Clark, Georgie White (1910–1992)

Born on November 13, 1910, in Guymon, Oklahoma, Bessie DeRoss, who was later called Georgie, grew up in poverty. Her father, a tenant farmer/miner, was gone most of the time and later divorced her mother. Her mother, who became a laundress, raised her alone. In 1928 Georgie married her first husband, Harold Clark, and had a daughter the next year named Sammona Rose. They divorced in 1941 and Georgie moved to Los Angeles, California. Her daughter stayed with Georgie's mother until Georgie married James Ray White in 1942. Then Sammona came to live with her in Los Angeles, where they became very close, hiking and cycling together. In 1944, while on a cycling trip, Sammona was hit by a drunk driver and killed, and Georgie ...