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Giene McDonald
ODESSA - Giene McDonald, age 73, of Odessa died Feb. 28, 2001, at her residence. She was born March 21, 1927, in Mena, Arkansas to George and Vergie Lovell.
Memorial Services were held Saturday, March 3, 2001, in the chapel of Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors with Rev. Clydell Chapman officiating.
Mrs. McDonald moved to Odessa in 1952 from Houston, where she was a member of Trinity Baptist Church. She retired in 1997 after 17 years with the State of Texas Comptroller’s office.
She was the past chairperson and secretary of the Women’s Democratic Party. She had been heavily involved in early union activities in the Permian Basin and served on the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels and the Head Start Program.
She is survived by her sons, James E. McDonald of Houston, W.D. "Bill" McDonald of Stephenville, and Mike McDonald of Dallas; sisters, Joyce Moringy of Austin and Jaunita Janetsky of Smithville; 10 grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.
Arrangements are by Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors.
Jay H. Mehaffey
ODESSA - Broadcast pioneer Jay H. Mehaffey passed away Friday, March 2, 2001, at his home after a long battle with colon cancer. He was born Aug. 3, 1920, in Grinnell, Iowa. At the time of his going to join his Lord and Savior, he was 80 years, six months and 27 days of age.
He was a 53-year resident of Odessa. After World War II, he attended Drake University, majoring in English and Radio Speech. He started his broadcast career with what was then KOSA Radio in Odessa.
In September 1948, he was national sales manager and play-by-play sports announcer. In 1955 he was one of the group that was granted the television license for Channel 7 in Odessa.
On Jan. 1, 1956, KOSA TV went on the air and brought the first live network television to the Permian Basin. Mehaffey continued to do the 6:15 sports on KOSA TV along with his management duties.
By 1966, KOSA TV was in a chain that included Channel 7 in Amarillo, Channel 4 in El Paso, and Channel 5 in Dallas, along with three radio stations. At this time, Mehaffey sold his interest in the stations, but continued his normal duties at KOSA TV until 1976, when he retired.
After a short retirement, he went back to broadcasting at KMID TV as account executive and sports director. Mehaffey did his last daily 6:15 sportscast on Dec. 31, 1983. For 35 years, two generations of West Texans grew up watching Jay on the 6:15 sports from KOSA Radio in 1948 to KMID TV in 1983.
He was an avid golfer for 50 years, but had never had a hole-in-one. On Sept. 5, 1988, his final retirement date after 40 years, he had a hole-in-one on the No. 8 hole at Mission Country Club. He was a member of Odessa Country Club, a charter member of Sunset Country Club, a former member of Andrews Country Club, Greentree Country Club, and Mission Country Club.
He was a member of the original Odessa Kiwanis Club in 1949-1950-1951. He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, formerly Normandy Heights Presbyterian Church, since 1952.
He shared the 1988-89 Addy Award for Excellence in Advertising with the late John Guffy. He was awarded the Excellence for Community Service Award for media by the Heritage of Odessa Foundation in 1995. He is well remembered as a broadcaster, but his service in WWII is notable.
Mehaffey was one of the last surviving U.S. Army Rangers who led the cliff climb at Point-Du-Hoc and Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings June 6, 1944. He has received many awards for his part in the invasion, but his prized one is the French Croix Du Guerre, because of the citation that came with it.
The citation reads, "This superb shock unit of volunteers was always in the thick of the fight. The 5th Ranger Battalion notably distinguished itself on 6 June, 1944 at the time of the Normandy landings at Point-Du-Hoc. The mission of neutralizing several enemy elements, they attained the objectives to which they had been assigned and were successful in holding the positions, thus making possible the landing of other important forces." And that’s the way it was, Mehaffey always said.
He was a retired Army Captain, a member of the Oil Patch Chapter of Retired Officers Association, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lieutenant and Mrs. H.W. Mehaffey, and his twin brother, major Jack Mehaffey.
Survivors include his wife, Jeanette Bowden Mehaffey of Odessa; two stepsons, Larry Phillips of Burnet, Texas, and Harry Phillips of Austin; three grandchildren; sister, Shannon Rae Brown of Des Moines, Iowa; nephews James H. Brown of Naperville, Ill., Jay V. Brown of Columbus, Ohio, Col. Michael Michael Mehaffey of Ft. Monroe, Va., Chief Warrant Officer Dennis Mehaffey of Ft. Belvoir, Va., Patrick Mehaffey of Salem, Ohio, and Timothy Mehaffey of Greensboro, N.C.; and a niece, Erin Mehaffey Simpson of Salem, Ohio.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. today at Westminster Presbyterian Church with Rev. Cheryl Homser officiating. Interment will be in Colfax, Iowa.
If you would like to make a donation, buy a Buddy Poppy from the V.F.W. and help our hospitalized Veterans, or donate direct to Local V.F.W. Post.
Services entrusted to Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.
Marguerite Snead
ODESSA - Marguerite Snead, age 80, of Odessa died March 2, 2001 at Medical Center Hospital. She was born Aug. 10, 1920, in Washington, D.C.
Graveside Services will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, March 5, 2001, at Sunset Memorial Gardens with Rev. Dr. Jimmy Braswell officiating.
She married
R.B. "Bob" Snead on Nov. 14, 1941, in Washington, D.C. They moved to Odessa in 1957. She was a homemaker and a member of Midessa Heights Baptist Church. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
Mrs. Snead was preceded in death by her husband, R.B. "Bob" Snead in 1996, her father Arthur Sanford in 1950, her mother, Eunice Sanford in 1959, and a grandson, John R. Williams in 1991.
