LIVING HISTORY
The much-loved Honey Sloan, mother of Tommy Sloan, was everybody’s
favorite relative.
“Kathy was kind of wild,’’ says Debra, who remains
close to her sister. “She would push the rubber band until it
almost broke.’’
Debra says Jo Ann did the best she could with the tools
she had.
“Mother was strict. She wanted things done a certain way
and she wasn’t very flexible. I think that had to do with her
grandmother Mother Lou and how she was raised. She was
a loving parent as well as she could love, and she got better
as she got older.’’
Jo Ann’s exacting standards were always in effect at dinner,
which was often served by maids. Silverware had to be set in
a certain order, hands had to be in their lap, the girls had to
sit up straight and chew with their mouths closed — “all the
things she would want for a perfect child.’’
Debra says she always tried to do what her parents asked.
“I was a good child,’’ she says. “I didn’t give them any
problems. I didn’t want to get into any trouble.’’
Mostly, the girls found affection from Tommy’s parents,
their grandparents Aubrey Sloan, a retired railroad worker
they called Aubie, and Honey Sloan, a longtime motor carrier
for The News-Tribune. “I got most of my love and affection
from Aubie and, mostly Honey,’’ Debra says. “She was a
sweet woman and good to me. She knew that I didn’t get that
type of love from Jo Ann or TL.’’
Debra says Jo Ann had Tommy take care of disciplining
the children. She says Tommy only spanked her once, when
she told an off-color joke. As they got older, both girls began
referring to their father as T.L., for his initials, Thomas
Leighton. Many of Tommy’s clothes were monogrammed
with his initials, which appeared in other objects throughout
the house.
“The best way I can describe T.L.’s parenting philosophy is
that children should be seen and not heard,’’ says Debra.
On family car trips, Tommy would smoke his long cigars
with the air conditioner on and the windows rolled up and
the girls couldn’t complain. “He had an explosive temper
and kept it in check more than you would think,’’ Debra says.
“But if you hit that button, just watch out.’’
The girls say that their parents never discussed business in
front of them and that they were unaware of family financial
matters in the early years.
56
As 1969 rolls around, Debra was attending St. Edward’s
School in Vero Beach, which at that time ended at ninth
grade. As 10th grade approached, she suggests to her parents
that she attend Chatham Hall, a girls boarding school in
Chatham, Va. Tommy and Jo Ann thought it was too far away
and, because the family had relatives in Jacksonville, they
compromised on the Bartram School for Girls in Jacksonville.
“It wasn’t their decision as much as mine,’’ Debra says. “I
wasn’t happy at home.’’
Though apart for most of the year, the girls and Jo Ann reunite
in the summer in western North Carolina where Jo Ann
pursues one of her new passions.
“We’d hole up in a hotel for about a month,’’ Debra says.
“Mother and I were very interested in ruby mining and
Kathy was interested in the guys toting the buckets.’’
As the 1970s approach, Jo Ann’s continued fascination with
North Carolina intensifies and a drive down a dusty country
road ushers in a new era for the family.
IN THE
NEXT INSTALLMENT
Stay tuned for Part III of the Cow Creek Chronicles
appearing in the fall edition of Indian River
Magazine arriving in early October.
What happens in North Carolina?
What’s next for Cow Creek Ranch
and its cowboys?
Does Tommy settle down?
HEAR THE COW CREEK
CHRONICLES PODCAST
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