Cora Lillian Engel

CORA LILLIAN DUMAS ENGEL, longtime Houston resident, went to meet her Lord and Savior on January 19, 2013, at the age of 92. Those who knew her best will always remember her as she was in her favorite photograph – a strong, smart and beautiful brunette leaning against her Ford convertible with her hair blowing in the wind.

Born in Troup TX on December 27, 1920, she was preceded in death by her parents, William E. and Cora Iva Burton Dumas; her husbands, Arthur William Riedel of Spring Branch and Henry Jerome Engel of Houston; and her brothers, Preston and Buddy Dumas, several stepbrothers and stepsisters and her son-in-law Bobby Juel Griffin.

At the Dumas Market, her father’s Troup general store, she tended the tobacco counter and was known for always giving customers a pinch more than they paid for.

She excelled in school, taking top English honors and graduating salutatorian of her class, as well as most beautiful and head of the pep squad. Her most treasured book back then was the Troup football team playbook.

Although she had wanted to be a doctor, after her father died while she was in high school and her mother suffered a debilitating stroke, Dib had to readjust her plans. She attended business school, then came to Houston where she worked for Mack Truck Company.

Dib met her first husband, Arthur Riedel - a rancher, mechanic and fiddle player - in the Gulf Coast Convertible Club, where he was President and she was Treasurer. Their marriage produced one child, Linda Ann Riedel, before Arthur went missing in action with the US Navy in World War II.

While working at AC Burton Chrysler Plymouth, Dib met and in 1946 married the love of her life, Henry Engel, who had a son - Jerry Lee Engel. The couple had three more sons, Hank, Joe and Bill, and a daughter, Lori.

Dib was a talented seamstress and an excellent stenographer, typist, bookkeeper and comptometer operator who could get blood from a turnip. She worked with husband Henry as owners of Harold’s Garage in The Rice Village, as well as at Utotem stores’ home office and Kelly Moore Paints in Bellaire.

Dib was a devoted Christian and a member of West University Baptist Church, where she enjoyed dear church friends and was an enthusiastic member of Primetime Singers. She also loved the water and boating, fishing, crabbing and pulling nets for shrimp. She cherished her beach house at Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula and produced many a seafood banquet there for her growing clan.

Dib was a world traveler, particularly fond of Australia, New Zealand and Paris. A constant and voracious reader, she adored the color purple and idolized elephants for never forgetting.

Her children will always remember their Mama’s strength, intelligence, unconditional love, the eyes she had in the back of her head and her privet switches.

She was fortunate to die peacefully at the dawn of yet another beautiful blue and sunny Texas day, undoubtedly driving off with her convertible top down, hair blowing in the wind and on her way to the Gulf of Mexico.