Tena Taylor Ford
Tena Taylor Ford, age 94, passed from this life at home on March 13, 2019, in Flint, TX and was laid to rest in the Ford Family Cemetery, Eastland, TX. She was born January 6, 1925 in Prospect, LA to the late Carl and Eunavhee Willbanks Taylor. Tena was a graduate of Dry Prong High School, Dry Prong, LA. She graduated in 1947 from the Baptist Hospital School of Nursing, Alexandria, LA as a member of the US Cadet Nurse Corps. While working at Big Springs VA Hospital, Tena met and married Henry D. Ford from Eastland, TX. They lived in Big Lake, TX, raised their family in Abilene, TX, and retired to the family farm in Eastland, TX. Tena served many years as a registered nurse and retired as a public health nurse from the Texas Department of Health.
Tena fondly reminisced about her childhood of the Great Depression – “we were happy, everyone was poor, we were connected by community and didn’t know that we had nothing; we walked miles to school, sometimes barefoot and came home to a snack of sweet potatoes, slathered with butter; when our milk cow ran dry, we had no milk until she started up again. My mother had a big garden - which was her main job, to grow and prepare food for her family of 6 children. My father had a good singing voice and played the organ at Prospect Baptist Church." Tena was an enthusiastic fisherwoman; it was on the water where she found her quiet time. She loved sitting on her porch every evening, looking out over the lake. She was disciplined regarding her health, making time for exercise and daily walks. Tena always had a project around the house; she loved sewing, crafts and quilting – making beautiful keepsakes that family members cherish today. She was very giving, often cooking for ill or grieving coworkers, neighbors, and she loved shopping and preparing days ahead for company and the holidays. No one could touch Tena’s mesquite grilled steaks, chipped roast beef, chicken/dumplings and German chocolate and rum cakes.
Tena always went with the flow, refrained from interfering and complaining; she did not want to be a bother or burden to anyone. Her friends in later life commented that she had “a sweet joy about her that was contagious.” Tena was a humble, simple, independent woman - a servant to others - who took delight in life’s simple pleasures.
In addition to her parents, Tena is preceded in death by her husband, Henry D. Ford; brothers, Harlan Taylor and Raymond Taylor; and sister, Mary Daughenbaugh. Those left to cherish her memory include daughter and son in law, Terri Ford and Mike Green, son and daughter in law, Gary Ford and Corrie Cowley; grandchildren, Mark Green, Morgan Green and husband Thomas Davis, William Green, Elyssa Ford and Jamie Campbell, James Ford, and Anna Ford; great grandchildren, Kathleen and Tom Henry Davis; sister, Doris Perkins of Alexandria, LA and brother, C.J. Taylor, of Bonney Lake, WA.
The family expresses gratitude to the loving care provided by companions, Johna Birdsong and Deborah Dupont.