She is survived by her son, Bobby Snead and wife Beth of Gardendale; daughter Sheron A. Williams of Odessa; sister Evelyn Lusby of Washington, D.C.; granddaughters Kim Barnes and husband Rick of Odessa and Tami Mesa and husband Isaac of Austin; and a great-granddaughter, MacKenzie Barnes of Odessa.
If desired, Memorials may be made to The Alzheimers Association of the Permian Basin.
Arrangements are by Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors.
Estelle Courtney
ODESSA - Estelle Courtney, 84 years of age, passed away on March 2, 2001, at Medical Center Hospital. She was born on April 21, 1916, in Granbury, Texas to O.F. and Johnnie Roberson.
She married
Cecil J. Courtney on June 28, 1965. He preceded her in death in 1974.
Surviving are her son, Wayne Nichols and his wife Lena of Odessa; daughter Johnnie Servis and her husband Bill of Newton, Texas; brothers Marlin Roberson of Big Spring, Ancil Dale Roberson of Ft. Worth, and Dale Roberson of Glen Allen, Va.; sisters Othelle Nichols of Sand Springs, Texas, and Andaleen Canen of Burleson, Texas; grandchildren Tonya Nichols Harris, Donica Nichols Cole, Jeri Lyn Hallman and Derrick Servis; four great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Visitation will begin today at noon until 5 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Odessa Funeral Home.
Graveside services are set for 2 p.m. Monday, March 5, 2001, at Trinity Memorial Park with the Rev. Vondel Drinkard and Bill Servis oficiating.
Services by Odessa Funeral Home.
Leon Snelson
MIDLAND - Services for Leon Snelson have been scheduled for 2 p.m. today, March 17, 2001, at Second Baptist Church with the Rev. Robert Kepple of Ranchland Heights Baptist Church officiating and the Rev. H.W. Erwin Jr. of Second Baptist Church assisting. Burial will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park. Arrangements are under the direction of Pipkin Funeral Home and Chapel.
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "That they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (Rev. 14:13)
Leon Snelson was born June 22, 1927, in Newcastle, Okla., to James W. and Lois Snelson. He moved with his family to Texas at an early age. Growing up on the farm and later working in the oil patch of West Texas, he learned the meaning of hard work and dedication to work well done. He later passed this on to his own family.
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Shortly after being discharged, he was "doodlebugging" in Big Lake, where he met Bonnie Pace, who waited on him at the local bank. They were married
May 29, 1948, in Big Lake. Their marriage has been a model of fidelity and devotion, not only to each other, but to the purpose, which God designed for their lives as partners in ministry in and through the church. God blessed them with six sons.
On the basis of God’s amazing grace and prayers of a godly mother, Leon’s life was marvelously changed in 1951. He was working as a roughneck on a drilling rig outside of Crane and one evening he walked off the rig floor into the doghouse. There, he knelt on his knees and met his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This started the beginning of a life dedicated to Jesus, for which he remained faithful until March 13, 2001, when the Lord saw fit to call Leon home to live eternally with Him.
Believing God had called him to preach. Leon surrendered to that ministry in 1956. He served with pioneer Southern Baptist Missions in New Mexico, Colorado and California. He also had several pastorates in Texas. He had a burning passion to see people born again into the Kingdom of God. He owned and operated Snelson’s Pumping Unit Service from 1980 to 1986.
One son, Terry, his mother and father, a brother, Paul, and five sisters, Elsie, Evie, Effie, Emily and Marie, preceded him in death.
He is survived by his wife, Bonnie of Midland, and five sons, Mike and his wife Beverly of Odessa, Denny and his wife Mona, Tim and his wife Sherry and Steve, all of Midland, and Mark and his wife Treva of Lorena. He is also survived by 13 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, a sister, Billie Faglie and her husband Raymond of Snohamish, Wash., and a brother, Leo Snelson and his wife Mary Jim of Junction.
Leon touched many lives, and he will be missed greatly by everyone.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to Faith, Hope and Love International, 102 E. Lyon St., Laredo, Texas, 78040 and/or Jubilee Ministry, P.O. Box 1280, Rapid City, S.D., 57709.
Richmond E. Dublin
ODESSA - Richmond E. Dublin, 85, passed away Monday, March 5, 2001, at Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in Midland.
He was born Feb. 6, 1916, in Jacksonville to W.L. and Nettie Dublin. Before serving in the Navy during World War II, he attended Annapolis Naval Academy in Bethesda, Md. He married
Billybob Newburn in Jacksonville, Fla., June 19, 1943.
Richmond and Billybob moved to Odessa in 1950 where he was involved in the petroleum business until his retirement. He served as a church deacon at First Presbyterian Church where he was a member, a Boy Scout master and a Meals on Wheels volunteer. He loved his wife, family and friends and always saw the positive in each person he knew.
Survivors include his wife, Billybob, of 58 years; sons, David and Richie and daughter-in-law, Phyllis; daughter, Vickie and son-in-law, Kae Patrick; and grandchildren, Holly, Amanda and Adam.
Family visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home.
Memorial services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 7, 2001, at First Presbyterian Church with Dr. Jesse Cone officiating assisted by the Rev. Sherry Holloman and burial following at Sunset Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church or the charity of your choice.
Services entrusted to Sunset Memorial Funeral Home.
