Biography of my Dad, Morris Edward Belt By Skip Belt

My Dad, Morris Edward Belt lived in Silsbee the first 16 years of his life. The family was large, six children, and Morris was the oldest and only boy. He was "Bud" to his five sisters. Their home was a small frame house but additions were added as the children came. Neighbors were not close, but the Marshall family across the street were good friends and a son, Foach, was Morris' pal during those school years.

It was the 1930's and the Big Depression was on. It was hard enough to feed a family when there was income, but unfortunately, disaster struck. Dad's father was critically hurt in a train wreck when his locomotive was overturned. He was scalded (by the steam) and his leg permanently damaged. Long months in the hospital followed. There was no income but credit was allowed at the grocery store. However, Dad's mother charged only the bare necessities. They ate only beans and cornbread frequently. Dad told us about wearing underwear made from feed sacks. He wore bib overalls to school when other boys wore khaki pants. His after school jobs were delivering milk and helping his Uncle Bear on his farm. But everyone was feeling the depression hardships, and the Belt family survived thanks to a resourceful, creative mother.

While in high school, Dad wrote a column for the newspaper that he called "Nappy's Notebook." HE coined that title from his interest in reading about Napoleon, a cocky, strutting leader. The newspaper article often contained Dad's rhymed verses, we later called poetry.

Dad played violin in the high school orchestra, His violin was a well-made instrument and a special gift from his father, who also arranged for the lessons from a gifted teacher. Mr. Volpe came up to Silsbee from Beaumont each week and may have been instrumental in getting the music scholarship which allowed Dad to attend Lamar Junior College.

The Belt family moved to Beaumont so that Morris could attend college, During the two years at Lamar, Dad sang, acted and played in the orchestra in all the musical shows, many of them Gershwin plays such as "Show Boat," etc. He was lead violinist in the orchestra. Along with those fun times, Dad continued to work at odd jobs for all his spending money. Besides cleaning floors for the college, he also delivered groceries on Saturday, pulling them in a little red wagon to customers in the neighborhood of the corner Piggley Wiggley store.

My Dad, Morris met my Mother, Helen, at the start of his second year at Lamar. They dated during Helen's senior year of high school; then both enrolled in college at North Texas State University at Denton. Morris and Helen finished one year at North Texas , but war was declared in December, 1941, and life changed drastically. They were married on Christmas Day, 1941. Morris joined the Navy and was sent to Corpus Christi for Boot Camp during the summer of 1942. (Their war years experiences can be read in Helen's memoirs of World War II.)

After peace was declared, the task of family building and jobs began for veterans. Morris was a good salesman and began working in the insurance business. They moved to Houston with two children. Nine years later there were two more - Skip, Susan, Sally and Christy in all. Over the years, Morris held a good many jobs, some in sales, some in the medical profession and twice in business for himself. His experience as a detail sales manager for a national drug company led him to open a physicians' drug supply company.

In later years, he owned a bail bond company. He especially enjoyed the contact with lawyers and judges. My Dad's oldest friend Charlie Whitfield, a practicing lawyer and also owner of a bonding company persuaded Dad to join him. Soon after, Dad started his own bail bond company that he named "ABRACADABRA" as if he had the magic to get people out of jail. He practiced this magic for twenty-five years until his retirement. Charlie was a friend from way back in Lamar Junior College when both spent their evenings scrubbing floors to make a little money. Those two cronies, when young men, dreamed of becoming millionaires before they were 30 years old. They both worked hard, but never came close to wealthy.

Retirement at age 75 was necessary when Dad suffered a stroke shortly after having triple by-pass heart surgery. But the years that followed were peaceful and pleasant. He loved his house and yard. He took great pride in his four children. Working crossword puzzles was a hobby, and he proudly declared he did them with a pen, never needing to erase. He loved to play bridge and attended bridge games and potluck lunches at the community center all during his retirement years. My Dad, Morris Edward Belt, was such a healthy man that he claimed he would live to be a hundred. But unbeknownst to him, pancreatic cancer attacked suddenly at age eighty-four. The end was swift and, thankfully, without pain and suffering. He was gone November 8, 2005, but left many good memories - a devoted family man to wife and children and brother to his five loving sisters.