[byrne.ftw]
! Arminta Gertrude Hicks was born February 11, 1905 at Hackberry,
Texas. Claude Bailey Eppler was born December 17, 1902 at Vance,
Texas. They were married on Gertrude's 18th birthday--February 11,
1923. It was a "drive through" wedding of sorts since they sat in
the car while the J.P. performed the ceremony. They didn't tarry
afterwards. Because of a threat of bad weather, they went directly to
their first home which they shared with the matriarch of the Eppler
family, Bailey's great-aunt, Ludie, Yost. Gertrude reported that she
did not receive a very warm rec- eption. Aunt Ludie reportedly
remarked that Gertrude was "poor pork, peas half boiled, and cornbread
without any salt. They eventually had their own place while their two
sons, Ralph Bailey and Billy Mark, were growing up. When the boys were
in their teens, Bonnie Lee was born. She was named after the child in
'Gone with the Wind' movie. That same year, 1941, they moved to New
Mexico where Bailey worked in the silver mines. When copper mining
began to 'boom' during WWII, they moved to Miami, Arizona. Shortly
after their arrival in Arizona, a group of miners was discussing why
they left Texas. Bailey told them it was plain and simple --they left
because they were "hongry". He was known by the nickname "Hongry"
from then on. Both of the boys served in World War II. Betty Louise
was born in 1947--their only child born in a hospital. Ralph was
killed in a car accident two years later, in the summer of 1949 Bailey
and Gertrude lived in the home they built near Miami until Bailey died
October 6, 1975 and Gertrude died January 8, 1987