The Lindale Times (Lindale, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 10, 1991 Page: 5 of 14
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High Profiles
Past: Earl Prater
Leaders Who Have Made a Difference
Present: Jerry Fleming
Editor's Note: High Profiles--
Past-is meant to remember
one of Lindale's former resi-
dents and community-minded
folk who made a difference and
who should not be forgotten.
By BETTY FARMER
Earl Prater met his future bride,
Mary Elizabeth Oden, when he
became employed as a rural mail
carrier for the United States
Postal Service. She was working
in the Lindale post office where
her father served as post master.
The year was 1917. On June 2,
1921, young Earl made Mary
Elizabeth Oden his wife.
For 43 years Earl drove the
backroads of this community,
sometimes urging a mule and
wagon up a slippery clay hill,
other times trying to keep his old
Model T running long enough to
get the mail through another day.
“I can remember standing out-
side our house, waiting fordaddy
to come by so I could wave at
him,” said Tom Prater, the
couple’s only child. “What a
blessing the current farm to mar-
ket roads of today are to us. De-
livering the mail back then was a
real challenge at times.”
The mail did get delivered by
Earl, faithfully, until his retire-
ment in 1958.
Never one to sit back and rest
on his laurels, Earl decided to
become involved in local poli-
tics. He served two years as a city
councilman before becoming
Lindale’s mayor in 1962.
During his tenure as mayor, he
was instrumental in a number of
major developments for the city,
including obtaining loans for
developing a sewer system.
Also known as a businessman,
Earl went together with a num-
ber of other community-minded
individuals, including Frank
Guild, Jack Crook, Jr., James
Fleming, Ed Williams, and Dr.
Earl Kinzie, to build what was
then called Colonial Guest
Home. Earl also served as the
first administrator of this facil-
ity.
In 1971, Earl and Mary Eliza-
beth served as chairman of
Lindale ’ s centennial celebration.
The two got into the spirit of the
occasion and helped spread the
spirit around the community to
make for a very successful cel-
ebration. Dressed in their 1871
finery, the two looked like any
couple of the period on their way
to a social gathering.
Community was always up-
permost in both of their minds.
Earl was a member of Masonic
Lodge #848 where he served as
Past Worship Master and was
the first Worthy Patron repre-
senting the Masons in the Lindale
Eastern Star. He was a past
Rotarian and a member of the
Christian Church, although he
attended First Baptist Church
with Mary Elizabeth.
Mary Elizabeth, along with
being a very gracious first lady
of Lindale, was a member of the
Historical Society of Smith
County, the Lindale Garden
Club, Eastern Star #864, and a
lifetime member of the PTA
when it was active in Lindale.
“My father was a kind, gentle
man who taught me to love
people and try to be kind and get
along with them,” said son Tom,
now residing in College Station
with his wife, Jean.
“He loved his granddaughter,
my daughter Kati,” added Tom,
“and his great-grandsons, Timo-
thy and Matthew. He loved bird
hunting and deer hunting.” Tom
remembers his mother and-fa-
ther often teamed up with Hubert
and Dolly Lake and others to go
on their regularly scheduled No-
vember hunts.
Earl Prater left this earth on
December 30,1983 at the age of
91. He was followed soon after
by his much loved and admired
wife, Mary Elizabeth. Lindale is
richer for having had these two
call among its midst.
Editor’s Note: High Profiles—
Present— is meant to bring to the
attention of Lindale praise worth
bestowing on one of its own who
contributes time and energy to
make a difference in our lives in
Lindale.
BY ANITA SHEPPARD
Jerry Fleming pulls up in front
of Fleming Comer Drug each
weekday and Saturday morning,
unlocks the place, turns on the
lights and his computer, and his
business day begins.
“I’m fifth-generation from this
area of northern Smith County,”
said Fleming. “Most of the
people I grew up with are still
here and live, if not here in
Lindale, in Tyler.”
Bom to Christine and the late
James Fleming and raised in
Lindale where he played foot-
ball and basketball and ran track
for Lindale High School,
Fleming went on to Tyler Junior
College and then obtained his
B.S. degree from the University
of Texas to become a pharma-
cist, his profession since 1974.
He served two years in the army
in California and returned to
Lindale.
He married Kathleen Tomlin
Fleming, also from a hometown
Lindale family. Their children
are Jason, 20, Jon, 19, a junior
and a sophomore at U.T. Austin,
and Jill, 11, a sixth-grader at
Lindale Junior High.
Asked about the changes in
Lindale during his lifetime,
Fleming said, “I guess the thing
most people notice is that you no
longer know everyone who lives
here. Most of the people who
lived here were second and third
generation. The addition of Hide-
A-Way Lake changed that more
than any other factor.”
Fleming credits his and his
family’s success to the fact that
their families have been in
Lindale for so many generations.
“We do not feel we have
benefitted the community as
much as it has benefitted us. It
has allowed us to make a living
and support our families where
we want to live. My grandfather
was the mayor, and my father
was a councilman, and we have
gained from their longtime in-
volvement,” related Fleming.
Fleming’s store on the north-
west comer at Hwy. 69 and Hwy.
16 faces his wife ’ s store, Fleming
Apparel on the southeast comer,
and his brother Jimmy’s store,
Fleming Farm and Ranch is in
sight just a block east of his and
Kathleen’s businesses. Jerry’s
and Kathleen’s church, First
Baptist Church, is also a block
away.
Jerry is a quiet, kind, and giv-
ing man who is a steady, depend-
able force in Lindale who is con-
tinuing the respectability of his
family name as a true Lindale
leader.
Occupation: Pharmacist,
owner of Fleming Comer Drug
My Hero: Jesus Christ
Hobbies: tennis, bike riding,
yardwork
Favorite Food and Drink: broc-
coli; lemonade
( Get your coffee and donuts \
at our deli before or after the parade.
Join us again for lunch and enjoy our fried fish,
chicken, or one of our homemade burgers
STRIKE UP THE BAND!
and celebrate Country Fest '91
K-Mac's...
much more than just a gas station
S. Main, Lindale, 882-5347
JERRY FLEMING
Most Embarrassing Moment:
Words To Live By: Do unto
When he was having dinner at a
others as you would have them
very nice restaurant, he speared
a piece of food with his fork, put
it in his mouth, and the fork re-
mained attached to the food as he
took his hand away.
POLLY SMITH
Chamber names Smith
The Lindale Area Chamber of
Commerce Board recently ac-
cepted the resignation of board
member Larry Jones whose busi-
ness commitments have not al-
lowed him to spend the time he
feels is best to serve as a board
member.
This past Friday the board
nominated and reinstated former
board member Polly Smith to
finish out Jones’term. Welcome
back, Polly!
do unto you.
My Greatest Accomplishment:
my family
Favorite Book: The Bible
Most Used Expression: “Let’s
go, girls!!!”
Advice for Youth: Find out
what you enjoy doing, and make
that your life’s work.
The Vine House
705 S. Vine
Mum
Dolores Springer
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Farmer, Betty. The Lindale Times (Lindale, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 10, 1991, newspaper, October 10, 1991; Lindale, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1207559/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Smith County Historical Society.