May 22 obituaries

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Hontas Farrar Hines

1930-2020

Hontas Farrar Hines, 89, of Colorado City died Tuesday, May 19, 2020.

No services are planned.

Hontas was born Oct. 19, 1930, on a farm approximately three miles southwest of Dunn to Oscar and Audie (Long) Farrar. She completed her first eight grades of schooling at Dunn Elementary School before attending Snyder High School, graduating in 1948.  Hontas then enrolled at Sul Ross State College in Alpine, graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. While at Sul Ross, she was a member of the bowling club and won several tournaments, despite throwing a straight ball instead of a hook. She would later continue her education at Hardin-Simmons University, obtaining a Master of Education degree in 1967.

Hontas married Charles Bass Hines on July 27, 1951, in Lovington, N.M. Bass and Hontas settled in Mitchell County and reared three children, Debra Ann, Martha Cheryl, and Charles Davis. 

For 49 years, she taught classes in typing, shorthand, accounting, business, computer applications, economics and government at Westbrook and Colorado High Schools. Over the years, countless former students would thank her for teaching them practical skills that contributed to their careers after graduation. Many of her accounting students went on to become accountants and CPAs. Perhaps her greatest satisfaction came from teaching economics and American government, where she championed the free enterprise system and considered the blessings of liberty secured by our Constitution.

Hontas was passionate about vegetable and flower gardening, and enjoyed exchanging seeds and plants with friends. She loved all types of hand crafts such as quilting, sewing, crochet and knitting.  Some of her happiest times were spent attending the annual Houston Quilt Show. After retirement, Hontas devoted much of her time to genealogical research and was an active member of Daughters of the American Revolution.  

She was preceeded in death by her husband of 43 years; her two daughters, Debbie and Cheryl; and a brother, Clark Farrar. 

Survivors include a son, Charles Hines of Colorado City; and a brother-in-law, Don Hines of Midland.  

In lieu of flowers, memorials should be made to the Mitchell County Library, the Scurry County Library, or your favorite charity.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Kiker Seale Funeral Home in Colorado City.

 

Billie Alford Huddleston

1934-2020

Billie Alford Huddleston, 85, of Las Cruces, N.M., died Saturday, May 16, 2020.

Services will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday graveside at Ira Cemetery, where Billie will be laid to rest next to her beloved Ellis. Arrangements are under the direction of Bell-Cypert-Seale Funeral Home.

She was born on June 6, 1934, in Snyder to Florence Hicks Alford and E. Perry Alford. 

Billie, who was raised in Snyder, Texas, met Ellis Huddleston, the love of her life, at Snyder Junior High School when she was 12 years old. She and Ellis got married on August 12, 1955 and were married for over 57 years until Ellis’ death in 2013. After they got married, Billie and Ellis moved to Ithaca, N.Y., where Billie was the secretary to the president of Mohawk Airlines and an occasional stewardess.

After moving back to Lubbock in 1960, Billie served as the President of the Panhellenic Counsel at Texas Tech University, the President of the Faculty Wives at Texas Tech and was a proud member of the Delta Zeta sorority.

Billie worked as a real estate agent in Lubbock and, after the family moved to Las Cruces in 1974, she became a respected and successful agent in Las Cruces until she retired in 2001. As an agent, Billie met many people who became some of her life-long friends. During their marriage, Billie loved traveling the world, as well as going fishing with Ellis. Among their travels, the couple spent a year in Hawaii in 1966, lived in Senegal for over a year in 1987-1988, traveled for several months circumnavigating the globe in 1999, and frequently went up to New York to visit Jim and his family.

Billie was a genuine lady and hostess extraordinaire, deeply kind and loving; she never said a negative word about anyone and always focused on the positive. Her warmth was engaging and she had an uncanny ability to strike up a conversation with anyone, even strangers. She also had tremendous inner strength, beating breast cancer in 1972 and colon cancer in 1988. She was proud of how far she had come from where she had grown up, enjoyed life to the fullest, and took great pride in her husband, children, and grandchildren. Billie was the matriarch of the Huddleston family and will be deeply missed.

She is survived by Kim Huddleston and Emmy Harvey of Las Cruces and Jim and Debra Huddleston of New York City; her sister-in-law, Judy Huddleston Shaw of Ruidoso, N.M.; her nephews, Gary Pitner and Linda of Granbury, Jeff Pitner of Lubbock and Chris Pitner of Lubbock; and her grandchildren, Hailey Huddleston and John Huddleston, both of New York City.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to the Dr. Ellis Huddleston Scholarship Fund at the NMSU Foundation; PO Box 30001, MSC 3590; Las Cruces, N.M., 88003. 

Online condolences can be posted at www.bellcypertseale.com