John Roland Wallingford

John Roland Wallingford was born to John Pinckney and Mina Edna (Hegar) Wallingford, in Joseph, Waller County. He was born at home, their second child (Virgil was several years older). Three years later, in 1916, their last child, a girl, would be born - Edna Ruth.

John Pinckney was a mail deliverer in the area of Waller County. In January 1922, when Roland was only 8, John Pinckney got pneumonia and died, leaving Edna with the three children. They moved, after a year or two, into Houston - Edna would later say it was because they were 'starving'. They lived for periods of time with Edna's sister Helen, and her husband John Page. This was through the late 1920s, and the Depression would have made it a hard period of time.

Roland only attended school until about the 8th grade, and then worked as he could find clerical type jobs. Virgil and Roland continued to live, through the early 1930s, with their mother and younger sister, moving from house to house, mostly in The Heights area of Houston, as they could find cheaper houses and jobs to work at. Roland eventually did enough night classes to get trained as an accountant, though he never had any formal qualifications - he continued in that field for all of his life.

In the middle 1930s, Roland was a dapper looking young man about town - and met Corinne Ogg, about 8 years younger than him. Corinne's Dad, Henry Ogg, didn't think much of Roland as a suiter for his 16 year old girl, but Corinne was pretty determined, too. They ran off to Hempstead to get married in 1938, expecting that Roland's Uncle Alvin (a Justice of the Peace) would be able to perform the marriage, but having to settle for some other official in the end. They took Roland's car on to San Antonio for their honeymoon, stopping repeatedly on the way to top it up with oil.

Roland and Corinne moved into various rental houses in The Heights, and started a family - Joan was born in late 1939. During the early years of WWII, the family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where John was born in 1941. They returned to Houston, and bought their first house - 5934 Grace Lane. Karen was born in 1942 - and that was all for the 'first part' of their family.

Roland began work for R.P. York, who ran a trucking company, still working as a bookkeeper/accountant - he would continue with York for most of his working life, though the company changed owners a few times, too. In 1951, Nick was born, and in 1953, Carl, the last of the children.

In 1956, Roland moved his family moved to their second, and last, home - 6720 Sylvan Road. Roland watched Joan, John and Karen get marred in that period from 1958 to 1964, leaving them with just Nick and Carl at home for most of the 1960s. Nick moved to Austin for university in 1969. Carl, several years later, stayed in Houston - and rented 5934 Grace Lane from his parents while he attended the U of H.

Roland, like his father and grandfather before him, was active in the Masonic movement throughout his adult life. Though his main membership was in Houston, he would regularly travel up to the lodge meeting at Fields Store in Waller County. He was also active in the Lion's Club for many years.

Roland never travelled very much - he only ever got to Canada once, back in the middle 1960s and to Mexico with a Lion's Club conference in the last few years before he died. But he did get as far as New Zealand, to visit his son Nick, in 1978.

He was only 67 when he died, an age in between his own father who died quite young, and his grandfather who lived into his 80s.

He is buried in Fields Store Cemetery - a place he spent a lot of time over the years. It was near where he was born and raised, and where his family had lived since the middle 1850s. His mother and father are buried near him, as are his father's mother and father - his mother's mother and father are at the Hegar Cemetery, not all that far away.