Robert Cecil McDaniel

Notes:

In his autobiography, "In Search of Blue Water", he writes that he was born on his parents 154 acre homestead, delivered by Dr. C. F. Smith, his Uncle by marriage. The house in which he was born and grew up in was probably built not long after the Civil War, and during his early years faced south toward Six Mile Creek. He passed the state teachers exam in 1935, thought he never taught school. After taking courses at the Chenier Business and Radio College in Beaumont, he worked for W. E. Coussons in Hemphill at his department store on the Hemphill Courthouse square.

US Army career serviceman, Chief Warrant Officer, W4, May 5, 1941 to May 1, 1962, served in the Philippines, Okinawa, Marshall Islands, and Canal Zone, awarded the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. After his retirement from the army, he worked for the Texas Employment Commission in Orange.


Robert Cecil McDaniel

Robert Cecil McDaniel died on the 23rd day of November, 2005 at 90 years of age. Cecil was born on March 19, 1915 in Sabine County, Texas in the community of Six Mile. Sabine County has been the home of his ancestors since 1850 when Cecil's great grandfather settled in the community later to be known as Fairdale in the Southeastern part of Sabine County, Texas.

He entered the United States Army on May 5, 1941 and retired from service after having served in both World War II and the Korean Conflict. He served in the Philippines, Okinawa, Panama, and with the Army task groups in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific, which participated in the first hydrogen bomb test. He also served six years in the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., in the Office of the Adjutant General, U.S. Army.

After retiring from the military, Cecil and his wife, Loye Winona White McDaniel, returned to Sabine County. It was during this time that Cecil's love for writing, his family and the people of Sabine County resulted in his authoring 12 books, including a book of poetry and prose, When the Moon was on the Rise, an autobiography, In Search of Blue Water, a book of short essays, Come Smile with Me, and nine historical books: Citizen-Soldiers of Sabine County, Texas 1812-1991; Sabine County, Texas: The First One-Hundred and Fifty Years 1836-1986; Hemphill High School, Sabine County, Texas: The First Seventy-Eight Years 1911-1989; The 1900 Census of Sabine County, Texas; The 1920 Census of Sabine County, Texas; and A Pictorial History of Sabine County, Texas (Vols. I, II, III, and IV).

In addition to being an author, Cecil was an artist. His paintings most often depict valleys of bluebonnets and other landscapes. Robert Cecil McDaniel was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Loye Winona White McDaniel of the Gravel Hill community near Hemphill, Texas (born October 30, 1919 - died December 4, 2002), grandson, Stephen White McDaniel, II, parents, Ruben Sim McDaniel and Winifred Caroline Broach McDaniel, and brothers, Ruben Sim (R.S.) McDaniel, Jr., Norman Broach McDaniel, and Kenneth Smith McDaniel. He is survived by his sons, Dwight Patrick McDaniel and Stephen White McDaniel, daughters-in-law, Patricia Ann Tweten McDaniel and Marcia Sue Burlison McDaniel, and grandchildren, Harper Longstreet McDaniel and Erin Colleen McDaniel.

To his family, he will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather, and also as an artist, poet and historian of Sabine County. "A God who formed me from the clay, Then gave to me the sweet light of day, And one faith, one hope, one soul sure, Imperfect yes, but through Him made pure." (From: When the Moon was on the Rise - "Treasures", page 98) Visitation will be from 4:00p.m. to 9:00p.m., Sunday evening, November 27th, at Starr Funeral Home, Hemphill, Texas. The Funeral Service will be held at 1:00p.m., Monday, November 28th, at First Baptist Church Hemphill, Texas with the burial following in the Oak Hill Cemetery under the direction of Starr Funeral Home. Starr Funeral Home Hemphill, TX (409) 787-3331


(Research):
Census Listings:

