HAZEL LOFTON DAMMON

AUGUST 4, 1912 – JANUARY 21, 2006

Hazel was born on August 4, 1912, at Ruby, Louisiana. She was the fifth child born to Ollie and William B. Lofton, a family that eventually included six boys and five girls. Like other farm families, the children worked in the fields, and Hazel did her share of chopping and picking cotton. It wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed.

She met the love of her life, Emmett Dammon, in Pineville, Louisiana, and they were married on December 27, 1930. Dad drove an ice truck and supported his family on the pennies per day he earned there and at a part-time job in the local movie theater. Over the next two years, Emmett, Jr. (Pete) and Jim Dammon were born to Emmett and Hazel, and like many young families, they looked West – to Texas – and the promise o f good-paying jobs in the Port Arthur refinery industry. They moved to Port Arthur in 1937.

When relatives came to visit and they commented on the odor from the refineries, Mom and Dad would tell them, “That’s the smell of money!” While Dad worked his shifts as an operator at The Texas Company, Hazel kept their house, raised a garden, milked the cows and fed the chickens, and had their third son, Gene, in 1940.

Mama didn’t work outside the home, but she was a thrifty homemaker, like so many women of that era, and also found other ways to help family finances. Her delicious homemade dinner rolls were famous among friend and family alike, and when Texaco was out on strike in 1952 for many long months, she packaged and sold the frozen rolls to stores and restaurants. Then after Hazel and Emmett moved to their beloved home in the Big Thicket, after retirement, she gathered sphagnum moss to sell to area florists. She also helped acquaint three generations of Dammons with the wonders of the piney woods; Mama knew the names of trees, where to dig for sassafras roots, and how to make a berry cobbler on top of the stove in the length of time it took to clear the plates off the table.

Hazel’s life was one of service and fidelity, to God, to her husband and children, and to her friends. Her deep and abiding faith was an inspiration to those around her, and she was not shy about sharing her faith. When she met someone, she seldom asked their occupation but always asked if they knew Jesus. She was active in several area Churches, and with her husband Emmett, obtained a charter from the Southern Baptist Convention for a new Church, which they founded in Hardin County.

Mama died on January 21, 2006, at the age of 93 in Cypress Glen nursing home in

Port Arthur. We will miss her dearly, but her passing was gentle, like her life and spirit, and she was ready to go home.

Emmett died four years to the day before Hazel, after 72 years of marriage, and it seemed that part of her left then as well. Also preceding her in death were a grandson, Dale Lynn Dammon; brothers Herbert, W.B., and Aaron; sisters Minnie, Willie Vay, Bea, and Ruth.

She is survived by her three sons and the ir wives: Emmett G. “Pete” Dammon, Jr., and Maxine of Slidell, LA, Rev. James Warren Dammon and Patsy of Port Arthur, Robert Gene Dammon and Sue of Port Neches; brothers: Johnny Lofton and Jannise of Groves, Fred Lofton of Port Arthur, and Harvey Lofton and Doris of Houston.

Also twelve grandchildren and their spouses: Kirt Dammon and Dorothy of Slidell, Jimmy Dammon, MD, and Cindy, in East Asia, David Dammon and Debby of Slidell, Beth Wilson and Joey of Mauriceville, Dr. Johnny Dammon and Kathy of Nacogdoches, Jennifer Rigdon of Slidell, Debby Addison and Nathan of Port Neches, Dr. Tim Dammon and Lisa of Midlothian, Chuck Dammon of Slidell, Danny Dammon and Kristen of Sugarland, Becky Dammon of Nederland , Tricia Hudson and Dan of Magnolia, TX; 32 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

The funeral service will be held at Clayton-Thompson Funeral Directors, Inc, in Groves, at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, January 24. Hazel’s sons and other family members will lead the service. Her grandsons will serve as pallbearers.