When Great-Aunt Myrtle lost her husband, Clarence, in 1950, she picked up the fractured pieces of her life and returned to work. For the next 36 years, she was the no-nonsense proprietor of McAllen Upholstery Shop in McAllen, Texas, a woman ahead of her time.
Great-Aunt Myrtle holds the corners of a
U.S. flag with 48 stars, made sometime
after Arizona joined the union in 1912.
operator in Jefferson, Ark., where she lived with 19
other girls in a boarding house. She’s the studious
young woman wearing glasses and holding a purse.
on June 24, 1924, in Tulsa, Okla. He was a railroad
car seat upholsterer like her dad and older brother.
Stolley Auto Shop in Sand Springs, Okla., the business
sold Model T tops, trim, upholstery and seat covers.
Texas-Bound
When Richard developed tuberculosis in the late 1920s, he moved his family to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to receive treatment. He recovered and the family decided to stay
to join Richard and his family in 1930, a year after
the U.S. stock market crashed. The couple marveled
at the sight of palm trees everywhere they turned.
all was well until a hurricane destroyed the Stolley
business. Richard had no money to rebuild in the midst
of the Great Depression, so he started farming.
They decided to move 35 miles away to McAllen,
Texas, to open their own business.
Opportunity in McAllen, Texas
The Hembrocks took Great-Aunt Myrtle’s father, Hans, and mother, Catherine, to live with them above the shop. According to the 1940 U.S. census, Great-Aunt Myrtle was a housewife. She and Clarence had no children.
offered a wide range of personal services:
drapes, upholstery, slipcovers, and antiques.
A Family Affair Business
Great-Grandma Stolley hand-braided rugs to sell in the shop and Great-Aunt Myrtle offered sage advice and skillfully sewed drapes that their clients greatly admired.
both active in the community. Clarence was captain of No. 3
Company of the McAllen Volunteer Fire Department. He also
was a member of the Community Chest and had a 14-year
perfect attendance record with the local Kiwanis Club.
from a baseball game at the age of 48, Great-
Aunt Myrtle received an outpouring of sympathy.
State of Texas letterhead from the wife of
Texas Governor Allan Shivers. Marialice hailed
from the Rio Grande Valley.
and Richard and his family, Myrtle decided to
run the Hembrock’s business with the help
of Joe, a long-time employee, who was a
talented upholsterer.
or other service organizations like Rotary.
But that didn’t stop Great-Aunt Myrtle from
seizing other opportunities to grow her
business and contribute to the community.
She Went Out With ‘The Girls’
Great-Aunt Myrtle was active in the Firefly Garden Club, McAllen Business Women’s Club and a service group called the Zonta Club of West Hidalgo County. She continued Clarence’s commitment to offering top-quality products and service, plus she kept abreast of changing styles, trends and materials. All the while, Great-Aunt Myrtle honed her business skills.
Great-Aunt Myrtle’s nephew, Richard Jr., his wife, Grace, and their four children, who also lived in McAllen, always treated her with great kindness and respect.
Upholstery until she was 86 years old.
While many other local businesses came
and went, this dynamic lady hung
in there.
She Never Forgot Her Sweetheart
Behind Great-Aunt Myrtle’s favorite chair on the shelves of the rack was a collection of miniature china shoes. She told me that every month when Clarence went downtown on a Saturday morning to get a haircut, he would stop by the drugstore. He’d buy his sweetheart a token of his affection. Although her last home was small, Great-Aunt Myrtle always displayed those shoes given to her by the love of her life.
collection and I display them, too. They remind
me of a spunky little lady who figured out how to
operate a successful small Texas business long before
it was commonplace for a woman on her own to
do so. Thank you, Great-Aunt Myrtle!
* * *
Here are more inspiring (and surprising) women’s stories I hope you’ll enjoy:
- Every Day is Memorial Day for Wayne Givens - May 26, 2023
- A Woman Ahead of Her Time - May 5, 2023
- Spring in an Old Texas Cemetery - April 21, 2023
Your Great-Aunt Myrtle was an amazing woman. She experienced many ups and downs, but there was no obstacle she could not overcome.
I agree, Becky. I’m sure Great-Aunt Myrtle must have wondered what was to become of her and her mother when Clarence died at such a young age. While Great-Aunt Myrtle had helped in the business that’s not the same as running it. Also, at that time, few women-owned businesses in small Texas cities thrived.
Beautiful and heartwarming story. You never stop amazing me.
Thanks, Judy! It was great fun tracing Great-Aunt Myrtle’s life. I was grateful to my mother-in-law for carefully saving the wonderful old photos, plus I was able to borrow several from Emil’s cousins for the story.
What a sweet tribute to an amazing, very strong women who obviously made an impression on you! Remembering our ancestors and their legacies is a wonderful gift for living family members, providing an insight into their lives and personalities, instead of only a name on a tombstone.
Aunt Myrtle would have loved meeting and visiting with you about the importance of sharing family stories, as well as keepsakes, Carolyn. In addition to the miniature shoes, she sent me home with six pink Open Rose Depression glass goblets that day. She was so kind and thoughtful.
How fabulous that these old photos still exist. Priceless.
Yes, the vintage photos really are very special. My husband and I were like a couple of detectives. We blew some of the pictures up on the screen so we could capture details that weren’t obvious in their small-size format.
Elaine, Your great-aunt Myrtle was quite an exceptional woman! Thank you for honoring her and sharing this significant story. Another remarkable woman was your mother. I love the astonishing story of Cecilia and the grizzlies in her chicken pen. It sounds like a tall tale, but truth is often stranger than fiction! Thanks to your particularly splendid storytelling, we have these stories preserved for the enjoyment of many!
Hello Deb and thanks for the positive feedback on Great-Aunt Myrtle’s story and Mom’s. Those two would have had a wonderful visit had they ever met. Both women reflect the phrase ‘When the goes gets tough, the tough get going.’ Of course, perfect ladies, too!
So many people of your Great-aunt Myrtle’s generation lived incredible lives, and I’m so glad you’re capturing some of their stories. It breaks my heart when I read an obituary that says, “S/he served in WWII” or something else that dismisses a life-changing event as worthy of a line or less. I remember going with my daughter to the funeral for her friend’s grandmother. We knew she was a talented weaver, and there were pieces of her art displayed throughout the small rural church that day, but neither of us had known she was a code-breaker in World War II. What stories she must have had!
Nancy, I couldn’t agree more. An elderly lady I used to sit next to in church was a “Rosie the Riveter” during WWII. By the time I got around to asking her if she would tell me her story of working in an airplane assembly plant, she declined. She told me if she told anyone about her experiences, it would be me, but she was too old and the effort was too great for her to try to recapture those long-ago memories. I was sad and disappointed in myself for not acting sooner. Another meaningful story that goes untold…
My daughter-in-law’s grandmother was a Rosie the Riveter and I had her come to our Columbus DAR and tell the stories; she loved it and the Daughters loved the stories. She was 96 at that time and she died in February 2023 at 98. It was truly a blessing hearing the stories.
Hi Marti! I bet that was a moving presentation. To learn about the war work by hearing the memories of an older lady who had made a significant contribution must have been fascinating. I have read that a lot of the girls who volunteered for factory work not only enjoyed it but were well suited to getting it done because of their strong work ethics.