Shelby County Today

12/6/2019

Ella B. Baker, 84, of Joaquin, passed away Thursday, December 5, 2019, in Garrison.

Visitation will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Watson & Sons Funeral Home in Center. Graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, December 8, 2019, at Jackson Cemetery in Joaquin.

Mrs. Baker was born May 19, 1935, in Joaquin, to John William and Fannie Lou Childs. She was a member of Jackson Baptist Church.

She is survived by:

Sons:
Bill Baker and wife Kathy of Joaquin
Dale Baker and wife Lana of Kilgore

Daughter, Darlene Williamson and husband Dr. S. Mark of Clayton

Grandchildren:
Charlie Baker and wife Jamie
Jennifer Stewart and husband Michael
Tiffany Baker
Joshua Mark Williamson and wife Catherine
Caleb Dee Williamson and wife Katelyn
Andrew Parker Williamson and wife Elizabeth
Amber Mixon and husband Dalton
Jessica
Luis
Gatlin
Mason
Waylon
Boogie

Great-grandchildren:
Kyleigh Grace
Chasity
Trevor
Anna Kate
Kolt
Klay

Nephew, Jonathn Rhodes

Preceded in death by her husband, Franklin D. Baker and granddaughter, Lindsey Paxton.

Pallbearers will be Joshua Williamson, Caleb Williamson, Andrew Williamson, Klay Adkison, Kolt Adkison, and Trevor Baker.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Jackson Baptist Church Building Fund, 11167 Highway 7 East, Joaquin, Texas 75954.

Online condolences & tributes can be sent at www.watsonandsonsfuneralhome.com

12/6/2019

Winola Williams Ellis, 88, of Center, Texas passed away on December 4, 2019, in Center, Texas. Born February 22, 1931, in Henderson, Texas.  Winola is the daughter of the late James Oscar Williams and Frances Louise (Tipton) Williams. A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 10AM at First Baptist Church in Center, Texas. The family will receive friends at a visitation held prior to the service beginning at 9AM at the church. Interment will follow in Jackson Cemetery, Center, Texas.

Winola was reared in Troup, Texas and a graduate of Troup High School.  She attended Kilgore College and earned a bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. She dedicated her life to teaching in public education for over 49 years.

On May 31, 1953, Winola married Joe L. Ellis, the love of her life, and the two spent over 64 years.  She was a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother. Winola enjoyed reading, Native American history and her pets. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Center where she served as a Sunday School teacher and in a number of other capacities through the years.    

Winola is survived by:
Her daughters: 
Julia Cassard of Henderson, Texas
Susan Godfrey and husband, Michael of Robinson, Texas
Cindy Harris and husband, Robert of Henderson, Texas

Sons:
Joel Ellis of Joaquin, Texas
Jon Ellis and wife, Jackie of Kountze, Texas

Grandchildren: 
Jonathan Godfrey
Jennifer Pirtle
Clay Ellis
Lauren Gilbert
Josie Ellis Harris
Jace Ellis

Great-grandchildren:
Jackson Pirtle
Cason Pirtle
Ella Pirtle
Isabella Sessions
Aaliyah Sessions
Triston Sessions
Gracie Ellis
Rylan Ellis
Oliver Gilbert

A host of family and friends that will miss her dearly.  

She is preceded in death by her husband, Joe L. Ellis; parents, James and Frances Williams; grandson, Joey Stringer; and great granddaughter, Olivia Ellis.  

Pallbearers will be Clay Ellis, Justin Pirtle, Jonathan Godfrey, Jeff Young, Robert Harris, and Mike Brister.

Honorary pallbearers are Terry Walton, Scott Gilchrist, Bill White, Jack Massey, Holden Massey, and Jacy “Moose” Clark, and Randy Carroll.

In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to First Baptist Church, Center, Texas.

To send condolences and sign the online guest book, you may go to www.mangumfh.net.

Mangum Funeral Home, Center, is in charge of arrangements

12/05/2019

Rebecca Beard Davis, 60, of Center, passed away Sunday, December 1, 2019, in Nacogdoches.

Funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Watson & Sons Funeral Home in Center. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service.

Mrs. Davis was born September 17, 1959, in Columbia, Mississippi, to Glenn Allen Beard and Mattye Johnston Beard. Her hobby was raising and showing horses, but loved all animals. She rescued and gave a home to many over the years.

