BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Members of law enforcement were no strangers to Grace Malone’s home, but it wasn’t because any laws were being broken, unless you count it a crime to provide someone with a delicious, home-cooked meal.
Malone worked as financial officer in the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office for 21 years and would often host suppers and parties for the sheriffs she worked for and their deputies.
She’s been retired since 1994, but you could tell the kind of impact Malone had on her bosses as all three sheriffs she worked for attended her 90th birthday party, which was held July 16 at Hope Baptist Church.
Dolph Reddish, Kenneth Etheridge and Bob Milner were among at least 150 people at the party, which also included current Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith (who was a deputy when Malone worked at the sheriff’s office) as well as family, friends, fellow Hope Baptist Church members and even three fellow members of Bradford High School’s Class of 1950.
“It was just lots and lots of people. It was unreal,” said Malone, who has two children (Jan McRae and Duane Searle), five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Theressa has always been her home
Hope Baptist was the perfect place for the party. Malone has attended the church all her life (beginning 9 months before she was born, she’ll tell you). Plus, it’s located in Theressa. She was literally born there and has lived all her life there. In fact, the house she lives in now off of C.R. 18A is approximately 2 miles away from her childhood home on Southeast 81st Street (past the Theressa Community Center).
“I didn’t move far away from home,” Malone said.
Malone, the daughter of James Dickinson and Delaney Dickinson Fisher, said children had to devise ways of entertaining themselves. Sometimes they threw a ball up onto the roof of the house, catching it when it came down. Sometimes they rolled a tire — either by itself or with someone curled up inside for the ride.
“We didn’t have any of the fancy stuff like they’ve got nowadays,” Malone said.
Neither the family nor most anyone else living nearby had a vehicle. When she and her family took a trip into Starke, it was via a bus that ran between Starke and Palatka. Malone said the family would get dressed up and walk to S.R. 100 to catch their ride, which cost 25 cents.
“We’d ride to town, do our shopping,” she said. “There was a little restaurant there on Call Street. I don’t remember the name of it. It was just a little hole in the wall. You’d get a hot dog and a piece of pie and a Coke for a quarter. Can you imagine?”
Malone remembers a trip she made to town with one of her stepsisters. They went to Florida Twin Theatre, where Malone saw her first-ever movie. Before that, they ate lunch at Koch’s drug store, which resulted in an incident that Malone can laugh about now.
“She left a quarter or something on the table,” Malone said of her sister. “I picked it up. Going down the street, I said, ‘Here’s your money you left on the table.’ She liked to have a fit. That’s when I found out you were supposed to tip.”
Electricity didn’t come to her home until the early 1940s. Malone remembers when her family got a TV.
“It was the first one in the neighborhood,” she said. “Everyone would come to our house. All the kids would sit around on the floor and watch television at our house.”
During her childhood, Theressa had a post office. Her mother, Delaney (née Hall), was its postmaster.
“The railroad track ran right behind their house through downtown Theressa, if you want to call it ‘downtown Theressa,’” daughter Jan McRae said. “Blanding was in big boom then, so the soldiers would come through there. The train would stop. They would get off there. They could mail their letters and pick up their mail.”
Malone’s mother also operated a store adjacent to the post office where the soldiers would shop.
“You could get a drink for a dime or a nickel,” said Malone, who worked in the store. “They’d give me a quarter or something, and I’d make change. They’d pretend like it was the wrong amount. They were trying to tease me, I guess.”
Malone went to Hampton Elementary School, which consisted of eight grades at the time. Her eighth-grade class consisted of her and six other students.
At Bradford High School, Malone played basketball and softball. During her senior year, the girls basketball team won the Suwannee Conference championship. Malone earned the senior superlative of Most Athletic.
Malone remembered a trip the team made to Fernandina Beach for a game. Afterward, the team was taken to a seafood restaurant, which Malone said was a baffling decision as most players never had much money on them.
What happened was most of the players bought tea — they had enough money to do that. A few had more money that was given to them by their parents, so they bought seafood dinners, which came with all-you-can-eat hushpuppies.
“We drank our tea, and they fed us hushpuppies off their plates,” Malone said. “They’d bring them more (hushpuppies) when they asked for more. That’s what we filled up on — hushpuppies and tea.”
Malone continued to be involved in athletics after high school, playing church-league softball. In fact, she and McRae played alongside each other for a time. Malone played second base, while McRae played shortstop.
It wasn’t until she reached her 50s that Malone gave up playing. The activity would cause her legs to cramp.
“I couldn’t run, so I had to quit,” Malone said.
