Rosie May Rojik Shelton
Rosie May Rojik Shelton, 92, of Kingsland died March 22, 2011, at Kingsland Hills Care Center. She was born in Houston on Jan. 18, 1919, to Antonio Rojik and Rosa Snell, who had started out in Austria and Czechoslovakia.
She was the third of four children.
Reared by the ethics of hard work, she helped on her family’s farm with milking and working in the vegetable gardens. When she could, she would travel into Houston with her mother to sell wares on Saturdays.
She and Lloyd Jackson were married and moved to California, where they operated a dry cleaning/laundry service near Hollywood. They lived in the upstairs apartment where they raised two sons, Russell and Don.
In 1948, her mother became ill and died. Her father followed in 1952. After the death of her husband in California, she moved back to Texas to her parents’ home with her two sons. She was employed by Franklin Insurance agency and watched her sons go into the Air Force and Navy.
She then met and married Clyde Shelton. They owned and operated full-service gas stations.
In 1958 and 1959, she became a grandmother to Peggy and Russell.
She divorced her husband and opened a liquor store at age 50. She called it a “human antifreeze store.”
By the early 1970s, both of her sons had died. “The good Lord has the controlling hand,” she said.
In 1978, she purchased a place in Kingsland. She and her granddaughter Peggy would drive up on weekends to mow and keep things up. In 1980, she retired to Kingsland to live until her death. She always said her friends believed Kingsland is “God’s country” and “people just live better and longer up here.”
In December 2007, she became ill and moved to Kingsland Hills Care Center. In 2008, her granddaughter moved to Kingsland to take care of her. And with constant skilled care from the care center and her granddaughter’s love, she was able to get better and thrive the last 3½ years of her life.
Survivors include her granddaughter Peggy, Steve Sutherland, Cash and Leanne Burthold, and her friend Laura Stubblefield.
Donations may be made toward her uncovered medical and legal bills, and mailed to P.O. Box 855, Kingsland, TX, 78639, to Peggy Burthold for Rosie Shelton.
Arrangements by Putnam Funeral Home and Crematory, 145 Texas Ave. Kingsland, TX 78639, (325) 388-0008.