Gary Grant
1937-2017
Gary Dean Grant, 79, of Snyder, died Friday, March 24, 2017 surrounded by his loving family.
Memorial service for Mr. Grant will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church with Father Raj Arokiasamy officiating. The service will under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.
Gary was born on July 3, 1937 in Mountainair, N.M. to the late H.P. and Nadine Grant. He grew up on a farm outside of Snyder, where as a child he attended a one-room schoolhouse and raised pet chickens. He graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1955 and married his high school sweetheart, LaVerne Brown.
Gary was an owner-operator with Towne Van Lines for 35 years moving military personnel across the country. An amateur paleontologist, he also enjoyed fossil hunting on his travels and acquired an impressive collection. Gary often took, and/or drug, his children on the road with him during the summer vacations to see the country and tour Washington, D.C. at least once. If asked why he had seven kids, he would reply, “Because we didn’t want eight.”
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, LaVerne; seven children, James Grant and his wife, Constance, David Grant, Angela Potter and her husband, Allen, John Grant and his wife, Pamela, Mary Davis, Annamaria Peba Fonville and her husband, Shawn, and Rachel Bass and her husband, Jaime; 18 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Rita Cunningham and her husband, Paul, and their son, David.
Online condolences may be posted at www.bellcypertseale.com.
Henry Hudgins
1926-2017
Henry Paul Hudgins, 91, died Monday, April 3, 2017 in Shady Shores.
Funeral arrangements are pending at Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.
Martha Lackovich
1925-2017
Martha Ann Lackovich, 91, of Galveston, died Sunday, April 2, 2017 in Galveston.
Graveside service for Mrs. Lackovich will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Hermleigh Cemetery with Father Raj Arokiasamy officiating. The service will be under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.
Born on May 8, 1925 in Hermleigh to Charles and Bettie (Brom) Cizeck, she married Sam Lackovich.
She was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Claudia Cizeck.
Survivors include her husband, Sam Lackovich of Galveston, and two sons, Russell Mraz and his wife Carole, and George Mraz, all of Hermleigh.
Online condolences may be posted at www.bellcypertseale.com.
Flaco Martinez
1962-2017
Guadalupe “Flaco” Martinez, 54, of Colorado City, died Monday, April 3, 2017 at University Medical Center in Lubbock.
Funeral service for Mr. Martinez will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at El Calvario Bautista in Colorado City. Burial will follow at the Mitchell County Cemetery under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.
A prayer service will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
John Mitchell II
1949-2017
John Stokes Mitchell II, 67, of Snyder, died Saturday, April 1, 2017, in Snyder.
No services are planned at this time. Arrangements were under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.
Mr. Mitchell was born on Sept. 9, 1949 in San Angelo to Basil and Margaret (Szabo) Mitchell.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one daughter, Amanda Mardell Mitchell.
Survivors include one son, John Stokes Mitchell III of Fort Worth; his former wife, Marilyn Frederick of Benbrook; his mother-in-law, Mardell Ribitzki of Fort Worth; four grandchildren, Whitney Mitchell, Lexi Mitchell, John Mitchell and Lauryn Djeralfia; and one brother, Basil S. Mitchell II of Houston.
Online condolences may be posted at www.bellcypertseale.com.
Steve Stevenson
1922-2017
Ollie Joe “Steve” Stevenson went west on the morning of Friday, March 31, 2017.
Arrangements were under the direction of Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas.
Steve was born on the family farm in Hermleigh on a cold Dec. 30, 1922 to Eva Appleton and George Leslie Stevenson. After graduating from Hermleigh High School in 1940, Steve moved to San Antonio and worked at Brook Army Hospital at Fort Sam Houston until the war broke out. Enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Steve spent his first year in Liberal, Kan. training pilots in the Consolidated B-24 “Liberator” heavy bomber, surviving three crashes along the way. Steve was then transferred to the 529th Squadron of the 380th Heavy Bomb Group based in the Philippines, preparing for the invasion of Japan. When the war ended, Steve was assigned to crew transports and was the flight engineer on the first transport to land on a newly cleared airfield in Hiroshima, Japan. It was upon returning to the United States and back to his old job at Brook Army Hospital where Steve met the love of his life, Army dietitian Capt. Marie Lillian Averill. They were married in Houston on Sept. 1, 1951 and their only son, Gordon, was born in 1953. Marie passed away in 2002 after 51 years of marriage.
He was also preceded in death by his parents, Les and Eva Stevenson, a loving brother, Gordon D. Stevenson, and one sister, Melba Kramer.
Survivors include his son, Gordon L. Stevenson; one daughter-in-law, Toni Schmid Stevenson; his greatest joy, his grandson, Taylor A. Stevenson; and a very special friend, Taffi B. Stevenson.
The Stevenson Family wishes to thank his friends and caregivers at Signature Pointe on the Lake and Hospice, especially Nola Baker, his best buddy. God speed, fly safe and tailwinds always.