A call that came at the right time
Malone had worked in a variety of jobs, with most of her time spent working at the University of Florida. In 1973, she got a call from Sheriff Dolph Reddish, who wanted her to interview for the position of financial officer.
A position closer to home appealed to Malone.
“At that time, gas began to get high — it’s nothing compared to now, so it’s what we thought was high. It was probably $2 (per gallon),” Malone said.
Reddish hired Malone, who was working as a secretary for a doctor from Taiwan at UF. When Malone informed the doctor she was leaving, he just sat there and didn’t say anything.
“I went back to my desk,” Malone said. “He then called me in (to his office) and said, ‘If I pay you $500 cash, will you stay?’”
She didn’t stay, but during her first days of working at the sheriff’s office, she may have wished she had.
“Every day, in my mind, I was quitting,” Malone said. “It was hard to learn. There was a lot to do.”
Malone, obviously, learned her job quite well, as it was the start of a 21-year career. She handled payroll for the office, paid the bills, worked with the sheriff on the budget, filled out the paperwork on new hires and even took dictation at times.
“Back in those days, all the paperwork was done by hand,” Malone said. “It was a lot of work.”
So much so that Malone said Reddish tells her every time he sees her that he wished he had paid her more money. He even wrote that in the birthday card he gave her this year.
Malone was no stranger to any of the sheriffs she worked for. Reddish was a year behind her at BHS.
“He used to like to tell me the reason he hired me was because I was from Theressa, and he needed some votes from Theressa,” Malone said. “That was a joke, of course, but that’s what he would say.
Reddish was Bradford’s sheriff through 1988. Malone then worked under Kenneth Etheridge (1989-92) and Bob Milner, who became sheriff in 1992.
Malone said she began thinking it was time to retire when a lot of the paperwork she had to deal with became more time-consuming. Her daughter said the introduction of new technology surely played a role as well.
“They brought in the real-deal computers about that time,” McRae said. “It was just too overwhelming.”
During her time at the sheriff’s office — and even afterward — Malone would sometimes treat the sheriff, deputies and staff to a lunch at her home. She’d host parties, too, saying, “I’d maybe cook a ham, and they would bring a covered dish.”
Malone’s family, of course, enjoys the fruits of her labor in the kitchen as well.
“She’s known for cooking,” McRae said. “She cooks a Morrison’s meal every Sunday still. In fact, she cooks it on Saturday, and everybody eats on Sunday and for the rest of the week.”
McRae said her mother can cook anything, but added, “Nobody makes greens better than her. And macaroni and cheese. Any of my kids will tell you that Granny’s macaroni and cheese is to die for. It’s the best.”
What is it about Malone’s macaroni and cheese that makes it so good? McRae said she doesn’t know. She only knows that for whatever reason, Malone is the only one who can make it.
“She will stand over my shoulder at my house and tell me what to do,” McRae said. “I can make it, but it does not taste like hers.”
Faithful
Church has been a part of Malone’s entire life. It’s more than just showing up and sitting in a pew, though. She’s been the Sunday school secretary at Hope Baptist for more than 60 years.
If it wasn’t Sunday school secretary, Malone would probably fill some other role at the church. She believes in serving God however she can.
“I just feel like being a Christian, I’m supposed to do that,” she said.
Such service was even evident during her childhood. When the role of Hope Baptist pastor was filled by a traveling circuit preacher, Malone and childhood friend Ruth Johns, who’s still her friend today, would perform tasks prior to the preacher’s arrival. They picked wildflowers along the side of the road to put in the vase on the altar. They cleaned the shades of the oil lamps that adorned the church walls and swept the floors.
Malone said during the World War II years, the church had a pastor who traveled from Palatka. He and his family stayed at her home.
As an adult, Malone would host lunches at her home for pastors and evangelists who came for revivals and other special church events.
Malone officially joined Hope Baptist when she was 11. Every year, during the church’s homecoming celebration, she’s recognized as its oldest member. The oldest member used to be her mother. After her mother passed away, the oldest living member was Malone’s sister Belle Lovell until her passing.
Her birthday party was attended by current and former Hope Baptist members. Malone said she saw some people she hadn’t seen in 20 years.
If her long association with Hope Baptist tells you anything, it is that Malone is faithful, which McRae said perfectly sums up her mother, whether you’re talking about church, family or any of the jobs she worked in the past.
“It didn’t matter if she was dead or alive, she was going to be at work,” McRae said, adding, “I’ve always said my word for my mom is ‘faithful.’ She’s always been faithful to whatever the event was.”
