PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
JANUARY 2016
that this cemetery was completely
forgotten,” she said. She went on a
mission to find, catalogue and restore
abandoned cemeteries across Parker
County. Mary Kemp founded the
Abandoned Cemetery Association,
an organization for which she
worked tirelessly for more than two
decades. V.E. Kemp died on March
15, 1998, just five days short of the
couples’ 53rd wedding anniversary. “We had a good life together,”
Mary Kemp said. “We worked hard,
but it was a good life.”
Judy and Morris White bought
Texas Butane while Mary Kemp and
Rusty Kemp bought the ranch from
the estate. “For 41 years my husband
and I had Texas Butane,” Mary Kemp
said. “We had eight employees. It
has tripled in size. We had a great
company and we still have a lot of
friends from it.”
Keeping a family-owned business viable for nearly 60 years during
ever-changing economic conditions
is quite an accomplishment. Staying
married for 50 years and facing a
variety of trials and tribulations is
nearly unheard of today. To do those
two things concurrently is nothing
short of astounding. But that’s what
Morris and Judy White have done as
husband and wife and as proprietors
of Texas Butane. “One lady came
up and said, ‘how do you do that?
You’re always together and you’re
always so happy.’ We had a man say
to us, ‘I wish I could make my wife
laugh like that after 45 years.’” So
how do they do it? “I think we
learned it from both sets of parents,”
she said. “Mother and Daddy were
married almost 53 years. His mother
and daddy made it past 50 years.
We learned from the best,” said
Judy. They also learned about how to
co-exist at work with spouses. “His
dad had Charles White and Sons
Auto on York Avenue. He started it in
1958,” Judy said. “He grew up in a
business, right here in Parker County,
watching his dad and mother down
there.” And, of course, Judy saw her
folks working together while raising a family. “This is more home to
me than any other home I’ve ever
been in,” she said raising her arms
as if to embrace the entire building.
“I’ve been around here since I was
28
V.E. and Mary Kemp
10. “He gets tickled at me,” nodding
toward her groom of five decades.
“We’ll leave at 7:30 or 8 at night
and I’ll say, ‘isn’t this just peaceful.’
I love the square. It’s home.” Morris
and Judy were dating when he joined
Texas Butane, part-time at first while
he was still in college, then joined
the company on a full-time basis in
1964. A year later they married.
“Morris always says he married
the boss’s daughter and all he ever
got was hard work,” Judy White said
with a laugh. “My parents started
the business in April 15, 1958,” Judy
said. “They always ran the business
together. My mother would come
down and do the books at night.”
According to Morris and Judy, the
Kemps became sole owners of the
growing concern in the early 1960s,
buying Tex Jones’ share after he
became ill.
Since that time, six generations
of the family have punched the
clock at Texas Butane. “My grandfather worked here from the beginning for my dad,” Judy said, adding
Jones’ father also came to work
there. “They were the two servicemen,” she said. “Daddy and Tex
were the two drivers.”
Recently, Brooklyn V. Hayes, age
4, a member of the sixth generation
of the family drew her first paycheck
from Texas Butane.
“Brooklyn posed for our calendar
picture and I cut her a check,” Judy
White said.
Judy has a long and distinguised
list of local who had worked for her
parents, including Joe Collins, the
first driver hired, ‘Preacher’ Woods,
who had been a deputy sheriff, and
E.D. Galbreaith, before Morris was
selected to take his place. “Old
time friends, old time Parker County
people,” Judy sighed. Since then
Morris and Judy’s three sons have
worked there, (two still do), along
with a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter worked there while attending college.
“I remember growing up and
when I was at the office and customers would come in, it feels just like
visiting with friends in your living
room at home,” she said. “It still has
that feel.”
Not every family could work
together as closely as the Kemps and
Whites.
“As parents, working our children,
I try to be fair to them,” Judy said.