "Llano Colonist": April 9, 1932, February 11, 1933, April 8, 1933, April 15, 1933, May 27, 1933, June 3, 1933, July 22 1933, October 21, 1933, December 9, 1933, February 24, 1934, April 14, 1934, June 2, 1934, November 17, 1934, January 5, 1935, April 20, 1935, December 14, 1935, May 30, 1936, December 26, 1936, June 26, 1937, August 21, 1937; "Leesville Leader": March 8, 1973; "Leesville Daily Leader": March 23, 1988, August 20, 1995, July 23, 1996, February 28, 1997, July 25, 2010; FindAGrave.com