Creamer loving man to friends and family

He was a caring man to his wife and four daughters and that’s how his family and friends knew him.

“He was a very pleasant man,” sister-in-law and friend Irene Ribble said. “He was a good man and took care of his daughters.”

Ross Creamer of Portales died at the age of 82 at the Baylor Hospital in Garland, Texas. Creamer was born on July 21, 1921, in Dickens, Texas, a town east of Lubbock. He was born to Joseph Wesley and Winnie Battle Creamer.

He was raised in the Dora area and went to high school at a time where there were high schools in Dora, Rogers, Causey and even Lingo.

“We were very good friends,” Melvin Littlejohn said. “I went to Rogers High School and was in the same class as his younger brother, Keith Creamer.”

Now, Dora high school is the only one left. Ross Creamer played basketball in Dora.

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Littlejohn said. “He was a great basketball player. He was five years older than me and Keith. When I played for Rogers, I played against Keith, when he was playing for Dora.”

Ross Creamer married Marie South on Feb. 2, 1941 in Portales. The couple moved to Corpus Christi for a period of time according to Littlejohn and they raised four daughters, Kathryn Long, Marcy James, Teri Glisson and Melissa Blair.

Ross Creamer was a veteran of World War II and served from 1942 to 1945. He landed at Normandy on D-Day and served in the Army’s 28th Division, which was known as the “Bloody Buckets.”

Ross Creamer worked as a traveling salesman. He worked in the wholesale and retail dry goods business for 45 years. He met many people and became friends with them in his line of business.

“He made a lot of friends,” Ribble said. “He sold in four or more states. He was a big baseball fan and he enjoyed that a lot.”

He didn’t just travel around the state, he worked across the southwest and his company was based out of Denver, Colo.

“I worked for the Harrisons Store for men,” Littlejohn recalled. “It’s not open anymore, but it was open for 44 years. He used to sell a lot of goods to Harrisons Store. He used to do a lot of traveling.”

Ross Creamer was a member of the First Baptist Church since 1959.

Bio

Name: Ross Creamer

Born: July 21, 1921 in Dickens, Texas to Joseph Wesley and Winnie Battle Creamer.

Died: Aug 28, 2003, at Baylor Hospital in Garland, Texas.

Family: Wife, Marie Creamer; four daughters, Kathryn Long of San Angelo, Marcy and husband Walt James of Garland, Texas; Teri and husband Dale Glisson of Lavon, Texas. Melissa and husband Cleve Blair of Fort Worth, Texas. Five grandchildren, Joe Long, Lisa Velasquez, Chris Long, Mike James and Sarah James; two brothers, Keith Creamer of Wilcox, Ariz. and Loyd Creamer of Lubbock, Texas; two sisters, Jo Nelle Jordan of Los Lunas and Beth Sikes of Lubbock, Texas.