Rachel Lenore Clopton was born on September 25, 1933, in Lee County, Texas to Winnie Velma Smith and Ernie Cecil Clopton. She was the first of five daughters born to Ernie and Winnie Clopton. She attended school in Blue, Texas and Thrall, Texas.
On October 18, 1949, 16 year old Lenore married 19 year old Cecil Winston Gould in Davila, Texas in a small wedding ceremony at the home of the pastor of the First Assembly of God Church.
In 1951, she and her new husband moved to Austin, Texas so Lenore could temporarily stay with her parents while Cecil was deployed in the Navy and stationed at Long Beach, California during the Korean War. She soon followed him to Long Beach after he secured housing for her but returned to Austin in 1953 to give birth to her first son, Larry Winston, at the Bergstrom Air Force Base Hospital. A few months later she returned to Long Beach to join Cecil. Their second son, Ricky Wayne, was born in 1954 at the Navy Base hospital in Long Beach, California. Cecil completed his tour of duty with the Navy and returned to Austin in 1955 where they began their life raising their family.
Lenore was a person who was not afraid of hard work. She held many and various jobs over the years but the most rewarding job was with the Manor Independent School District as an assistant teacher. Lenore had a writer’s passion and was author to her own biography as well as writing letters to loved ones.
Lenore loved to have parties at their home in Manor. The kids loved to ride the horses and hang out at her house. She opened her door to anyone that needed a place to stay.
Lenore cared for her ailing Mother for many years trying to give her the best quality of life possible.
After retirement, she and Cecil sold their home in Manor, Texas and purchased a home in Lockhart, Texas so she could enjoy her growing grandchildren. In June 2014, her husband of 64 years passed away and as her health deteriorated she spent her remaining years in a nursing facility.
Rachel Lenore is survived by two sons and their wives, Rick and Gayle Gould of Rockdale, Texas, and Larry and Jennifer Gould of High Rolls, New Mexico; grandson Joel Gould and wife Regina Gould of San Antonio, Texas; granddaughter Danielle Gould and husband Stephen Kunkel of Reno, Nevada; three great grandchildren, Paige Elizabeth, Joel Junior, and Jackson Wyatt Gould; three sisters, Lillie Glass of Arkansas, Sharon Foxworth and husband James Mower of Austin, Texas, Beverly and husband Warren Glass of Austin, Texas; plus numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
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