Tributes

Let me tell you about my mother, Maizelle Helen Coleman Ford. She was born October 26, 1916 at home in the small rural middle-Tennessee community of Totty’s Bend, where she spent her early years. It was not an easy life—poverty and family problems made it difficult to the point that she left home as a young adult and worked in a candy factory in Nashville before joining the Women’s Army Corps early in World War II. Mom endured a long and agonizing sea journey to the Philippine Islands and back, where she served in Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters and contracted malaria. Her final duty station was here in San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston where she received her honorable discharge. She decided to stay in San Antonio, and it’s fortunate that she did, because this is where she met my father, Arthur S. Ford, who had also mustered out of the Army here in SA. About three years after they were married, I was born. It’s impossible to talk about my mom without also including my dad because they were very much a team. At some point while I was still quite young, they rediscovered their Christian faith and became active members in the Beacon Hill congregation of the Church of Christ. One of the main reasons that I have so much respect for my parents is that they lived their faith. They were not just “Sunday Christians.” In many respects, the church became their life, certainly the major part of their social lives. They gave of themselves gladly by visiting and helping sick people, widows, and anyone who needed them. I know this because, as an only child, I was frequently dragged along with them, usually to my objections. I recall many visits to nursing homes and the homes of folks who were unable to get out. I specifically remember helping my dad to re-roof a widow’s house because she couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it. I also recall numerous drives to New Braunfels where my parents taught bible lessons to a Hispanic family. As devastated as my mom was on my dad’s death in 1975, she didn’t let it stop her good works. I remember that she was active in the Bible Chair at San Antonio College and I know she devoted much time and energy to a world Bible mission. Mom continued to participate in church activities at San Pedro Church of Christ until she physically just couldn’t anymore. Mom was always a frugal woman where her own needs and desires were concerned. She easily gave much more to the world than she took. Let there be no doubt that, with her death, the world now contains one less truly good person. Mom would wish that in lieu of flowers a donation be made in her memory to the charity of your choice.

Tributes

Maizelle Helen Ford

October 26, 1916 - October 17, 2016