[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF MR. TED CAIN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 20, 2011

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a fellow veteran and 
treasured citizen of Rockwall, Ted Cain, who passed away on December 
18, 2011, at the age of ninety-four.
   Ted was born on March 18, 1917 in Rockwall, Texas, to parents Jessie 
Hubert Cain and Sadonia Estelle (Lillard) Cain. He grew up in the 
family home on Renfro Street and was one of eight children. Renfro 
Street bustled with not only the eight Cain children but with many 
cousins and friends. The home place along with the smoke house and tool 
shed is still standing.
   Ted was preceded in death by his sisters, Lola Faye Phillips, Billie 
Raye Smith, and Thelma (Pickie) Tucker, and his brother, Hugh Cain. He 
is survived by three devoted sisters, Jessie Mae Rives and her husband, 
Billy, of Odessa, Texas, Shirley Cupp and her husband, Danny, of 
Edgewood, Texas, and Nell Samples and her husband, Clarence, who reside 
near the old family home on Renfro Street in Rockwall.
   During World War II, Ted proudly served as First Sergeant in the 
United States Army in Africa and Europe from 1942 to 1945.
   He was always very active in the Rockwall community. He joined First 
Baptist Church on December 14, 1941. As an adult, Ted could be found at 
First Baptist Church on most Sundays, ushering and welcoming everyone. 
He served on the church building committee when the church moved its 
location from near the downtown Rockwall square to the current location 
on Goliad Street.
   Ted served many years as a member of the Rockwall Volunteer Fire 
Department. He was a member of the Rockwall Chamber of Commerce and was 
past-president of the Rockwall Rotary Club. Ted also helped establish 
the Rockwall Lions Club and was a member of the Board of Directors of 
the First State Bank and Independent Bank NA. A thirty-second degree 
mason, Ted was a member of the East Trinity Masonic Lodge #157 for over 
50 years.
   Ted served two terms on the Rockwall City Council during which time 
the first major industry, Texas Aluminum Company, was brought to 
Rockwall, providing many new jobs for the area.
   Ted attended Rockwall schools and has always exemplified what it 
meant to work hard. From picking cotton and working at his Uncle Gus' 
gin as a very young boy, to owning and operating his own businesses, 
Ted's work ethic was unwavering.
   All of his businesses were located around or near the downtown 
Rockwall square, the heart of his beloved hometown. Ted was successful 
in numerous businesses; from Ted Cain's Real Estate, where he bought 
and sold property throughout Rockwall County, to Mobile and Texaco 
service stations where he pumped gas, washed cars, changed countless 
tires, and distributed a piece of bubble gum with every ``fill-up'' to 
happy Rockwall children; from Cain's Variety Store where the shelves 
were lined with most anything one could want, to his last and perhaps, 
favorite business, Ted Cain's Used Cars.
   Ted opened ``the car lot,'' as it is still affectionately known, 
after his official retirement. Fulfilling his lifelong love and 
knowledge of everything pertaining to cars, Ted Cain's used cars were 
some of the best around. He bought and sold many cars and was always 
willing to offer the loan of one of the cars to a friend or family 
member in need.
   Over the years, ``the car lot'' became less about the cars and more 
about the friends who arrived every morning for a cup of Ted's strong 
coffee and to share in the camaraderie of the lively conversations and 
tall tales.
   I have met many Saturday mornings at the Ted Cain car lot, where 
several of us would get together to discuss everything from Rockwall 
High School football games to politics--local, statewide, and national. 
One day I prepared two pages of names I had forged on a petition to 
give us Members of Congress a fifty percent increase in our annual 
salaries--a raise in pay for Congress. I, of course, was joking, but 
most of those present were not buying it, and we quickly went back to 
bad-mouthing all Congressmen! I had never heard so many ``what the heck 
are you doing'' and ``hey--wait a dadgum minute,'' to ``are you 
crazy?'' We had new problems and topics to discuss every Saturday, and 
we all miss it now. Ted was a great host, and a man I admired and loved 
as a brother.
   Ted courted and married the true love of his life, Maurine 
Williamson. They were married on June 8, 1941 in Holdenville, Oklahoma 
by Maurine's uncle. Ted and Maurine traveled from Rockwall to 
Holdenville for their wedding in a borrowed car with $15.00 in Ted's 
back pocket. They have remained devoted to one another for 70 years.
   Ted is survived by his wife, Maurine, and their son and daughter-in-
law, Dewayne and Ann Atkins Cain. He adored his two grandchildren, 
Chris Cain and Amy Cain Cox, and Amy's husband, Wendell Cox, and three 
great-grandchildren, Jackson Luke Cox, John Nash Cox, and Virginia Ann 
Cox.
   Ted's family thanks the wonderful group of ladies who have provided 
and continue to provide such kind and professional care: Miatta, 
Patricia, Jane, Esther, Maria, and Teresa. They are also grateful to 
everyone at Season's Hospice.
   Ted's heart was made of gold. He never met a stranger. Greeting 
everyone with a smile and a kind word, Ted loved to share a laugh and a 
good story. ``You've got to have a little fun every day,'' was his 
motto, and more often than not, a goal he met regularly.
   Throughout the course of his long illness, Ted cherished his wife, 
his family, and his many friends. While mind and body grew weak, his 
kind and gentle disposition remained ever strong, and an occasional 
glimpse of his charming quick wit surfaced to warm the hearts of his 
family and remind them to ``have a little fun every day.''
   Ted's son, Dewayne, served as a page with me in the Texas Senate, 
and I was always proud that he called me ``Old Dad.'' Ted and Maurine 
were made for one another, and Maurine was there for him in his last 
days on this earth. There had never been a better guy--no better 
husband, father, and grandfather--and no better citizen than Ted Cain. 
We will miss him, and Mr. Speaker, I ask you to close this session of 
the House of Representatives today in his honor.

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