Norman Cornelius Kendrick
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Norman Cornelius Kendrick was my Mother’s older brother,
That makes him my uncle with very similar genes to my mother.
This poem is just an overview of Uncle Norman from those days,
From before my birth until he reached old age and passed away.
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Norman Cornelius Kendrick
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William Roy and Aurora Bell Kendrick’s family moved to Phillips, Texas,
And Roy got a job operating a crane at the Borger Refinery Complexes.
The family lived in a shot gun house that was very long and skinny,
On a short road named Ellis Street that was not traveled by many.
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That’s Aurora Bell and William Roy Kendrick near their home in Phillips, Texas. You can see some of the shotgun houses in the background.
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Their oldest son was Norman Cornelius but they called him “Son”,
Son had one sister named Oma Malelia who was later my Mom.
They called her “Sister” all the time for reasons so easy to see.
So we have a Son and a Sister because they were easier to say.
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That’s Norman Cornelius and Oma Malelia Kendrick better known as Son and Sister.
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Son had a younger sister named BuelDine who they called “BuelDine”.
It was a cool name which was easy to say, fit for a real queen.
So Son and Sister and a girl named BuelDine grew up having fun,
At that little town of Phillips always enjoying themselves on the run.
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That’s Sister and BuelDine Kendrick in their teens.
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Son went off to high school in the very nearby town of Borger.
He played football there on their team or so I was told by mother.
Both Sister (Mom) and BuelDine were on the basketball team.
I hear they were all quite good from their many stories it seems.
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Son and Sister with their letter sweaters from Borger High School.
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Son went to work as an Operator for Phillips Refinery right there.
And married his life long love named Crystal, I do solemnly swear.
They moved into a house in Phillips on a street called Youker,
This photo of Elephant Rock may have been taken from there.
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The view from Son and Crystal’s back yard at Phillips Texas. Elephant Rock is the big rock just up from and right of center.
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Son and Crystal had two sons while living in that end house,
The oldest was named Norman Cornelius like his mom’s spouse.
We all called him Norman C. and he grew to be a very big man.
He was on Phillips 1954 state football champion team back then.
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Their second son was named Michael and we all called him Mike,
I played with him quite a lot when he was just a very little tyke.
As he was the same age as me back in those good old days.
We both graduated from Phillips High School in 1961 back a ways.
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.That’s me in the middle sulking because my cousin Mike on the right has my Roy Rogers cap gun. JerrylDine is on the left.
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Son and Crystal bought them a cabin in South Fork, Colorado,
For summer vacations up there with mountains capped with snow,
And the Rio Grande River so clear and cold full of all kinds of trout.
So the great fishing up there gave them something to talk about.
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A beautiful scene around the Rio Grande River near South Fork, Colorado.
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In a few years, Sister and BuelDine’s families bought cabins too,
So each summer, they had family reunions there with the crew.
We all fished, rafted, and had cook outs together, so much fun,
We tried everything there was to do as three families on the run.
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South Fork is a great place for summer family reunions as there is so much to do there.
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My Uncle Son named Norman Cornelius Kendrick was a fine man,
Who I knew well and loved much as through my young life I ran.
I have now grown old and don’t get around too much any more,
But I still have all those great memories of those times I adored.
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My uncle Son (Norman Cornelius) is on the left, then Aurora Bell is next, then Heather Kendrick and then my cousin Mike in this the last picture I have of them.
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By Bill
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Thanks for reading Norman Cornelius Kendrick,
Bill