April 27, 1931 ~ Sept. 15, 2024
Sue Middlebrooks died September 15, 2024 at the age of 93 in Dallas, Texas. She was born Danny Sue Powell on April 27, 1931 in Menard, Texas to Olin Dewitt Powell and Martha Jane (Pierce) Powell. Her mother was in Menard for help from her parents with the delivery as she had a fourteen month old to take care of. Sue was delivered by Dr. Locker and weighed in at 5 pounds at 9:15 p.m. that day.
She grew up on the farm outside of Littlefield, Texas. Her father was a farmer and ordained minister in the Baptist church. Olin Powell graduated from high school in Sudan, Texas. Sue remembers one time, when she was a girl, that Olin went to a family home on a dark night and conducted a wedding ceremony by the light of a coal oil lamp that she held. Sue's mother was a licensed vocational nurse. Sue's brothers and sisters were John Henry Powell, Charles Powell, Duke Powell, and Jane Powell.
Sue had her first job chopping cotton and pulling bolls on her father's rented farm. Sue participated for two years in high school in the choir. She is pictured in the 1946 Wildcat in the Sophomore Class and in the 1947 Wildcat in the Junior Class. She is pictured in the choral club and dramatics. She graduated from Littlefield High School in 1948 in the same class as her brother, John Henry Powell.
Shortly after graduation, in 1948, she became estranged from her father. Sue moved to town with $25 dollars and got a room and a job at J C Penneys and waited the two weeks to eat until her first paycheck came. Martha Powell moved back to Menard with the other children and was separated from her husband for a short period of time.
Later, still in 1948, Sue went to work for the office of city secretary of the City of Littlefield for $75 a month. She had the job until 1951. She lived in rented rooms until she met and married Allen Dale Middlebrooks on December 25, 1949. The marriage, at a Church of Christ preacher's home in Morton, Texas was witnessed by brother John Henry Powell, cousin Gerald Chisolm, and Dwayne Setliff and Edna Bridwell (who later married David). They honeymooned in LaMesa, Texas and then in Mexico.
Back in Bula, Texas, for a time, about six weeks, Dale and Sue lived with his mother and father until they bought for $1500 and moved into a house beside the station in Bula, Texas that Dale operated. They lived in the little house until 1957 when they moved to Littlefield, Texas.
Danny Sue received a draft notice in the early 50's for the Korean war because of her first name "Danny", everyone called her "Sue." In 1952 she opened Sue's Cafe in Bula, Texas and with a building eleven feet by twenty two feet, she had a bar with nine stools and three and a half booths. Dr. Janes told Sue in 1955 after she was pregnant that she could not keep the cafe so she sold it, and the building was moved to Morton, Texas.
On June 22, 1956 Dana Roxine Middlebrooks was born in Littlefield, Texas. After moving into Littlefield, Sue cooked and did sewing to help pay expenses. A son, Brett Middlebrooks was born January 20, 1960.
Sue started taking college courses in 1960 at South Plains Junior College and by 1970 graduated from Texas Tech in Lubbock with a bachelor's degree in education. She got her Masters Degree in Education from Texas Tech in 1985. She also obtained a Bi Lingual Certificate and an Early Childhood Certificate.
At age 38 Sue was baptized at the Crescent Park Church of Christ in Littlefield.
Sue taught in the Littlefield School system from 1970 to 1976. In 1976 Dale and Sue sold the Littlefield home and moved to Abilene, Texas where Dale was taking a Bowes franchise in the Abilene area. Dale did not flourish as a salesman and spent more and more time in Bula keeping the service station going. The family moved back to a house south of Bula in 1977. Sue was teaching all the while in Hamby and later Three Way.
Sue moved to the Dallas area in 1985 to live with Dana and started teaching in Irving, Texas where she moved in 1989. Sue then had the additional responsibility of her husband, Dale and her mother, Martha Powell. Olin Powell, her father, died in the summer of 1989, so Sue brought Martha Powell, her mother, to Irving, Texas to stay in a local nursing home which she lived until shortly before her death when Martha was moved to a Littlefield nursing home and died in 2000. Dale Middlebrooks had to have surgery to save his foot so closed and left the station in Bula and came to the Dallas area to stay and to be operated on by Dr James Brodsky at Baylor. Dale slowly recovered from the surgery, but was unable to work or drive again, and later underwent more foot procedures.
While teaching in Irving, Texas at Crockett Middle School in 1992 Sue was honored by Who's Who in American Teachers. Health issues caused Sue to retire from teaching in 1998 from Irving at Crockett Middle School but later she resumed the profession in 2000 at charter schools.
In the fall of 2003, Sue and Dale left Irving, Texas and moved to live in Dallas nearer to Dana. In January of 2004 Dale's memory decline had progressed to the point that he was placed in Littlefield, Texas at the Hospitality Center where he passed away in 2006. Sue continued to teach at several charter schools in Garland and Dallas, Texas until 2013 when she retired after over forty years of teaching.
She was a life long cook including her fried chicken, pastries, and pies, and she enjoyed big family gatherings, and the family loved those meals. She liked sewing and made clothes for the family. She and Dale also enjoyed playing "42" with family and friends and spent many hours in Bula and Dallas doing so. Vacation drives to Sipapu, New Mexico near Taos were annual family times for many years. Sue loved attending services at the Crescent Park Church of Christ in Littlefield and later in Irving and Dallas. She was loved by her family.
Sue is survived by her two children: daughter Dana R. Samuelson of Dallas, Texas (and her husband, Dr. Robert Samuelson, and his son, David Samuelson), and Sue's son Brett Middlebrooks of Irving, Texas. Dana's son, Christopher Shawn Ogletree lives in Visalia, California. Also surviving are Brett's sons, Dale Middlebrooks and his wife Liliana, of Irving, Texas and Jett Middlebrooks and his wife Daniela of Irving, Texas. Three surviving great-grandchildren include: Abigail Ogletree, Lucas Middlebrooks, and Vivian Middlebrooks. Sue is also survived by one brother: Charles Olin Powell and his wife, Lennell, of Early, Texas and many nieces and nephews who called her "Aunt Sue." She will be buried in Littlefield Memorial Park. No services are scheduled at this time.