[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 123 (Friday, July 25, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING MRS. ELYSE JOHNSTON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 24, 2008

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, next Wednesday, July 30th, will 
mark the 100th birthday of Mrs. Elyse Johnston of DeKalb, Texas. I am 
honored to join Congressman Kevin Brady in recognizing her today and 
sharing a small part of her life's story.
  Born in Quitman, Texas, to Samuel Jackson Benton and Margaret 
Florence Jones Benton, Mrs. Johnston has witnessed a tremendous amount 
of change in her 100 years. When she entered the world, the Wright 
Brothers had only recently made history in North Carolina, and Henry 
Ford was still a few months away from introducing the world to the 
Model T. One hundred years later, the world is a much different place. 
Most of my colleagues will shortly get on a plane holding hundreds of 
people to get home for the weekend and will be delivered to the airport 
through considerable traffic congestion by cars that can hardly be 
compared to Ford's cutting edge invention.
  Through her early years of education in Quitman, the one thing that 
made Elyse happy was music and playing the piano. This would become her 
lifelong passion. Starting with the First Baptist Church, Elyse played 
in too many revivals to count. Her reputation as a pianist spread and 
soon she was being asked to play for all the Methodist church revivals 
as well. Because she always loved to dance, she claimed to be a 
``Baptist with Methodist feet.'' She was elected a Burleson Beauty 
while she completed her college studies at Burleson College and 
prepared to enter the working world as a teacher.
  After 2 years of teaching in Pleasant Ridge, she scraped together 
enough money to purchase a Ford Roadster and move back to Quitman. It 
was here that she would meet her future husband, Bentley Johnston, and 
where they would have their first date on Easter Sunday. It was clear 
to Bentley that he had met his bride to be, and he was so distracted 
that he skipped on his responsibility of watching the holiday dinner 
and the family ended up eating a burned roast for Easter.
  After getting married, they moved to DeKalb and began farming cotton 
and soy beans and raising cattle. Times were hard during the 
Depression, but they managed in part due to the large garden and fruit 
trees that Elyse was able to maintain and use to help make ends meet by 
supplying groceries to the area families. The family sacrificed to keep 
the farm going through the Depression and 5 straight years of crop 
failure; that old Roadster Elyse saved to buy lost its engine to keep a 
tractor in the fields. After several years on the farm, the family 
moved back to town in 1951.
  Her love of the piano has never ended and as a church pianist, she 
has played in revivals and choirs for 42 years and made a name for 
herself through her showy offertories, leading one pastor to encourage 
her with, ``Well, swing it sister!''
  Elyse helped raise two daughters who still live in DeKalb. She 
celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary with Bentley shortly before he 
passed away in 1980. Her ``Methodist Feet'' haven't left her yet, and 
she still enjoys community shows, working in the garden and playing 
cards. ``Nanny'' to her six grandchildren and five great grandchildren, 
she is still very much independent and shows no signs of slowing down.
  Madam Speaker, Congressman Brady and I ask those in the chamber and 
our colleagues to join us in wishing a very happy 100th birthday to 
Mrs. Elyse Johnston.

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