Re: Jesse Eaker from Cleveland County, NC
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In reply to:
Re: Jesse Eaker from Cleveland County, NC
7/20/00
Lorena,
Just wanted to give you a couple updates. My mother was Vivian Athel Eaker Champion. Her father was Lee Summerow Eaker, whose father was the same Jesse Eaker referred to here. In fact, my Uncle Paul Eaker and my 1st cousin - once removed Gene Eaker both live within a short distance of Jesse's home.
I have both the original Shoe Cobbler's Kin and the update. Since there are so many entries from Bollinger County, Missouri, my wife Paula and I decided to drive through there once on our way from Kansas (current home) to NC. I was stunned to see how similar it is to Cleveland County, NC. I guess "birds of a feather" do stick together.
My most important purpose in writing is coming now. It's a "bad-news" - "good news" story. My mother died of breast cancer on July 30, 2002. On December 6, 2002 Paula's and my son, Benjamin Lee Champion (graduate of Kansas STate University) was named one of our nation's 32 annual Rhodes Scholars! He has just finished his first year of study at Oxford University in England. The Rhodes, in addition to opening incredible opportunities that Ben would otherwise never find, is so lucrative that it allows him to pay the entire cost of his studies and have money left over!
By the way, his doctoral program upgrade proposal has been approved, so he will spend the next two years researching and writing a dissertation on the subject of sustainable living on the great plains of the US, with particular focus on cultural aspects and opportunities to reduce our dependence on finite resources such as fossil fuels.
Thanks,
Mike Champion
1417 South Avalon Lane
Olathe, KS 66062
913-764-9482
p.s. My Aunt Mildred, who worked a lot on our genealogy for years, is now 81 years old and in a nursing home. My Uncle Jim, who first made the contact with you through his truck driving to Danville, VA, is also still alive and doing ok.