Marion Brooks Price, a native Texan who lived a full life in and around Hays County has died. Marion passed away on July 20, 2022, in Austin, Texas at the age of 85. She was born April 4, 1937, at home in Real County, Texas near the beautiful Frio River.
Her parents were Mona Porche Brooks, who was from Sabinal and Elvin Virgil (Gap) Brooks of Leakey. She was their third child, and she had two older sisters, Lorraine and Peggy. Her brother Jerry came next. With the passing of Marion, all of the Brooks nuclear family is now gone, but they are not forgotten.
Marion was surrounded by kith and kin in this tight-knit and resilient niche of the Hill Country. They helped each other make it through when things were tough during the Depression, which lasted longer in the Texas Hill Country than it did in other parts of the country. Marion remembered cabins with hard-packed dirt floors and kerosene lamps. She spoke of good times in Leakey, playing with cousins, climbing trees and having her grandmother across the road whose door was always open.
When Marion was nine, the family moved to San Marcos, where she finished school. She graduated from San Marcos High School in 1955. She continued living at home and walked up the hill to Southwest Texas State Teachers College for her teaching degree. As she always did wherever she went, Marion made friends and enjoyed good company in college. She spoke fondly of how caring and supportive her professors were. After graduation, she taught elementary school in New Braunfels for a short time. She married Young Price in 1960. She then quit teaching to raise children, as was very common at that time. But, she never stopped working. Marion was a substitute teacher for the Hays Consolidated School District for many years.
Raising four children in the sixties and seventies in Hays County was a challenge, but not impossible – because Marion was always ready with a plan and a way to get everybody organized. She and Young had a two-bedroom house above Five Mile Dam, where they had Cynthia, Spencer and Holland in quick succession. In 1968, when Marion was pregnant with Evelyn, they built a house on their ranch near Driftwood and moved there. Eventually, they divorced.
In the 1990’s, Marion moved to Blanco to teach Head Start. She rented a cabin on the banks of the Blanco River. Her grandchildren, Andrea, Cameron, Sebastian and Scarlet have good memories of visiting “Silly Grandmother” there.
During her time as a teacher in Blanco, she spent her summers traveling. Her trips included China, Russia, and Australia. After she retired, Marion moved to Austin and did some more traveling. She went back to England where she had been once before as a young woman helping her sister. She also went back to Ireland where she had been once with Evelyn. Finally, she settled in to live with Evelyn in Austin. Marion always loved to read, so she spent her time listening to books and telling interesting stories of her childhood to her granddaughter Ava.
Marion is survived by her children – Cynthia Phillips (Randy), Spencer Price (Caroline), Holland Price and Evelyn Hernandez (Joe). Her grandchildren are Andrea Horne (Daniel), Cameron Phillips (Rebecca), Sebastian Price, Scarlet Justice (Bryan), Virginia Price and Ava Hernandez. She is also survived by great-grandchildren – Calvin Horne, Sylvia and Silas Phillips, Margaux Price and Connor, Colton and Cooper Justice.
