Guy Mortimer Foster was born on
April 22, 1876 in Allen, Collin County, Texas.
His parents were Robert Taylor Foster, a native of Missouri
and Elizabeth Paterson, who was born in Texas.
The father’s migration to Texas occurred in the
1870’s following the Civil War. He and
his wife lived several years at Allen, before moving to Roanoke
in Denton County.
The father came first to establish a home for his family. The mother came in 1879 with Guy, three and
one half years old and Ola, the baby girl.
They came by train as far as Dallas,
the nearest rail stop. Since Dallas was still in the
small town category, the good earth had not been paved with concrete. When Guy came down the steps of the railway
car, he paused on the bottom step and said “Watch Me” and jumped off into a mud
puddle. The fact that he landed in a
sitting position increased the problem of making him presentable for the long
buggy ride to Roanoke.
Guy received his education in the Roanoke school and at Austin
College in Sherman.
The death of his father left him
with adult responsibilities as a teenager.
He worked first in a mercantile store in Grapevine. Later, he and his life long friend, E.C.
Brand, shared two business ventures, a grocery store and a grain elevator. When these partnerships were dissolved, Guy
operated a drugstore in Roanoke.
On May 10, 1904, he was married to
Jean Turner, born at Lometa, Lampasas
County, Texas on
September 25, 1884, the daughter of Robert M. Turner and his wife Cynthia Jane
(Turk). The ceremony was at the Broadway
Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. The bride and groom made the trip to Roanoke by train. Three and one half years later, they became
the parents of a son Robert Turner Foster.
After selling his drugstore, Guy
was employed for ten years as a traveling auditor for the Texas and Pacific Railway. His next business was the operation of a
drugstore in Keller in 1922. The Foster
residence was at 102 South Main. As a
family, they were active in the Presbyterian Church. In addition to her church work, Jean was a
speech teacher in the local school.
Guy died on December 19, 1932 and
was buried in Bourland
Cemetery.
Jean continued living in the family
home. She served for many years as a
dedicated volunteer on the governing board of the Bourland Cemetery
Association. In recognition of her
community service, she was inducted into the Keller Hall of Fame on July 4,
1976. She died on October 20, 1976 and
was buried beside her husband.
Information and Statistics on
Robert Turner Foster, the son of Guy M. and Jean Foster:
Robert Turner Foster was born on
November 4, 1907. He attended school at Roanoke, Keller and Diamond Hill in Fort Worth.
After graduating from high school, he attended North
Texas State
University in Denton where he received a B.A. degree with a
major in History and English. Later he
studied for two years in the Danforth School of Pharmacy in Fort Worth.
On June 8, 1948, Turner was married to Doris Madison, born October 22,
1927, daughter of John Wesley Madison and his wife, Annie Estelle.