She is survived by:

Husband, Roy Lynn Davis of Center

Children:
Rusty Davis of Mississippi
Brianna Jernigan of North Carolina
Gaston Davis of North Carolina
Joanna Law of North Carolina

7 grandchildren

Parents, Glenn and Mattye Beard of Schertz

Brother, Glenn Allen Beard Jr. of Leander

Sister, Kayla Saldivar of Schertz.

Online condolences & tributes can be sent at www.watsonandsonsfuneralhome.com

12/04/2019

Leotis Davis, 47 of Nacogdoches, formally of Center, passed away Thursday, November 28, 2019 at Nacogdoches Medical Center Hospital in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Funeral service will be Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 11am at St. John Baptist Church, 2308 CR 2050,  Center, Texas 75935.  Rev. Winston Kibbles will be officiating.

Visitation is Saturday, December 7, 2019 at St. John Baptist Church from the hours of 10am to 10:55am.Committal is at St John Cemetery.

Mr. Davis is survived by:

Children:
Keontas Davis of Tenaha
Keanya Davis of Tenaha

Brothers:
Alvin (Vanessa) Davis of Center
Carlos (Linda) Rasberry of Nacogdoches

Sisters:
LaShanna Davis (Micah Jones) of Nacogdoches
Monica (Bobby) Tanner of San Augustine
Yolonda (Steven) Neal of Center

Service entrust to Hicks Mortuary 804 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Center, Texas 75935. Please visit our website for online condolences at www.hicksmortuary.net 

12/03/2019

Clara Garrett, 94 of Shelbyville, passed away Tuesday at her residence.

Services are pending at this time with Community Funeral Home, Center, Texas.

12/02/2019

After a well-lived life of more than 94 years, Maxine Jernigan passed away peacefully at her home in Center on December 1, 2019 with her family by her side.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, December 6, 2019, at Watson & Sons Funeral Home in Center. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Watson & Sons Chapel with the Reverend Buddy Johnson and the Reverend Billy Jernigan officiating. Pallbearers will be grandsons. Interment will follow at Old Salem Cemetery.

She was born Maxine McSwain on February 5, 1925 to Lee and Ethel Warr McSwain and grew up in the Salem Community where her family “never missed a service” at Old Salem Baptist Church. She graduated valedictorian of her 1942 class at Camp Worth High School.

She married Royce Johnson and was a young mother when he left to serve in World War II. As a farmer’s wife, she cooked meals for the hands, harvested gardens, milked cows, fed chickens, sewed clothes, scrubbed clothes on a washboard, ironed with a flat iron, fixed three family meals a day and raised four children. Somehow she also held a multitude of outside jobs through the decades.

Her most important job, however, was mother. She loved all her children and grandchildren unconditionally and they loved her in return.

She is survived by daughter Linda Winder (John), son Royce Lynn Johnson (Isabel), daughter Karen Bittick (Wayne), daughter Angela Lawson (Royce), stepson Larry Jernigan (Lisa), stepson Billy Jernigan (Karen) and daughter-in-law Louise Johnson.

She had a special relationship with every grandchild - Lynn Johnson, Shelby Johnson (Renee), Ed Johnson (Sherri); Donna McSwain (Kelly), Branden Bradshaw (Cindy), Brian Bittick, Susan Bittick Thomas, David Winder (Renee), Aaron Lawson (Emily) Adam Lawson, Sarah Lonsbury (Butch), Ben Jernigan, Sean Jernigan, Lauren Pelc (Mark ) and Jessica Harrison.

She kept up with all her great-grandchildren - Saje, Sophia and Finnick Winder; Jenny and Olivia Johnson; Jaleigh, Whitley and Tate Johnson; A.J., Rick (Natalea), Payton and Brady McSwain; Dustin Chandler (Ashley), Jake Bradshaw (Keni) and Chelsea Jernigan (Michael) and great-great grandchildren James Lee McSwain, Celeste and Kyndra McSwain, Jason and Kooper Bradshaw, Colin and Blakeley Ann Chandler, Aubrie and Brier Jernigan, Nellie Pelc, and Caden Lonsbury.

