Myra Dean Jean (Shields) Toussaint-Devine (1926 - 2015)

Born 16 Sep 1926 in Hammond, North Township, Lake, Indiana, United States

Ancestors

Daughter of Casper Dean Shields and Mamie Lucy (Gowens) Toussaint

Wife of Richard Alan Slusser — married about 1949 (to about 1963) in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Wife of William Crill Devine — married about 1963 (to 25 Aug 2000) in San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States

Died 16 Jan 2015 at age 88 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Nicolette Toussaint [send private message]

Biography

Myra Dean / Myra Jean Shields Toussaint (Toussaint-Devine) was born on September 16, 1926, in Hammond, Indiana^[1] Myra was an only child, the daughter of Mamie Lucy Gowens Toussaint. Myra was not too sure who her biological father was, but she had a life-long relationship with her stepfather, Eugene Antoine Toussaint.

Schooling

Myra was a Registered Nurse

Late in life, Myra, whose parents had high school educations or less, earned two master's degrees from Arizona State University.

She also taught college-level art history classes.

Mysteries of Myra's Parentage

Myra grew up knowing that the name of her mother's first husband was Casper Shields, but she was unsure of whether Casper was her biological father.

According to her birth certificate, which Myra never saw, Myra's middle name was originally "Dean", matching Casper's middle name. Myra was never able to find that birth certificate; Mamie said it had burned up in a courthouse fire.

Mamie was evasive about the subject of Myra's biological father, and Myra was brought up by her stepfather, Eugene Antoine Toussaint^[2]. When asked how she and Gene met, Mamie would tell her grandchildren that they "were neighbors". (A true statement that glosses over a local scandal.)

Gene Toussaint acted as Myra's active stepfather throughout his life, and he was involved with Myra's children, Tani Nicolette and Gene Christopher, as an active grandparent.

As she approached the end of her life, Myra became less and less sure of her parentage. She told her daughter she might be the daughter of a maternal aunt, given to her parents to "shore up" their marriage. Mamie and Casper had remained childless for years into their relationship.

Myra confided to her son that she had memories of being abducted as a small child. Maybe she was in the wrong family altogether?

Myra's Marriage to Richard Slusser

Myra married Richard Alan Slusser in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. They had met at a student dance on the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology, where Richard was earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. The IIT campus is near Presbyterian St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing, where Myra was studying to become a registered nurse.

After their marriage, Myra and Richard had two children:

• Tani Nicolette Slusser Toussaint, born 11 Nov. 1951
• Gene Christopher Slusser, born 8 Feb, 1955

Dick and Myra were divorced in 1963.

Myra the Ski Patrolman

Myra brought her children up skiing, hiking and mountain climbing.

Myra Toussaint Slusser fought her way onto the all-volunteer – and nearly all-male – National Ski Patrol in 1959. It was quite a battle.

Myra, who learned to ski in her 20s, had to learn how to tackle steep terrain in crusty, windy and bitterly cold conditions. She had to be able to handle steel-and-wood toboggans that weighed far more than her 105 pounds. And she had to skin up from Arapahoe Basin’s 10,780-foot base to the Midway, well over 12,000 feet, in a timed and competitive climb. It took several seasons for her to finally rank well enough against the boys to make the cut.

But make it she did, joining a pretty elite group of women ski “patrolmen.” (That’s what they were called back then.)

Since Myra was a registered nurse, her son and daughter were well-coached as volunteer victims. They knew the difference between sprains and broken bones and how to act if we had gotten a concussion from hitting a tree. They got to sit on the idled chairlift while patrollers threw a rope up over the chair and then hoisted a wooden-bottomed canvas bag up to the kids. They would jump inside and be lowered to the ground. That was almost as much fun as riding in a toboggan, or on one of the new, lightweight aluminum akia sleds that Myra handled so confidently.^[3]

It was because of Myra that her daughter learned to ski before she could walk – or at least before she could walk well. Tani Nicolette was extremely pigeon-toed, and at three, still tripping over her own feet. The family doctor prescribed leg braces. Myra hated them almost more than her daughter did.

A doctor at the Denver hospital where Myra worked provided a much better prescription -- a pair of skis! (Cross your skis and you fall).

Nothing matched Myra's aplomb when the family had to hang out on Loveland Pass, waiting for the Seven Sisters avalanches to be shot down with howitzers and plowed off the road. When that happened, Myra would knock on the windows of nearby cars and invite folks into our homemade camper for hot chocolate and Chinese checkers.

Myra's Marriage to Bill Devine

Myra was remarried in her thirties to William Crill Devine (born 15 Dec 1919, Seattle, Washington) and that marriage was "until death do us part", lasting until Bill's death on 25 Aug. 2000.

Myra used the name Myra Jean Toussaint-Devine for the rest of her life.

Death and Burial

Myra died on January 16, 2015 in Denver, where her son had moved her after it became impossible for Myra to live alone in the home she shared with Bill for many years.

Myra's ashes are entombed at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona^[4].

Research Notes

After Myra's death in 2015, Myra's daughter Nicolette Toussaint sought to resolve Myra's doubts using both paper trail research and DNA. Nicolette was able to find Myra's birth certificate. It shows Casper Shields as Myra's father, and it also shows Myra's original middle name as "Dean".

After finding newspaper clippings about the Shields' divorce and Mamie's flight with infant Myra, Nicolette was additionally able to confirm the parent-child relationship between Myra and Casper with DNA.^[5]

As of 2022, Nicolette has found no paperwork attesting to Gene Toussaint's official adoption of Myra.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth certificate for Myra Dean Shields: [1]
2. ↑ Eugene Antoine Toussaint, born 18 Jan, 1896, French Village, Canteen Township, St. Clair County, Illinois
3. ↑ First-hand recollections of Myra's daughter, Tani Nicolette Slusser Toussaint, April 20, 2022.
4. ↑ Find a Grave Index 16 Sep 1926 DEATH, 16 Jan 2015 (aged 88). BURIAL, National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. PLOT: SECTION A2 ROW A SITE 27
5. ↑ DNA Match. Nicolette Toussaint, having no living maternal relatives, was able to triangulate biological relationship to a living maternal 5th-8th cousin, Susan Renfro Anderson. Susan and Nicolette share 11 cM DNA across 1 segments, and according to their Ancestry.com DNA profiles and family trees.

DNA

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal GEDmatch comparison between Nicolette (Slusser) Toussaint , GEDmatch kit # CG7248614, and Betty Bell, GEDmatch kit # A474143, (compare kits), her 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most-recent common ancestors are James Shields and Elizabeth Hunt, the great great grandparents of Nicolette (Slusser) Toussaint and great grandparents of Betty Bell. Predicted relationship from GEDmatch: MRCA = 4, based on sharing 53.2 cM across 4 segments.

• Birth Certificate of Myra Dean Shields (name changed to Myra Jean Toussaint during her childhood). Source Citation: Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, Indiana; Births; Year: 1926; Roll: 019

(also attached as an image)

• Marriage of Mamie Gowens and Casper Shields, . Source Citation

Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm] Description Year or Year Range: 1914-1925. Also [2]

• 1950 Census. Source Citation United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 6251; Sheet Number: 2; Enumeration District: 103-45855. Also: [3]

• Myra in US Nursing Corps: National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Cadet Nurse Corps Files, compiled 1943 - 1948, documenting the period 1942 - 1948; Box #: 191. Description, First Letter of Surname: T. Also at [4]

• Find a Grave Index: Find a Grave Index 16 Sep 1926

DEATH, 16 Jan 2015 (aged 88). BURIAL, National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. PLOT: SECTION A2 ROW A SITE 27. Also[5]