Family History Overview

Velma Morine was the daughter of Samuel Jackson Slaughter and Nancy Adeline Ballard. She had a twin sister named Thelma and two older brothers, Dewey and Buell. She grew up in Union County, Arkansas and married Wilbur Lee Cartwright, Sr. on June 2, 1927, in Ouachita, Arkansas. Although a brilliant man with an Eidetic memory, Wilbur Lee was an alcoholic. After much striving, Velma left him and bravely raised the boys on her own starting in the early 1940s. Through the years, she made a great impact on her sons, and then her grandchildren, who had a variety of names for her: Granny, Grandmother, and Memommy. Velma spent many years living with her sister Thelma in Oklahoma, before moving to Massachusetts to live with son Wilbur. In the 1970’s Velma moved to Florida for a year before moving to Pennsylvania with son James, and then moved to Texas with James and his family. In the late 1980’s Velma moved to Virginia to be with son Jackson.

She died on April 16, 1991, in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 83. She will always be remembered as a strong woman with a ready smile, loved much by her sons and grands!

Wilbur Lee Cartwright Jr.

The oldest son of Velma, Wilbur Lee Cartwright was born in September 19, 1928. He served his country in the Navy during the end of World War II and into the Korean War from 1947-1952. He returned home and was living near “Aunt T”, Velma’s twin sister who ran a boarding house for woman which included those working on dietary internships at the local hospital. One of those women was Olga Isabel Zaruba. They were married in 1953. They had 3 children in Iowa and Massachusetts: Richard, Bonnie and Nancy. They moved to Denmark from 1976-1982 and settled back in Massachusetts, splitting their retirement years between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Florida. Olga passed away in December of 2015 after what Wilbur describes as 63 years of fun! Wilbur lives in Massachusetts.

James Richard Cartwright

The second son of Velma, James was called “Jamie” when he was young and then “Jim” in later years. Jim served his country in the Navy during the Korean War as a Radiomen aboard the U.S.S. Whiteside from 1948 - 1952. He then earned a B.B.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1956 and taught a year of Economics and Accounting at the College of William & Mary in Virginia for a year before coming back to Oklahoma and working as an accountant at an oil company. When he needed to learn computers from IBM, his instructor was Dolores Virginia Witte. Jim and Lori married in 1958 and had seven children over nine years in both Oklahoma and Pennsylvania: Ann, Judy, Carolyn, John Clayton, Thomas Jackson, Elizabeth, and Linda. They later settled the family in Texas before cancer claimed Jim’s life in 1979. Jim left behind a legacy of laughter and love for his family.

Jackson Eugene Cartwright

Jackson Eugene Cartwright, my father, the youngest son of Velma (Slaughter) Cartwright and Wilbur Lee Cartwright, was born February 20th 1935.  Jackson ("Jack" as his friends call him, "Jackie" as his mother and brothers sometimes call him, and "Sweetie" as his loving oldest brother Wilbur sometimes _still_ calls him :-)) was born in Smackover Arkansas.  But he grew up in Oklahoma City Oklahoma where he met his lifelong wife, Shirley (Hill) Cartwright, while collecting for his brothers paper route.  After marrying Shirley, Jackson entered the U.S. Navy in his early twenties, where he found his calling as an officer and pilot. Not long after, Jackson and Shirley's first child Nancy was born, in 1956.  Jackson's career as a Naval office took flight as he became a pilot of the US Navy's Skyraider, a prop driven aircraft that Jackson loved to fly.  After a few intervening years, Jackson and Shirley's second child Kenneth was born (that's me), in 1964 in Beeville Texas.  Aircraft technology progressed and Jackson graduated up to piloting the Navy's A6 Intruder, a jet powered, low altitude, attack bomber.  One of Jackson's greatest thrills was to take-off from and land on his aircraft carrier as it bobbed in the ocean.  As the Vietnam War progressed Jackson was called into service there as part of his A6 squadron, based in Whidbey Island Washington state, where he and his family then resided.  As his squadron's XO and then CO, Jackson flew 300 dangerous missions in Vietnam, ultimately earning 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses during his tenure in the Navy.  Jackson's career as a US Navy Officer spanned more than 30 years, with the family living in Texas, California, Washington, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, and Virginia.  He and Shirley retired in Norther Virginia in the late 1980s, after his last tour of duty in the Pentagon.  Shirley and Jackson, as well as their daughter and son, then settled in Virginia, where they all reside to this day.  Jackson is also known for his extremely high moral character, his love of country, his devotion to his wife, and his handiness around the house :-).