Lennie Anna Grove, or “Coodie” as she was known to her family and friends, was the baby of the family. She was born in Cottonwood Oklahoma, about 1 mile outside of Coalgate on March 31, 1903. Lennie was a happy girl with lots of spirit and a touch of playfulness that endeared her to all who met her. She had many friends that she stayed in touch with all her life.
Lennie Grove, ca. 1918
Lennie attended Coalgate High School and was a Junior in the year her sister, Ethel, was teaching English at the same school. She was very active in school events and was given honorable mention for helping to organize the very first stage play given by a Junior class in Coalgate High School. She was a member of the “V.H.B.” club, a secretive organization of the Junior girls. Lennie also attended most of the football games when they were close enough to her home. During one of the games against their chief rivals, the Wampus Cats, of Atoka High School, she met her boyfriend and future husband William Wallace Betts, who played on the Atoka team.
Atoka "Wampus Cats" ca. 1920
As chance would have it, during one of Lennie and Wallace’s romantic interludes in March of 1921, Lennie Anna Grove became pregnant, three months before she was scheduled to graduate from high school. In the early 1920’s, this was cause to raise eyebrows so, before Lennie’s condition became apparent, and immediately after she graduated from High School, she was spirited away to Saint Louis, Missouri to stay with her brother Charles Gunnison until after she had given birth to her daughter, who she named Anna Bell.
Upon their return to Oklahoma, Lennie returned to her future husband Wallace Mitchell Betts in Atoka, and they were soon married.
To maintain Lennie’s secret, Anna Bell was sent to live with Lennie’s parents, Thomas and Sarah Grove in nearby Coalgate and the story was circulated that she was adopted by the Groves; a false rumor that persists with some members of the family, to this day (2009). Anna Bell grew up in the home of her maternal grandparents, thinking they were her parents. She is even listed on the 1930 federal census of Coalgate, as daughter to Sarah and Frank Grove. It is apparent from Frank’s correspondence with his daughter Hazel, who he referred to by the nickname of “Boog,” that he liked this arrangement. Anna Bell was a delight to him, and he loved her very much. He nicknamed her Tee-Tie.
For obvious reasons, Lennie is the only one of the Grove girls who did not graduate from college. After her marriage to Wallace, she took a position with Southwestern Bell as a switchboard operator at 104 North Delaware Avenue, in Atoka.
Lennie at the switchboard, ca. 1925
Lennie visited her daughter in Coalgate almost every weekend while she pursued her career with the phone company. She became a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church on the corner of highway 69 and East “A” street in downtown Atoka, just a few hundred feet from where she worked. Wallace opened a barber shop at 122 North Pennsylvania Avenue, the next block East and right behind the building where Lennie worked.
Wallace in his first barber shop, ca. 1928
Lennie visited her daughter in Coalgate almost every weekend while she pursued her career with the phone company. She became a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church on the corner of highway 69 and East “A” street in downtown Atoka, just a few hundred feet from where she worked. Wallace opened a barber shop at 122 North Pennsylvania Avenue, the next block East and right behind the building where Lennie worked.
Lennie and Wallace’s first home was less that one half mile from where they both worked and attended church, but they eventually moved to a nicer home at 1215 South Choctaw Avenue. Wallace built a new barber shop in front of their new home, and moved his business to this new location.
Wallace in his second barber shop, ca. 1954
Lennie’s father, Thomas Franklin Grove, was killed in a tragic automobile accident in 1931, that left her mother Sarah and her daughter Anna Bell alone on the farm. Since Lennie’s sister Hazel lived just across the highway, the two sisters made arrangements for Anna Bell to stay on with Sarah to keep her company with the understanding that Hazel was close by and would keep an eye on them. It also allowed Anna Bell to finish grammar school with the friends she grew up with.
It was 1935 before Lennie finally took her daughter to live with her. They had managed to keep their secret for 13 years and when they finally brought Anna Bell home, they perpetuated the adoption myth. The only difference was that Lennie and Wallace were now the adoptive parents instead of Thomas and Sarah. Anna Bell was 13 years old before she found out she was not one of the Grove sisters, but a Betts. Anna Bell finished her high school education at the same school her father graduated from in 1921.
Wallace Mitchell was an avid hunter, and found any excuse to close his shop to join his buddies on their many hunting trips. Squirrels, possums, wild boars and deer were just a few of the critters he bagged. He was also an avid fisherman and the tall fish stories that passed between him and his friends are legendary. Although all this outdoor activity made him many friends and contacts in the business and political world, it left Lennie on her own a lot of the time but she did not seem to mind. Of all the Grove girls, she seems to have been the happiest and was never without a smile on her face. She immersed herself in her work and church, and was awarded many honors at both.
During World War II, Wallace served in the Coast Guard and was stationed in San Diego, California.
Wallace in the Coast Guard, ca. 1943
At some point, Wallace was the victim of alcohol poisoning and ended up in a care facility in the San Bernardino mountains. Lennie transferred within the Bell Telephone company to their Riverside, California facility to be near her husband during his crisis. After the war, Lennie and Wallace returned to their home in Atoka, Oklahoma where Wallace re-opened his barber shop and Lennie returned to her original job at the phone company.
At some point, Wallace was the victim of alcohol poisoning and ended up in a care facility in the San Bernardino mountains. Lennie transferred within the Bell Telephone company to their Riverside, California facility to be near her husband during his crisis. After the war, Lennie and Wallace returned to their home in Atoka, Oklahoma where Wallace re-opened his barber shop and Lennie returned to her original job at the phone company.
With the help of his political connections, Wallace was elected to the Atoka Town Council, and through his political contacts, he actually served as the Sergeant of Arms in the Oklahoma State Senate for one term. Back at home he managed to be appointed Game Warden for his district, a position he held for many years.
In 1969, Lennie retired from the phone company after thirty five years of service and devoted all her time to Wallace and her church. Wallace, who was born on May 4th, 1904, worked in his barber shop until he passed away on June 27th, 1980. After Wallace’s death, Lennie immersed herself in her church, teaching Sunday School and organizing many of the church’s social events.
Lennie lived by herself for nine years before her daughter Anna Bell moved back to Atoka to help care for her. With Anna Bell’s help, Lennie was able to stay in her own home for another 5 years, but in 1995 she fell in her home and could not get up. Her doctors kept her in a nursing home for a while, and eventually she moved into Anna Bell’s home where they could watch her more closely.
Lennie Anna Grove passed away on January 20th, 1997 just two months shy of her 94th birthday, a testimony to her approach to life and her uplifting spirit.
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