Last week I was thinking about home and the people that made it such a special place to grow up. Miss Frankie Mae Tonight I stopped at the Piggly Wigley on the way home to pick up a few things. When I got up to the checkout, they had a display with assorted cheese straws, something I have loved since childhood. I put my groceries in the back of my truck, but took the cheese straws with me in the cab, and I opened the small container and enjoyed them on my way home. They were good, but not nearly as good as those made by Miss Frankie Mae Lewis in my hometown of Kinston. Her home was on the corner of Vernon Ave. and Laroque St., across Laroque St. from the local synagogue, located on the other corner. Frankie Mae catered for many people in Kinston, and she did so from her home. Her kitchen was very large and had 2 stoves and several refrigerators. I can remember many times as a child, riding with my mother to pick things up for parties my grandmother would be having around the holidays. The smell was always wonderful, the holiday treats she was making in her kitchen. The pies and cakes, sausage balls and cheese straws, large containers of punch, cookies, and some of the special Frankie Mae treats like Silly Bub. The house was an older home, with high ceilings. I remember just before one Christmas when we stopped there, that in the living room their was a trampoline set up, that she had bought for her grandchildren for Christmas. She let me try it out . Some of my fondest memories of a child are of the holidays in Kinston, and Miss Frankie Mae was a part of those. As I said, she lived across the street from Temple Israel, the local synagogue. That brings me to the rest of my story. Old Man Sam. Between the end of the Civil War and 1900, several Jewish families moved to Kinston and went into business. Shirt factories, retail businesses, groceries and they were successful and became respected and valued members of the community. They became good southern jews, ones that gave up kosher because of Eastern North Carolina pork BBQ. They enjoyed it as much as the Baptist. One of these families was named Brody, and they had a clothing store on Queen St. They did a good business, and after World War II, their store really grew. Kinston was a mill and farming town, and there were plenty of poor but proud people that worked in the mills and shirt factories, raised their families, and tried to build a better life. There were good schools, and many of the kids of the mill workers gained an education and were able to go to college on scholarship. Coach Frank Mock taught and coached at Granger High School. He rose to principal and then to superintendent. Beloved as a coach and as an educator, he took a personal interest in the kids in his charge. He hired my dad as a English and Latin teacher at Granger in the early 60s. I know this story is taking many twist and turns, but stay with me. Old Man Sam Brody, was one of the Brody brothers, and a wonderful human being. And he and Coach Mock were friends. When a young man, of modest means from one of the working families would get accepted to college, and had no clothing to go off to college, somehow Old Man Sam always found out about it, and would have him come down to the store, where Mr. Brody would measure him for a suit of clothes, and in a few days, have a suit, several shirts, under garments and shoes sent to the young mans home. There is no telling how many times this played out in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Or if there was a kid that had little, and had worn and tired clothes, Old Man Sam would somehow get the word. And a box would come to their house from Brodys. That was Old Man Sams and Coach Mocks game. They say Sam made these kids feel like they were the most important person in the store. By and by both of these fine men passed. First Mr. Brody, then Frank Mock. They were both mourned by their community. The Brody family continued to prosper, and keep up the good works of Old Man Sam. The medical school at East Carolina University is, The Brody School of Medicine. This coach and teacher, and this old Jewish clothier were two of the best Christian men in the very best meaning of the word, that I have ever known. I remember Coach Mock quite well, Old Man Sam not as well, as he died when I was quite young. But I know their story from my father, my mother, and my grandmother, all who knew them, and admired them greatly. As we begin the holiday season next week, lets remember these men, and what they did with their lives. Then let us take a lesson from them, and try to pass alittle along like they did.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 22:34:41 +0000
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