She is survived by her sister Christine Mahan, brother Robert McSwain (Connie), sister-in-law Billie Hoyt and a host of nieces and nephews and cousins and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents Lee and Ethel McSwain, her first husband Royce Johnson, her husband Bill Jernigan, her sisters Luna Waller and Janie Johnson and her brother Earl McSwain.

Always proud of her McSwain roots, she looked forward to family reunions and Old Salem homecomings. She was the oldest McSwain descendant of the four McSwain brothers who migrated to Shelby County from Alabama.

In her younger days, she took part in the Order of the Eastern Star and was a lifetime member of Center Chapter #348.

Her children started hosting annual birthdays for her in the 1990s and one of the most exciting days of her life was when more than 100 friends and family members gathered for a very special 90th birthday celebration in 2015.

She was an accomplished artist, doing scenic oil paintings plus country scenes on old plows and saws that are in many homes today. An excellent seamstress, she sewed for herself and her family for decades and made many heirloom quilts.

Well-known for her cooking, family members put together a book called “Maxine’s Cookbook: Tracing More Than Seven Decades of Home Cooking in East Texas” and she was famous for her tea cakes, fried okra, chicken and dumplings and rum cake.

She was a master of the English language, knowing all the rules for writing, spelling, and grammar, and she used those skills and her extensive vocabulary to become a formidable Scrabble player who, family members can attest, hated to lose.

In 1984, she married Bill Jernigan and they enjoyed almost ten years of cooking homegrown food and hosting holiday meals for their blended families before his death.

An accomplished gardener, her yard was always filled with beautiful flowers and her pantry had row after row of plum jelly, fig preserves and Nine Day Pickles. Her home was always surrounded by birds and she loved to watch flocks of redbirds and finches outside her kitchen windows.

She spent most of her life living on Hwy 7, always welcoming friends and neighbors and family. In her early years it was her home where all the neighbor kids came to hang out; in later years it was her home where all the family gathered at every holiday.

Her last years were spent with a succession of canine companions that became part of the family: Spoon, Rascal, Little Bit, and Ginger loved her dearly.

Heartfelt thanks to Bonnie Nash, who spent many months with her so she could spend her last days in the comfort of her home.

Today we say good-bye to Mama, Mam-Ma, Mac, Aunt Mac, Mama Mac and Miss Maxine. Our lives are richer for having known her and we know that she will forever have a place in our hearts.

Memorial donations may be made to Old Salem Cemetery Fund, 8612 FM 711, Center, Texas 75935. Online condolences & tributes can be sent at www.watsonandsonsfuneralhome.com

12/02/2019

Robert Lewis “Bob” Fairchild, 90, of Center, Texas passed away on December 1, 2019 in Center, Texas. Born January 31, 1929, in Beaumont, Texas. Robert is the son of the late Robert Carl and Anna Dagma (Lewis) Fairchild. Funeral service will be held Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 11AM at First Baptist Church, Center, Texas. Interment will follow at Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 3, 2019 from 5:00 – 7:00PM at Mangum Funeral Home, Center, Texas.

Bob was born in Beaumont, Texas, raised in Chester, Tyler County. Texas. After graduating from Chester High School in 1946, he attended the University of Texas in Austin where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1951 and Bachelor of Law Degree in January 1954, however, he was licensed to practice Law in July 1953. He passed the Bar before graduation from Law School with authority to practice in all Texas State Courts, and later admitted to practice in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, and the US Supreme Court. He was a member of the Shelby County and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation; Advocate, East Texas Chapter of American Board of Trial advocates; in 2003 he was honored by the State Bar of Texas for 50 years of service to the Bar. Bob entered retirement in 1994.

He was faithful to the Lord, serving as a Sunday School Teacher of The Fellowship Class for many years; Bob served as an active Deacon of First Baptist Church since 1979. He was President of Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, a member of The Texas House of Representatives from 1961 to 1963, President of the Shelby County Bar Association since 1973. Bob also helped organize Little League Baseball, along with others, in Center, Texas in 1954. 

