G. Valois Crain Hagan-Holder (1925-2023)
Mother, Mimi, and Valois as affectionately known by her family and friends passed away peacefully and naturally at her home where an Angel was ushered into Heaven to join her Lord and her Savior, Jesus Christ on September 7, 2023, just three weeks shy of her 98th birthday. Valois was born to Dr. Solon Patrick Crain and Ethel Tennie Good Crain in Dallas, Texas on October 2, 1925, with the given name of Gladys Valois Crain. Valois has now reunited with her loving parents; father, Solon (re-m: Marguerite Starr Cates) born 03-01-1895 and mother, Ethel (re-m: Guy Meason Dennis) born 08-07-1897, her younger brother, Marvin ''Pete'' Good Crain (m: Carol Travis) born 08-16-1929, and her daughter, Holli Alicia Holder McClendon born 12-16-1970 along with other caring family members and dear friends that preceded her.
Valois is survived by her small, yet ever so loving close-knit family, being her devoted daughter, Maxelle Hagan Singletary, her nurturing son-in-law Terry Singletary, and her two loving grandsons; Braxton Lloyd Singletary and Cade Noell Singletary (m: Jacqueline) who tenderly refer to her as Mimi.
During her childhood, the family weathered and survived the Great Depression days of the 1930's by planting and harvesting cotton on the family-owned farm, which was eventually sold to and is now known as Dallas' Love Field. Just to name a few, one of her fondest childhood memories is of her mother making homemade grape jelly and feeding the birds on the back porch, watching her little brother play with his cars and trains, and being her dad's assistant at his Orthodontics practice initially located in Dallas and later he moved and settled in Midland, Texas.
Valois graduated high school two years early at the age of 16 from Dallas High School (Class of 1942) and was the Wolf Pack's Club Editor. After high school graduation, she went to an all-girl's private college preparatory school known as The Hockaday Junior College where she graduated in 1944. Valois continued her college education at Southern Methodist University (S.M.U.) in Dallas where she received her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in 1946. After graduation she married Max Lloyd Hagan on September 1, 1946. She furthered her education at SMU where she earned her degree of Master of Education in 1950. With the generous gift from The Crain Foundation, the pedestrian passageway across S.M.U. campus was completed, unveiled, and dedicated in 2015, named the Crain Family Centennial Promenade, which Valois proudly has her personally inscribed brick paver embedded within Section 4D of the Crain Promenade.
After earning her master's degree, she and Max moved to Lake Jackson in 1951, where she embarked on various entrepreneur business ventures. First, she taught 4th grade in Lake Jackson for one year and saved those earnings. Afterwards, with her BBA and Master of Education degrees under her belt and with her savings, she opened what later would be known as a well-recognized dance studio, in 1952, Valois' School of Dance, which was her passion. She owned and managed the business in addition to being the dance instructor where she taught ballet, tap, toe, ballroom dancing, and acrobatics in the rear section of the building. In 1953, she also opened a successful record shop located in the front section, called Valois Record Shop. She offered a ''demonstrator'' for the customers to listen to before buying, which was quite innovative in the 1950's. In 1954, Valois then opened a thriving children's clothing boutique and dancewear supplies, named Valois Children's Wear, which were all located at 22 Circle Way in downtown Lake Jackson where she personally selected the creamy-white fossil brick that currently remains intact today. Valois kept and still has one of those bricks as a memento. In 1957, she opened a second dance studio location located in the Tarpon Inn Village center, in Freeport, Texas. She enjoyed creating and choreographing the dance routines for the recitals, fashioning the dance set designs, drawing and painting the background set scenes, and embellishing costumes for the dance recitals. Valois was a member of the prestigious Dance Masters Association of America. For a woman in the 1950's, to own so many successful businesses, was quite an impressive accomplishment and at the time an asset to the Lake Jackson community as well. Various articles and advertisements were published in The Facts about her accomplishments. Valois has a Memorial Brick with her name engraved located within the entrance walkway of the Lake Jackson Historical Museum building.
