Dora Mae (Floyd) Branning (1915 - 1988)

Born 22 Feb 1915 in Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Wife of James William Kober — married 1930 (to 1940) in Vicksburg, Warren, Mississippi, United States

Wife of Verdell Branning — married 1943 in Vicksburg, Warren, Mississippi, United States

Descendants

Died 27 Apr 1988 at age 73 in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: L Kober [send private message]

Biography

Parents: Benny Floyd 1875–1925 Mary Temple Floyd 1890–1956

Spouses: James William Kober 1906–1981 (m. 1930) Verdell Branning 1915–1986 (m. 1943)

Siblings: Sidney P. Floyd 1906–1964 Otis McLain Floyd 1912–1962 Mary Lee Floyd Weiland 1917–1945 Nancy Bell Floyd Tompkins 1920–1998 William F Floyd 1923–2008

Dora was born in 1915 in Mississippi to Benny Preston Floyd and Mary Temple-Floyd. When Dora was 10 years old, her father was killed on the other side of the River in a work-related lumber accident (a chain had broken and a load of lumber had fallen on him). Benny Floyd was ferried over as fast as they could get him to Vicksburg, but it was too late. Her mother, Mary, was suddenly a widow with eight children. All the children, of an age, got a job. Dora worked in a sewing factory. When she was 15 years old, in 1930, she married James "Jimmy" Kober. She began an itinerate lifestyle, as Jimmy's job, working of the levee system for the Corp of Engineers (who were trying to control the constant and devastating flooding of the Mississippi River), kept them on the move. At last, Jimmy qualified as an electrician. Work was steady. He climbed the electrical poles and repaired them. They settled in her hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi, near her kinfolk. Disastrously, Jimmy took a bad fall off a pole one day and he was badly injured. He could not work, and this was during the "Depression". It led to very hard times. They ended in getting a divorce. (Jimmy later got better and was able to work again. He remarried.) In 1943, Dora Mae Floyd-Kober married Verdell Branning, who worked on the River. They had a happy marriage. I, personally, never saw them pass a harsh word. They made a good team, both worked very hard at their jobs and managed their money. They were rewarded with a moderate lifestyle. When Dora and Verdell were able to purchase their own home, she kept it immaculate while he enjoyed growing roses and built martin boxes. Dora retired from the Holiday Inn. They threw her quite a retirement party. Verdell retired from LeTourneau. Sadly, Verdell never had good health. He passed away in May 1986 of congestive heart failure, just over two months after turning 71 years of age. Dora bravely endured a two-year battle with cancer. On 27 Apr 1988, Dora Mae Floyd-Kober-Branning passed away in a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi at 6 o'clock in the afternoon on 27 Apr 1988 at 73 years of age.

Sources

• Year: 1930; Census Place: Beat 5, Warren, Mississippi; Page: 26B; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 2340904: Ancestry Sharing Link
• 1931 City Directory, Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi: Ancestry Sharing Link
• Year: 1940; Census Place: Vicksburg, Warren, Mississippi; Roll: T627_2074; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 75-10A: Ancestry Sharing Link
• WWII Draft Card: Ancestry Sharing Link
• Year: 1950; Census Place: Vicksburg, Warren, Mississippi: Ancestry Sharing Link
• Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.
• Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
• "Find a Grave," database with images, (Find A Grave: Memorial #175419816 : accessed 23 August 2022), Memorial page for Dora Mae Floyd Branning (22 Feb 1915-27 Apr 1988), citing Green Acres Memorial Park, Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, USA; Maintained by RiverMiss (contributor 49181046).