An American family tradition — and especially an Alabama tradition — is the camaraderie of cousins.
Cousins grow up together. They share grandparents. Their parents’ siblings are their aunts and uncles. They know family stories (and secrets).
Due to modern living in different areas and smaller family sizes, the closeness of cousins has decreased in many families. Plus, there are the distractions of modern life.
For many families, the only times they see their cousins in adulthood are at funerals, weddings, graduations and some holidays. Others only communicate by phone and computer. Some may not communicate at all, sadly.
One extended family that has remained close through the generations is the “McCarron Cousins,” mostly based in Mobile. Of course, their last names are all over the place due to marriages.
The current group of McCarron Cousins met Friday at Roshell’s Restaurant in the Crichton area of Mobile. That’s where they’ve lunched monthly since 2003. It’s an old-school (1953) meat-and-three, featuring hamburgers and seafood. And Roshell Flowers, the owner, is part of the extended McCarron family. She had to work, as always, during lunch, but came in for the photos and to check on everybody.
Roshell’s has a separate dining room in the back. It is perfect for a family lunch.
This month’s cousin lunch drew 14 kinfolk and one news reporter from 1819 News, who happened to know two of the current attendees and two who are no longer with us. How do you think we found out about this story?
The lunch bunch idea came in 2003 when a family matriarch, Sadie Betancourt, died. Her three daughters and their cousin Margaret Floyd Wilcox started the lunch bunch. It has continued ever since.
You can probably figure out that the McCarron Cousins are not all cousins but include siblings, parents, grandparents, nephews, nieces, in-laws and all types of kinfolk. The “McCarron Cousins” have many cousins, but they are actually part of the “McCarron Kin.”
The last names of the group members tell a lot – Wilcox, Betancourt, Pierre, Rhodebeck, O‘Donnell, Byrd, Byrne, Flowers, Brown, Lott, Mixon, Carrigan and too many others to list.
You might also note that the group is predominantly of Mobilian descent, with a significant Irish and Scottish heritage, and Catholic. When the group joined in blessing the food before lunch, you saw signs of the Cross and an out-loud version of what sounded like the Hail Mary.
The group has produced two priests so far. One is living and one is deceased. Father Gil Pierre is now over the parish at St. Mary’s in Opelika.
The group has also produced not one, but two, state appellate court clerks in Montgomery, who are indeed high-ranking judicial officials. Megan Rhodebeck is clerk of the Alabama Supreme Court, and her husband, Seth Rhodebeck, is clerk of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. Talk about a power couple.
The group also has its own state legislative representative. State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile), a member of the McCarron group’s second generation, represents Mobile’s District 104 in the Alabama Legislature. She came by her interest in government naturally. Her deceased father was Ralph Wilcox, a longtime political activist in Mobile. Ralph is likely looking down delightedly from above at his daughter, Rep. Wilcox, his wife, Margaret, who is alive and well at 87, and the entire McCarron group, his kin. What a legacy.
The McCarron bunch is distantly related to the sports family McCarron – Alabama national championship-winning (twice) quarterback A.J. McCarron, brother Corey, and father Tony.
The lunch bunch shows no signs of dying out or shrinking. The third-oldest “cousin,” Mary O’Donnell (there’s a good Irish name) has produced 18 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren with one more on the way.
At the March 2025 lunch, member Margie Wilcox brought her eight-month-old grandchild, Christopher. There were five generations there.
Across the nation, demographic so-called experts are calling for more people to birth more children. They don’t have to waste time on Alabama’s McCarron family, who are growing the flock on their own without outside advice.
If you come for an old-school lunch at Roshell’s on the last Friday of the month at 11 a.m., plan on taking a table in the front. The McCarron Cousins will be in the back room. And you can hear them before you can see them.
“…we’re just carrying on an old, family tradition.” — Hank Williams, Jr. He is not a McCarron cousin.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is the colorful and positive about Alabama -- her people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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