Valois and Max parted ways, and she sold the businesses and moved to Angleton to begin her school district career teaching 6th Grade Science for Angleton Independent School District starting at Southside Elementary then transitioning to Angleton Middle School, when 5th and 6th grades were separated. Her favorite part was teaching the labs. During her classroom teaching career, she married Calvin Wayne Holder in 1968 and embraced her new extended family, Marc Wayne Holder and Kris Ann Holder. She and Wayne increased their family dynamics when their beloved daughter, Holli Alicia Holder, was born. After semi retiring, she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Lake Jackson for the Brazosport Independent School District. Valois' fulfilling and rewarding various teaching careers spanned over 47 years of dedication to teaching, educating, training, and guiding others, which she truly enjoyed, until her much-deserved retirement in 1998.
Valois was immensely proud of her heritage and being a Native Texan and during her summer's off from teaching, she treasured the long hours researching her genealogy and lineage, finding records and facts in various places like Tennessee, Colorado, Europe, and in the Washington, DC archives. After much research, a book was published in 1972 titled ''Ten Sons of Oliver'' where Oliver was born in Tennessee in 1824. Another book was published in 1988 titled ''Two Glass Buttons''. Valois delighted in attending as well as being the host family to the various Crain Family Reunions, held every other year and hosted across the United States, which were quite the social family event you didn't want to miss. Auctions were conducted to collect funds to donate to preserve historical family churches and cemeteries. She is a proud and devout member of the First United Methodist Church and enjoyed attending Bible studies. Valois is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Velasco Chapter 220, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Founding and Charter member in 1979 of the Daughters of the American Revolution Fort Velasco Chapter, the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, Lifetime member of the Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, and a proud member of the National Society of the Magna Carta, among others.
Valois remembered as a very kind-hearted, loving, sweet, mild-mannered, and very soft-spoken person who would help anyone, any way she could. She would often ask ''How are things under your roof?'' or when over for visits she would say, ''Give me a job'' wanting to help with the meal preparations. She loved relaxing on the backyard patio watching the birds and squirrels, playing board games, and just simply soaking in the calmness and peacefulness of nature. She would say ''It is so calm and peaceful'' and ''It's such a beautiful day!''. Valois also loved a good rainstorm listening to the thunderclaps and rumbles along with the pitter patter of raindrops. She treasured the simple life with friends and family and simple foods like fried okra (she liked to call ''Texas popcorn''), watermelon, corn on the cob, coleslaw, buttermilk pie, chocolate shakes, buttered popcorn, hamburgers ''no onions!'', soups, and a nice Sunday pot roast dinner with family being among her favorites. Valois relished playing the game of 42 (Dominoes), Canasta, Bridge, Chess, and WaHoo with her family and friends. She was a HUGE Astros fan, enjoyed traveling, an avid reader, loved listening to soft music with favorites being Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, and Tony Bennett, and took pleasure in putting together Jigsaw puzzles and Sudoku.
Valois remained independent and self-sufficient to the very end and expressed regularly how she was so thankful to be living in her OWN home! Living almost a Century of life on Earth (97 years, 11 months, 6 days), she experienced many changes, inventions, growths, and developments throughout those nearly 100 years, which she fondly reminisced about frequently. Valois was an outstanding, uplifting, encouraging, and loving mother to her children and a devoted and loving Mimi to her grandsons, Braxton and Cade. Valois, Mother, and Mimi will be deeply missed along with seeing those embracing and so endearing loving blue eyes. She will never be forgotten for she holds such an incredibly special spot in our hearts forever, together with countless precious and treasured memories. We all cherished every moment we were Blessed to spend with her. Heaven has gained an Angel and thank you, Lord, for sharing Valois Crain Hagan-Holder's enriched and wonderful life!
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