Ancestors of Alan Stokes - Generation C

Ancestors of Alan Thomas Stokes

Generation C

Paternal Grandparents

HENRY THOMAS STOKES, SR [22] 
(1903-1995)

Henry Thomas Stokes was born December 7, 1903, in Wartrace, Tennessee to Viola Edith Bomar and Thomas Jefferson Stokes. He married Treva Oakley on May 3, 1929. He worked for the General Motors Company . He started his career working at the General Motors plant in Toledo, Ohio, where he met his wife Treva. He later transferred to the General Motors plant in Saginaw, Michigan where he raised his family. Henry was in management when he retired in 1965. Following Treva's death in 1980, he went on to marry Letha Messervy on May 12, 1983. They supervised nursing home services at Westchester Village in Saginaw. Letha died on January 17, 1986. He lived most of his life in Saginaw, Michigan, but in 1987, moved to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to live with his son, Richard and Margaret Stokes. During these years, he worked for the Gideons, preached at the City of Saginaw Rescue Mission each month, volunteered at The Salvation Army, and supervised church services for several nursing homes in the Mt. Pleasant area. In the Spring of 1995, he had major gall bladder surgery. After a gradual failing health and old age, he died on December 11, 1995, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The funeral sermon for Henry Stokes given by Alan Stokes is on the Light Stop blog.

LEFT: Henry Stokes at age 19 in 1923. RIGHT: Henry Stokes in Michigan at age 81 on October 15, 1985.

TREVA ELNORA OAKLEY [23]
(1912-1980)

Treva "Tippy" Oakley was born on May 22, 1912, in Yorkshire, Ohio to Myrtle L. Woten and Charles H. Oakley. Her middle name "Ellen" or "Elnora" from the name of her maternal Grandmother. She married Henry T. Stokes, Sr. on May 3, 1929. She was a full-time homemaker and raised her five children during the Great Depression. She was a poet and left the family many poems to enjoy, some of which are listed in the Family Poems section of this blog. Treva and Henry enjoyed attending the Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee .  In 1979 they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Treva Ellen Oakley died on April 29, 1980, in Saginaw, Michigan at St. Mary's Hospital  following a major stroke.

Treva Stokes as a baby in 1913 (Photo Collection of Susan Ellis).

Treva Ellen Oakley and Henry Thomas Stokes at their 50th Anniversary in May, 1979.

STOKES/OAKLEY CHILDREN

1. HENRY THOMAS STOKES, JR.  23a (1930-2017). Henry Thomas Stokes, Jr. was born on September 14, 1930 in Toledo, Ohio, to Henry T. Stokes, Sr. and Treva E. Oakley. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force, serving in the Korean War. He was discharged with the rank of Airman 2nd Class. He retired after an inspector with General Motors after 35 years. He married Anna May Koch on May 4, 1958. She preceded him in death on April 12, 2016. He had a son Thomas Stokes and three daughters Vera, Treva, and Susan. His obituary is online at W.L. Case & Company Funeral Directors. 
2. VIOLA "DUCKY" STOKES 23b (Living Individual - Private Records)
3. ROBERT LEWIS STOKES 23c (1933-1995). Robert "Bob" Lewis Stokes was born on Oct. 1, 1933 in Toledo, Ohio, to Henry T. Stokes, Sr. and Treva E. Oakley. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force. He married Donna (Lake) Curtis (August 2, 1935-September 17, 1998) on March 20, 1975. He worked for 35 years at U.S. Graphite.   In 1994 he graduated from Bridgeport High School. Robert Stokes died on March 15, 1995, in Buena Vista, Saginaw, Michigan after suffering with lung cancer. The following is an obituary for Robert L. Stokes.










Left: Robert Stokes on his high school graduation in 1994. Right: Robert Stokes at his wedding to Donna Curtis.


4. CHARLES HENRY STOKES  23d (1934). Charles was born premature and only lived 8 days from September 2-10, 1934.
   

5. RICHARD ALLEN STOKES 23e (Living Individual - Private Records) 
6. EDITH STOKES 23f (Living Individual - Private Records)
   

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   Maternal Grandparents
   
   
   HENRY DAVID EBERSOL [32]
   (1895-1939) 
   
   
   Henry was born in April, 1895, in Michigan to Margaret Shook and David Ebersole. His father David died in 1900 and his mother Margaret placed him in an Evangelical Church Orphanage in Flat Rock, Ohio. This orphanage exists as an organization doing work in this century as Flat Rock Homes . At age 12, he went to live with the Charles Koebbe family near Chelsea, Michigan. Henry had a sister named Violet. After he grew up Henry worked at the Ford Plant and lived in Detroit. Henry married Doris Hutchens on June 24, 1933. More information on his life is available in pages 357-361 of an old book called Hartline Story of Portage Prairie, written by Alma V. Hartline. Henry Ebersol died in November, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan from a massive heart attack. He is buried in Section 31 of Woodland Cemetery in Jackson, Michigan.
   
   
   
   
   
   Photo of Henry Ebersol taken in 1937. It is the last known photo taken of Henry Ebersol.
   
   
   DORIS MAY HUTCHENS [33] 
   (1908-1983)
   
   
   Doris was born February 7, 1908, in Battle Creek, Michigan to Edith Gifford and Devilo Hutchens. She married Henry Ebersol on June 24, 1933, and they had two children (Rohn and Margaret). Following the death of her husband, Doris moved with her two young children to Jackson, Michigan. Doris was a bookkeeper. She met and married Miller (Bud) F. Lewis on April 12, 1950. Doris and Miller Lewis did not have any children. Bud Lewis was a tool salesman. Later on they moved to Elk Rapids, Michigan and lived for years on a home on beautiful Elk Lake.  On April 12, 1975, there was a celebration of Doris and Bud Lewis' 25th Wedding Anniversary. Doris and Bud Lewis wintered in Florida. Doris died on March 30, 1983, in New Port Richie, Florida from a quiet heart attack. She is buried in Section 31 of Woodland Cemetery in Jackson, Michigan.  

Genealogy Mystery: In the cemetery marker photo below it says that Doris' husband Henry had a middle initial of "F." However, Alan Stokes recorded after interviews with Doris Lewis as a child that his middle name was "David". Could it be a mistake on the marker or was his middle name something else other than "David". 

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   EBERSOL/HUTCHENS CHILDREN
   
   
   
   1. ROHN ELDEN EBERSOL 33a (1936-1997). Rohn was born Oct. 9, 1936. Rohn Ebersol married Patricia Lenz and they had 5 children, James, Ron, Bob, Tom, and Susan. Rohn Ebersol died on August 12, 1997, in Jackson, Michigan from a heart attack.
   2. MARGARET EBERSOL 3 (1939-2016).  Direct Descendent - See Generation B. 
   
   
   Photo on Right: Rohn and Margaret, the two children of Henry and Doris Ebersol. It was taken about 1942.