Nita Ann Stevens

Nita Ann Stevens of Willis, Oklahoma passed away August 3rd, 2009. She was preceded in death by her husband of 39 years, Johnny, by one week.

She was born to Ray and Claudia (Lucas) Brown on April 1st, 1953 in the community of Shady Shores.

She is survived by her father Ray Brown and step-mother Ruby of Willis, Oklahoma; son William Stevens and wife Jessica, grandsons Blake and Jordan of Pilot Point; mother-in-law Mae Feaster of Denton; brothers Larry Brown of Willis Oklahoma and Gary Brown of Shady Shores; sister Nona Lee of Nebraska; step sisters Joyce, Linda, and Lanetta, and step brother Eddie; brothers-in-law Kenneth and wife Karen, George and wife Shelley, and James Stevens and his spouse; sister-in-law Anita Neale and husband Bill; along with numerous nephews, nieces, great nephews, and great nieces; Uncle Gene Brown and great aunt Muriel Brown of Shady Shores; cousins Bobby, Sherry, and Debra Cheri, and all of her friends and associates of Hickory Creek Wal-Mart.

Nita was preceded in death by her mother, grandparents, son Bradley and husband Johnny.

A double memorial service will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2009 from 7 – 9 pm at the Sanger Community Center located at 101 Freese Street, Sanger Texas.

Services are under the direction of Denton Funeral Home and Cremation services.

Vi Marie Taylor

Vi Marie Taylor of Denton passed away on Monday, August 3, 2009 at the Denton Good Samaritan Village. She was born in Dallas, Texas, on December 19, 1922, the older daughter of C. Vardaman and Pauline Martin Buster, and grew up in Denton County and Denton. On December 20, 1942, she was married to Thomas Wayne Taylor.

After graduating from the North Texas State Teachers College Demonstration High School as valedictorian, she received the B.A. degree at the University of North Texas, the M.A. degree from the Texas Woman’s University, and the Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University.

She served as secretary to the president of TWU for five years and taught English at schools in Wharton and Austin, Texas and Okemos, Michigan. After the death of her husband, Dr. Wayne Taylor, a professor at Michigan State University, she joined the professional staff of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an honor society for women in education, in Austin.

In 1977 Dr. Taylor was appointed as a Southern Baptist Convention missionary teacher and educational consultant in Hong Kong and Macao. When China began to open the door slightly, in 1980, she was invited to teach in Guangzhou, one of the first Americans to work in China since the 1951 expulsion of all foreigners. She later taught at Anhui Normal University and Yantai University in China. Since her retirement in 1988, she has been back to the Orient five times and to South America, serving in various assignments as consultant and university teacher in Mongolia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, and Brazil.

Dr. Taylor served as president of the Austin Branch of the American Association of University Women and as president of Epsilon Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a docent at the Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History in Austin, a member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and a deacon of the First Baptist Church of Austin. She also was president of the Friends of the O. Henry Museum in Austin. In 1991 the Texas Woman’s University named Dr. Taylor a Distinguished Alumna.

Her only child, Thomas Wayne Taylor, Jr., died in an airplane crash in 1969. Her husband, Dr. Wayne Taylor, died in 1972. She is survived by her sister, Lavon B. Fulwiler of Denton, and her niece and nephew-by-marriage, Fran Fulwiler and Marshall Page of Portland, Oregon.

A service will be held at Cindy Nichols Chapel of the First Baptist Church of Denton on Friday, August 7, at 10 a.m.; with Rev. Cliff Feeler, officiating, viewing will begin at 9:30 a.m.Interment will follow in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery. A memorial service will be scheduled later at the First Baptist Church of Austin.

Mulkey-Mason Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. On line condolences may be left at www.mulkeymason.com .

Johnny Ray Gibson

Johnny Ray Gibson

Johnny Ray Gibson, 66, of Denton, TX, passed away Tuesday July 28, 2009, at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, AR.

He was born December 15, 1942 in Visalia, California to Jessie Ray Gibson and Lois Crawford Gibson. He served in the National Guard and was employed with Nortex Modular Building in the shipping and receiving department.

Survivors include his wife, Julia Gibson of Denton; a son, Donny Gibson of Ephrata, WA; a daughter, Deborah Estes of Ephrata, WA; two brothers, William Gibson of Siloam Springs, AR, and Wallace Pearson of Globe, AZ; a sister, Wynonna Shadrick of Fayetteville; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Jimmy Carl Gibson and a sister, Charlotte Lorraine Bryant.

 A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday August 8, 2009 in the chapel of Mulkey-Mason, Jack Schmitz and Son Funeral Home. Rev. Sam Redfearn will officiate the service.

Memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.