| Sources |
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 2 Sep 2009.
Former Great Smoky Mountains National Park residents Sam and Bonnie Trentham Myers to attend Park rededication
By Joel Davis
Two Maryville residents will be among the 2,000 guests for today's Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary rededication service.
Siblings Bonnie Trentham Myers and Sam Trentham were both born in the area that became the national park.
Myers, 87, said she and her brother were notified about the special invitations a few weeks ago and later received the passes. A bus will transport them from Pigeon Forge to Newfound Gap, where the ceremony will be held.
"I'm taking my granddaughter with me and he's taking his daughter," Myers said. "We expect to be cold."
Myers said she and her brother, Sam, were "born on the Gatlinburg side, just about a half-mile before Sugarland Visitors Center."
"I was 12 years old when I left there," she said. "We moved to Pigeon Forge when we sold out to the Park."
Living in Pigeon Forge was quite a change from life on the old homestead, Myers said. "Of course, there were a lot more people living there ... something which was quite different than what we had been used to," she said.
What Myers had been used to living in the area that became the Park, she said, was "hardly anything."
"I just remember the regular things that we did and so on. I don't remember anything special. We went to school and just did the usual routine that the children did. I don't think we did anything special."
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been celebrating the diamond anniversary of the congressional action that gave birth to the national park on June 15, 1934, with a series of special events.
The last of the in-park special events will be held today at Newfound Gap to recognize a significant event in the Park's history -- the dedication of the Park in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The invitation-only event will be held at the Rockefeller Memorial that straddles the Tennessee/North Carolina boundary at Newfound Gap.
Other dignitaries who will take part in the event include: North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen; U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan from North Carolina and Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and all three Congressmen whose districts include the Park, Heath Shuler of North Carolina and John J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. and Phil Roe of Tennessee.
Entertainer Dolly Parton, a Sevier County native, will also attend.
The major highway running through the Park -- U.S. 441 -- is closed between Gatlinburg and Cherokee, N.C., until late afternoon today.
- [S112] Census, 1930.
Name: Bonnie Trentham
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: District 11, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 8
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1922
Birthplace: Tennessee
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Affiliate Film Number: 2271
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Noah Trentham Head M 62 Tennessee
Mary J Trentham Wife F 43 Tennessee
Kate Trentham Daughter F 15 Tennessee
Gladys Trentham Daughter F 13 Tennessee
Harmon Trentham Son M 11 Tennessee
Bonnie Trentham Daughter F 8 Tennessee
Samuel Trentham Son M 6 Tennessee
Mack L Trentham Son M 31 Tennessee
Wesley Carr Head M 20 Tennessee
Reba Carr Wife F 18 Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Bonnie L Trentham
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 5, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Marital Status: Single
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Birthplace: Tennessee
Birth Year (Estimated): 1922
Last Place of Residence: Same House
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
N H Trintham Head M 72 Tennessee
Mary J Trintham Wife F 53 Tennessee
Gladys J Trintham Daughter F 22 Tennessee
Bonnie L Trentham Daughter F 18 Tennessee
Samuel E Trentham Son M 16 Tennessee
- [S25] Smith Mortuary Company, www.smithmortuary.com, 10 Aug 2014.
December 1, 1921 - August 10, 2014
Sarasota, Florida
Bonnie Trentham Myers (92) passed away August 10, 2014 in Sarasota, FL. She was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Ray T. Myers, her parents, Noah and Mary Jane Trentham, her son, Don Myers, sisters Gladys (Sam) Russell and Kate (Hulett) Stogner, brothers Sam and Harmon Trentham and her late husband, Roy Ruszkowsky. She is survived by daughter Lyn (Ed) Boyer of Sarasota, Florida, son Glenn (Sharon) Myers of Maryville, daughter-in-law Donna C. Myers of Knoxville, and sister-in-law, Ruby Trentham of Maryville. Her grandchildren are Andrea (Jason) Knight of Maryville, Jennifer (Greg) Qualls of Knoxville, Diana (Ken) Lennox of Tampa, FL, Amanda (Will) Purushotham of Knoxville, Aaron (Lauren) Myers of Knoxville, Eric (Olivia) Myers of Knoxville, Emily (Nick) Goddard of Maryville, and Andrew (Kirsten) Boyer of Sarasota, Florida. She is also survived by16 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. She was born about ¼ mile from the current Sugarlands Visitors Center before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established. In addition to church work and her work at Blount Memorial Hospital, Bonnie enjoyed collecting and sharing information about life before the Park. She wrote three books and spoke at numerous events on this topic. However, Bonnie often said her greatest contribution was that with her husband, Ray T. Myers, she helped to organize Madison Avenue Baptist Church and she gave it its name. Family and friends will assemble for graveside memorial at Grandview Cemetery in Maryville at 3:00 p.m. August 16 with Terry M. Russell, her nephew, presiding. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can go to Friends of the Smokies. Smith Funeral and Cremation Service, Maryville, 865-983-1000, www.SmithFuneralandCremation.com.
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