Ramona Toliver 83
Ramona Tennyson Toliver
Age 83
Ramona Tennyson was born in New Orleans on May 27, 1928 to Burdette Smythe Tennyson and William Joseph Tennyson. They had been married in the catholic church. Her father, who was from the Caribbean, was a coach and athletic director for all of the black high schools in New Orleans. Her mother died when she was 6 months old and she was raised by her paternal grandmother. She had two older brothers: one is deceased and the other lives near Philadelphia.
Ramona attended catholic schools in New Orleans until her grandmother died when she was 11. Then she moved with her father to Chicago where he was seeking a better job. By this time one of her brothers was attending Juilliard School of Music and the other was in the Navy. Ramona found Chicago to be an unfriendly place with much racial prejudice in evidence. She graduated from Du Sable High School in Chicago in 1946. Her father had made an arrangement with his good friend from the Caribbean that the friend's son should marry his daughter. So, when Ramona was 18, Daniel White-Brown came to Chicago to get her. He took her back to New Orleans, where they married and had two children 18 months apart, Daniel and Matilda.
The marriage did not work out, so Ramona and Daniel divorced and Ramona and her children went to live with her maternal grandmother. Ramona studied to become a secretary, but couldn't find work, and moved to Houston. She got a job as a clerk with the Houston Independent School District (HISD), initially at Blackshear Elementary. She stayed with HISD for many years, working at 3 elementary schools as clerk, secretary, administrative assistant, and in human relations when the HISD schools were integrated. She built a house in Houston's 5th ward 54 years ago (and she still lives there). At HISD she met Robert Toliver, who later was Assistant Principal at Sam Houston High School, and they married. They had a son, Robert.
Ramona went to Houston Community College and the University of Houston at night and became a teacher. She taught business classes and helped find jobs for the students. She retired from HISD in 1987 at age 59. Her husband retired later, became demented and died about 4 years ago.
After retirement Ramona became very active in community affairs. She obtained a large grant to fund a local substance abuse center. She became a leader of The Metropolitan Organization and active in the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. During Mayor Whitmire's administration she was an appointee to the Police Advisory Board, where she has served for over 20 years, including as president. She also works extensively with Target Hunger and arranges bus trips for the elderly. She says she can't remember all the things she has done.
Ramona says, "I try and treat people like I would like to be treated. I just love people." She attends Our Mother of Mercy catholic church in her neighborhood. She attributes her vitality and alertness to believing in people and says, "Maybe it's in my genes. My grandmother was 106 when she died. She crocheted without glasses." This was her maternal grandmother, who had an American Indian mother and Caucasian father.
Her most traumatic experience was at age 16 in Chicago when her father had a heart attack. She had to arrange for an ambulance, which required pleading the case with a city alderman.
Ramona is proud that her 3 children are all college graduates. She has 6 grandchildren, who are all doing very well, and 8 great grandchildren. She says that between her ancestry and the marriages of her descendents her family is like the United Nations.
