Mrs. Abernathy had her hands full as a mother, mayor’s wife

By DEBBIE KNOX Publisher/Editor dnox@campcountynow.com

She was an Oklahoma girl with strong values and a strict upbringing. She was apparently smitten by a young man from Texas who was attending e University of Oklahoma working on a mechanical engineering degree. ey met at a place they both enjoyed, a skating rink. She was Laverne Emerson who was born in Perkins, Oklahoma, October 31, 1920. “She was one of three girls, each literally looking up to their father because he was a really tall man and known to be a ‘workaholic.” Laverne was accustomed to the man of the house working hard and providing for the family,” Laverne’s middle child and son, David Abernathy, said. Life in Oklahoma was good for Laverne, even though it was an unsettling time as World War II had started and Franklin D. Roosevelt was President. e young girl would soon nd herself in a relationship with a young man from Texas and her future would prove to be one of the most promising in a small Texas town. So, as love would have it one day on a drive in Kingsher, Oklahoma, D. H. (Dave) Abernathy and Laverne Emerson decided to get married. ey were riding with a couple of friends and the proposal wasn’t the most romantic, perhaps not even expected, but she said ‘yes’ and the rest is history. “We were just riding around one day with a couple of friends of ours and your dad said, ‘Hey, how would you like to get married?’ And I said ‘okay,’” David said a er a conversation with his mother.

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