1940 Census
Texas, Sabine County, Hemphill JP 1
Enumerated April 13, 1940
SD 42-3 ED 202-1 Sheet 5B
100
Coussons, Pole M Head m W 55 M Tx Same House Realtor Private Work
Coussons, Carie Wf F W 48 M Tx Same House
Coussons, William T. (ab) Son M W 22 S Tx Same House
Coussons, Joy (ab) Dtr F W 20 S Tx Same House
Coussons, Yvonne (ab) Dtr F W 18 S Tx Same House
Coussons, Bobbie Joe Son F W 9 S Tx Same House
McDaniel, Robert C Lodger M W 24 S Tx Same House Salesman Gen merch Store

Robert married Loye Winona White on 4 Mar 1942 in Bronson, Sabine County, Texas. Loye (daughter of Thomas Albert White, Sr. and Ollie Lee Conn) was born on 30 Oct 1919 in Sabine County, Texas; died on 4 Dec 2002 in San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas; was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Yellowpine, Sabine County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Dwight Patrick McDaniel

Dwight Patrick McDaniel died on the 9th day of February, 2006 at the age of 55 in Houston, Texas. Dwight was born on June 10, 1950 at Brooke Army Hospital at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. As a son of an army officer, Dwight lived on different army bases throughout his childhood including Quarry Heights in the Panama Canal Zone and Fort Myer in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Lutcher Stark High School in Orange, Texas in 1968, Dwight attended Baylor University from 1968-69 and The University of Hawaii from 1969-70 before traveling extensively in the South Sea Islands. As part of his oceanography studies at the University of Hawaii, Dwight worked on a research ship in his Spring semester that journeyed from Hawaii to New Guinea. At the end of this voyage, Dwight remained in New Guinea and spent over three years living and working in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the Fiji Islands. It was during this time that he developed a love for mountain climbing and hiking, and worked briefly as an instructor and guide. In 1971, Dwight returned to the United States, worked for Temple Industries, Pineland, and then attended The University of Texas at Austin. Dwight's love for the outdoors and mountaineering took him to Banff, Alberta, Canada in the Spring of 1976 where he met his future wife, Patricia Ann Tweten of Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dwight and Pat were married two years later on June 29, 1978 in Missoula, Montana where Dwight was attending The University of Montana. Dwight graduated from The University of Montana with a journalism degree in 1979. After graduation, he worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Lufkin, and later, for a bank in Cushing, Texas. In 1985, Dwight earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston. Dwight practiced law in Longview, Texas with his brother, Stephen White McDaniel, from 1985-90. In 1990, Dwight moved to Hemphill, Texas where he established a private law practice, served as Sabine County Attorney for a number of years, and with his brother, built a computerized title company, Toledo Bend Title. In addition to mountaineering and hiking, Dwight was interested in history and read extensively on the American Civil War. He also authored numerous short stories and a novel, and maintained a diary to his son, Harper Longstreet McDaniel, from Harper's birth until he was eight years old. Dwight Patrick McDaniel is survived by his wife, Patricia Ann Tweten McDaniel; his son, Harper Longstreet McDaniel; brother, Stephen White McDaniel; sister-in-law, Marcia Sue Burlison McDaniel; and niece, Erin Colleen McDaniel. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Cecil McDaniel and Loye Winona White McDaniel; and his nephew Stephen White McDaniel, II. He will be remembered as an adventurer, scholar, and mountaineer. Dwight was by birth and nature a kind and generous husband, father, son, brother and uncle who will be truly missed by his family and all who knew him. Visitation will be from 4:00-9:00pm Sunday evening, February 12, 2006, at Starr Funeral Home, Hemphill, Texas. The funeral service will be at 1:00pm Monday, February 13, 2006, at First Baptist Church Hemphill, Texas, with the burial following in the Oak Hill Cemetery under the direction of Starr Funeral Home. Starr Funeral Home P.O. Box 731 Hemphill, Texas (409)787-3331

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16111726&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512596&rfi=6

A nearly identical obituary was published in the February 15, 2006 Sabine County Reporter, along with a personal rememberance by Mary Howell in her "On the Bright Side" column.

Dwight married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]