This week’s article is dedicated to a dear friend and Marshall County native who left us this past Sunday morning after several years of declining health and a short illness.
Tommie Nell Payne Flegal was born October 4, 1935, to Jay and Goldie Payne. At the time of her birth, Jay was the teacher and principal at Brownsville School in southern Marshall County. Brownville no longer exists, as it was one of the communities abandoned and removed during the construction of Lake Texoma.
Tommie Nell spent her early years living in Brownsville before the family moved to Kingston in July 1941. Because of the construction of Lake Texoma, the Kingston School District annexed the Brownsville school and several others. When the annexation occurred, most of the teachers from those small school districts were transferred to the Kingston School District. It was then that Jay was hired as the principal of the Kingston elementary school.
Upon their move to Kingston, the Paynes were given the Brownsville teacherage (teacher’s house), which they moved to Kingston. The old Brownsville teacherage stood on a lot on NE 2nd Street between Main and Harney until 2020 or 2021.
Jay Payne then began his long career with the Kingston Schools, eventually becoming the high school principal and then Superintendent in the fall of 1955 when my grandfather, George S. Henry, retired after 27 years as the Kingston Superintendent.
Jay and Goldie Payne were educators who taught in Marshall County for a combined 84 years—a remarkable achievement that is unmatched today. Many of their former students still live in Marshall County. Because of their influence, Tommie Nell and her brother Eddie decided early on that they also wanted to be educators.
Tommie Nell attended Kingston schools from first to 12th grade and graduated in 1953. After graduation, she attended Oklahoma College for Women in Chickasha for two years before transferring to Southeastern and graduating in 1956 with a degree in elementary education. (The Oklahoma College for Women is now the University of Science and Arts Oklahoma.)
After attaining her teaching certificate, Tommie Nell was hired at Bartlesville and taught first grade at Will Rogers Elementary School. It was in Bartlesville that she met her future husband, Herb Flegal. They met at a YMCA pie supper and married in June 1958 in Marshall County. Herb was employed by Phillips 66 Oil Company.
In 1961,t he Flegals bought land north of Dewey and built a house. Tommie Nell had planned to return to teaching in the Fall of 1969, but the day she was to sign the contract, Herb received notice that he was transferred to Fulton, NY, and the family moved to Liverpool, New York, on Easter 1969. That began about 20 years of life on the road as the Flegals, moved about every six months so the family could stay together. Usually, Tommie was the only oilfield/pipeline wife on a job, and she would cook big dinners for Herb’s crew.
In February 1970, the family moved to Fairview, Oklahoma, for two years. In the fall of 1970, Tommie accepted a teaching job to reach 1st grade. After two years, Herb was transferred to Wyoming in October, and Tommie stayed until the semester break. Before then, she and their only child, Julie, joined Herb.
Tommie Nell did private tutoring as the family moved and would make some short-term contracts for teaching home-bound students before returning full-time when the family moved to Bastrop, Texas, in 1982. In the interim, she was regularly taught Sunday School and Ladies’ classes in every church they attended through their travels.
When Herb retired, Tommie Nell began looking for a job in Oklahoma or North Texas to be closer to family living in Oklahoma. She was hired in 1987 in Piedmont, where she taught school until her retirement in 1998. Despite her retirement, she missed teaching and loved keeping up with students via Facebook. She posted regularly on numerous Facebook groups, including local groups, Marshall County Oklahoma History and Memories, and Marshall County Information. Through these groups, many of you got to know Tommie Nell.
After being admitted in 1953, Tommie Nell was also a proud member of the Kingston Alumni Association. While there were a few years she could not attend because Herb worked in various oil fields around the country, she returned most of the years for the banquet, which often occurred near Mother’s Day. She was also heavily involved in planning her 50th class reunion in 2003. Because of the influence of Jay and Goldie and Tommie Nell’s dedication to public education, Tommie and Herb’s daughter Julie pursued a career in education. After receiving her doctorate, she became an educator. For many years, she was an instructor for the United States Postal Service, and she is now a professor teaching various classes at Redland Community College.
My family has had close ties to Tommie Nell’s family for over 100 years. After Jay left home, he lived in a boarding house in Aylesworth managed by my maternal grandmother,StellaHughes. When Jay was a student at Aylesworth, my grandfather, George S. Henry, was the Superintendent and teacher. There, they formed a close friendship that culminated in my grandfather hiring Jay and making him the principal of the Kingston Elementary School in 1941. Also, Tommie Nell went to high school with my mother and father, and she was a very close, lifelong friend of my uncle, Thomas Christian Henry. They remained dear friends until Tom died in early 2024. And since 1987, Herb and Tommie attended church with my parents until they passed in 2016 and 2021.
Tommie Nell was proud of her roots in Marshall County and a treasure trove of information about the county’s history. I regularly visited with her about county history; she was a collaborative source for many of the articles that have appeared in this paper over the past year and a half. She was happiest and proudest of my 2023 Thanksgiving article about her grandmother, Lucy Ivy Brown Payne.
Tommie Nell possessed the sharpest memory about facts and history I have ever seen. She could remember almost everything from her life, especially her youth in Brownsville, Kingston and Marshall County. Her ability to recall even the most minor detail was uncanny. She just loved talking about the “good old days” in Kingston. I will miss her memory and input into these articles.
As a lifelong educator, Tommie Nell was not bashful about grading my articles. She often said, “You received several ‘red’ marks on this week’s article.” I credit her for my improved writing ability; in recent months, she has commended me for not meriting any “red” marks.
While working on this week’s article, I received a call from a mutual friend and learned that Tommie Nell was in her final hours of life, so I went to see her late Saturday afternoon. When I got to her hospital room, her eyes showed the same sparkle I always saw, and she grinned from ear to ear. She wanted to visit to learn about my articles and Marshall County’s history. I told her what this week’s article, and she told me a few things that will appear below. She then began telling me some things about my family that I had never heard. And even in her final hours, her mind was as sharp as ever, and she and I talked for a while. As I left her room, I did not believe she was about to depart this life as she was alert and talkative. Sadly, less than 12 hours later, she was called home, and she left this realm and transitioned to her new life in paradise. At 89 years of age, Tommie Nell has been reunited with her husband Herb, her parents Jay and Goldie, her brother Eddie, and the rest of her family. She has obtained her Heavenly reward, and I know she is joyous. But I will miss my dear friend Tommie Nell, whom I have lovingly called my “other mother” for many years.
I will miss her sharp mind, memory, influence, and ability to teach me something every time we talked. Marshall County will miss her knowledge and recall of its history. Her many friends and former students will miss her friendship and the knowledge she loved to share. And, the Kingston Alumni Association has lost another 72-year member who was so proud of her heritage and roots in Kingston.
This article is dedicated to my friend and loved one, Tommie Nell Payne Flegal, 1935-2025. I will miss her, and many of you will, too. It is a sad day in Marshall County.