Yolande Marie Resweber Cox, Teacher

Yesterday, November 28, was my birthday, but is was ALSO the 3rd birthday of my grandson Trey Attilio AND the birthday my grandmother on my mother’s side, Yolande Resweber Cox, who was born in St Martinville, Louisiana on November 28, 1892. She was the widow of Cilton Paul Cox, who was from Plaucheville, Louisiana. Yolande and “C.P.” we’re married in 1919 and had 8 children in 13 years, making their home in Lake Charles. He died suddenly on December 30, 1935, leaving Yolande a widow with eight children in an economy still reeling from the Great Depression. It was a defining trauma for that family. My mother, who was 14 at the time, would for the rest of her life become depressed around Christmas time. But Yolande persevered. With babies, toddlers and young children in tow, Yolande went back to her alma mater, SLI (later USL, now UL - Lafayette) and ran a boarding house for a year while she got her teaching certificate for lower elementary education. She then returned to St Martinville, started out teaching in a remote one-room schoolhouse. Soon she made it back to Lake Charles and secured a position teaching there, where she taught for many decades. Here she is pictured with what I believe is the second grade class of the 48-49 school year at Cooley Elementary School in Lake Charles. Note that not all the kids have shoes. It was a large class.