Matthew and Rachel Fomby were lifelong Baptists and they raised their children in the Christian faith. Matthew died on October 22, 1930.

Rachel had a young man whom she wanted to marry, but she had an unmarried older sister and the union was not allowed. Rachel studied to become a school teacher.

While they were living in east Texas, Rachel was courted by Thomas Horace Stevenson and they fell in love. When her family moved from East Texas to Sweetwater, Thomas followed. Mrs. Fomby did not approve of Thomas Horace, but approval for the marriage was nevertheless given and he and Rachel were married

Thomas and Rachel were very poor and in their first year of marriage they went to Kansas where he shot rabbits to make ends meet. They eventually moved back to Texas and settled in the town of Sweetwater.

Thomas and Rachel were members of the Christian church and Thomas expressed a desire to go into ministry. The deacons of the church told him that they would support him and his family while he studied for the ministry, so he quit his job and made preparations for his studies. They never made good on their promise and he never did get the opportunity to enter those religious studies.

Thomas and Rachel had six children.

Jesse married Mary Rosetta "Molly" Sinclair. After the war, Jesse remained in the Airforce and they were transfered to the Air Force Base in San Antonio. Molly was an orphan and had abandonment issues that were made worse by Jesse's regular line of duty absences and, after the death of one of their children, they began to have marital difficulties and talk about divorce. Thomas and Rachel went to visit them in San Antonio to see if they could help repair the ailing marriage. Rachel was heartbroken over the situation and she suffered a stroke that brought on a partial paralysis and made it difficult for her to speak. She died two years later on June 21, 1950. She was survived by her own mother who died in March of the following year.