The Chamblee/Chamlee family has had a fine fair share of excellent
school teachers. The recently deceased CLEO E. CHAMBLEE was one of
them. The newspaper, ATLANTA CITIZENS JOURNAL, Atlanta, Texas, Sunday,
April 16,1989, printed an article about Miss Cleo:
"MISS CLEO, a teacher who inspired learning:
Cleo Chamblee taught school from 1929 to 1973 in the Bloomburg School
District. Her students respected and loved her -- and they never forgot
her.
"Miss Cleo is an individual in history that has touched many lives,"
said Rebecca Surratt, Kenya Howard, Machelle Smith and Becky Ash in
their project report.
"Former students felt that she had given them a love of learning that
helped them throughout their lives."
Many of these students are following vocations from a multitude of
career choices. "I remember going to school in her house when the old
school building was torn down," said Mary Martha Lundy, grocery checker.
"And I remember a movie box we made of stories from a book," said Tommy
Cash, design engineer for Day and Zimmerman of Texarkana.
She has taught students who became teachers, doctors -- "Miss Cleo wore
a black dress my first day at school," said Dr. Tim O'Kelly of Atlanta
Memorial Hospital -- lawyers, artists, dentists, pharmacists, musicians
and nurses.
She achieved her master's degree during her years as third-and
fourth-grade teacher, after which she taught first and second grades.
She acquired her teaching degree at East Texas State University and
boarded with an aunt of friends from Bloomburg.
"Mama didn't want me to go to college," she said, "but daddy said
'Now
honey, we're not going to cheat that child out of an education'." Mama
and Daddy took me to Commerce in a Model A Ford. After graduation, she
went right back to Bloomburg to teach school. She made a hit with all
the kids.
Playwrite, costume designer, tooth puller, Miss Cleo cured many
first-timers of Mama-itis. "Sometimes it took big doses of T.L.C., but
it worked, and for those 'bad cuts,' just a dab of "monkey blood" and a
band-aid would make them good as new, she said.
She was a teacher of phonics, strong in reading and creative writing --
"and she never spanked anyone."
"She always gave us smiling hundreds," said Pam Sheppard, Vocational
Adjustment Coordinator for Cass County Plan A Co-Op.
"Miss Cleo was more than a teacher. She was like a mother to her
students," said Sandra Duke, bank teller.
"She made learning fun and interesting," said Tim Gildon, County Officer
in Linden.
Miss Cleo retired in 1974 and spends time in church activities. She
belongs to a variety of organizations and teaches an extension Sunday
School class to two patients in Pine Lodge Nursing Home. She does
volunteer work at Atlanta Memorial Hospital, belongs to the sewing club
for Atlanta Memorial gift shop and likes to travel, read, crochet, do
needlepoint and decoupage.
"I also love my flowers, garden, and pot plants. I try to get in a
little of it all," she said.
"Her many talents will be remembered for years to come by students who
were fortunate enough to have her for a teacher. "She gave me a desire
to learn," said Atlanta teacher, Charlotte Allen."
FROM Anne Chamlee; article submitted by Jerry and Dorothy Chamblee of
Atlanta, Texas.