Lost purse reunited with family more than 60 years later

LEAGUE CITY, TX -- A purse frozen in time from the 1950s has been returned to the family of the original owner.

Andrea Beverly Williams was a student in Clear Creek ISD until 1962. However, the CCISD and League City community was recently transported back in time after finding her purse in the floorboards of the District’s oldest building.

“For the rest of her life, this is absolutely by far the smallest purse she’s ever carried,” said Beverly’s daughter, Rhonda Dohr. “I really wish she was here to see this. She would crack up at this.”

The school, which was recently turned into the League City Community Center, was being worked on when a contractor came across the purse hidden in the stage in what was the school gym. After CCISD and city officials were unable to locate Williams in any online records, a call was put out to the local community to help find her.

“Within a matter of 24 hours, we received so many tips from genealogists, aspiring private investigators and concerned citizens, which ultimately led to us finding her and her family,” said Richard Lewis, vice president of the League City Historical Society.

Williams, who passed away in 2015, would have been about 13 years old at the time she lost the purse, which was filled with photos, dance invitations and other various items common for teenage girls at the time.

“It’s really a permanent marker to say, ‘she was real’ long before we grow up and get married and have kids, we’re kids ourselves,” said Dohr. “We have thoughts, we have dreams, we have boyfriends, we go to dances. It’s a tangible way to say she was here, she was real.”

One of the many photos was of Robert Schleyer, a close friend of Williams at the time, graduated from Clear Creek High School and still resides in the area.

“Beverly had real significance to me,” said Schleyer. “I came from a crazy family. We became friends and from time to time, we spent time together. She was a life saver. The love, warmth, the kindness just exuded from her.”

Williams went on to marry and have nine children. Dohr and two of her sisters, Andrea Sanchez and Deborah Hicks, were presented with the purse at the old school recently and reminisced about happy times with their mother.

“As a kid, you think your mom is Wonder Woman, but to hear other people say she was a good person, is nice. It’s really nice,” said Dohr. “It’s kind of like a smile from heaven.”

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