Bob is survived by:

Loving wife, Patsy of Center, Texas

Son, David Fairchild of Lufkin, Texas

Daughter, Karla Fairchild O’Fiel and husband, Hugh of Center, Texas

Sister-in-law, Mary Neal of Woodville, Texas

Grandchildren:
Carrie Fairchild Neal and husband, Calvin of Montgomery, Texas
RC Fairchild
Philip Massey and wife, Danielle of Shreveport, Louisiana
Matt O’Fiel and wife Brittany of Mauriceville, Texas
Britney Fairchild of Houston, Texas
Eric Fairchild of Center, Texas

Seven great-grandchildren

A host of family and friends that will miss him dearly.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Robert Carl Fairchild and Anna Dagma Fairchild; son, Robert F. Fairchild; and daughter, Jan Ellen Massey.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to your favorite charity in his honor.

To send condolences and sign the online guest book you may go to www.mangumfh.net.

Mangum Funeral Home, Center, is in charge of arrangements.

11/29/2019

David Hooper, 56, of Center, Texas passed away on November 25, 2019 in Nacogdoches, Texas. He was born on January 20, 1963 in Center, Texas to Verlon Ray Hooper and Thelma Andrews Hooper. 

Graveside services will be held at 11am on Friday, November 29, 2019 at Old Salem Cemetery with Bro. Son Windham officiating.

David grew up in Center. He was an avid reader, loved learning about history, especially his family’s genealogy. He loved his family and was his parent’s caregiver before his passing. 

He worked in the security industry for many years, loved dogs and being outdoors. He enjoyed doing mechanical work and working with his hands.  He was a member of Old Salem Baptist Church.

David is survived by: 
His mother: Thelma Hooper of Center, Texas

Brother: Jerry Hooper and wife, Beth, of Greensboro, NC

Sister: Jana Hooper of Shreveport, Louisiana

Nieces: 
Katie 
Gracie

Nephew: Kayden Hooper of Greensboro, NC

Aunts: 
Vivian Luman of Center, Texas
Lucille Mayeaux of Shreveport, Louisiana

A host of family and friends that will miss him dearly

He is preceded in death by his father, Verlon Hooper.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Mangum Funeral Home to assist with expenses.

The family is being served by Mangum Funeral Home in Center, Texas.

To send condolences or to sign an online register, please visit www.mangumfh.net.

11/27/2019

Hazel Cornelius Williams, 90, of Center, Texas, passed away on November 27, 2019 in Center, Texas.  Born June 29, 1929, in Center, Texas, Hazel is the daughter of the late Archie Aaron Dean and Leona (Guidry) Williams.  Funeral service will be held Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 11AM at Oaklawn Memorial Park, Center, Texas with Bro. Michael Williams officiating.

Visitation will be held on Friday, November 29, 2019 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Mangum Funeral Home. 

Hazel was born and raised in Shelby County, Texas. She attended Center High School. Hazel married the love of her life, K.P. Williams, December 02, 1947 and the two were married over 64 years before his passing. She had an entrepreneurial spirit which led her to open “Wig Villa” in the early 70’s. She later owned a H & R Block franchise for several years. She enjoyed reading, along with keeping up with family and friends on Facebook. Hazel is a member of the Eastern Star. She served her Lord passionately by attending Center Christian Fellowship and Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.

Hazel is survived by:

Sons:
LaMoine Williams of Lufkin, Texas
Michael W. Williams and wife Brenda of Willis Point, Texas

Daughter, Regina Metcalf of Center, Texas

Brother, Aaron Thomas Dean and wife Peggy of Livingston, Texas

Grandchildren:
Jana Hagler of Center, Texas
Joel Porter of Center, Texas
Amy Bryant and husband Jason of Keller, Texas
Rebecca Lackey of Broaddus, Texas
Chris Williams and wife Cissy of Willis Point, Texas
Charity Morgan and husband Jason of Edgewood, Texas
Amanda Strutton and husband Ryan of Willis Point, Texas
Jennifer Byrd and husband Clinton of Keller, Texas
Jonathan Williams and wife Elizabeth of Rockwall, Texas

32 great grandchildren

4 great grandchildren

A host of family and friends that will miss her dearly.

She is preceded in death by her husband, K.P. Williams Jr.; parents, Archie and Leona Dean; grandson, Nathan Williams; and sister, Era Maxine Williams.

To send condolences and sign the online guest book you may go to www.mangumfh.net.

Mangum Funeral Home, Center, Texas is in charge of arrangements.