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Janice Knudson
Janice Knudson, 51, of Valley Mills, passed away in a Waco nursing home after a lengthy illness. Graveside services were held at 10 a.m., Friday at the Valley Mills cemetery under the direction of Foss Funeral Home. Visitation was from 6 to 7 p.m., Thursday at the funeral home. Janice was born Oct. 25, 1954. She attended school in Valley Mills and had lived in the Valley Mills area most of her life. She was a member of the First Baptist Church. Knudson worked in the homehealth care field most of her life. She loved her family and never met a stranger. She was preceded in death by her mother, Faye Hoppe. She is survived by her father, Ray Knudson Sr. of Temple; two brothers, Ray Knudson Jr. and his wife, Annette of Lorena; Roger Knudson and his wife, Velma of Ft. Worth; step-father, Ray Hoppe of Valley Mills; nieces, Kristie Isham, Sundie Hoffman, Kasi Knudson, and Amy Knudson; a great niece, Trinity Hamm; and two great nephews, Hesston Hoffman and Chase Isham.
Richard Behnke
Services for Richard Behnke, 83, of Cleburne, were conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan.18, in the Crosier-Pearson Cleburne Funeral Home Chapel. Rev Robert Graham officiated, with burial being in Clifton cemetery. Behnke passed away Sunday, Jan.15, in Fort Worth. He was born May 15, 1922 in Kinney, to Adolph and Hedwig Papke Behnke. He married
Ernestine Gayden on Nov. 22, 1954 in Waco. Behnke served in the U.S. Army during WW II. He was a retired salesman for Lance Inc., retiring after 20 years of service. He also worked at Bob Harris Oil in Cleburne for many years. He was a member of Field St. Baptist Church where he was a member of the Bible Fellowship Sunday School Class. Behnke is survived by two daughters, Brenda Springer and husband Chris of Burleson and Bonny Falcone and husband Eddie of Hurst; grandson, Blaine Springer of Burleson; sister Anita Behnke of Waco; two brothers, Ernest Behnke of Burleson and Marvin Behnke of Hamilton and a number of nieces and nephews. Those who wish may send condolences, view obituary and see photos at . Crosier-Pearson Cleburne Funeral Home was in charge of funeral arrangements.
Mamye Sue (Granny) Eppler Thompson Leazar
Memorial services for Mamye Sue “Granny” Eppler Thompson Leazar were held on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Rev. Thomas K. Beaty of the First United Methodist Church of Clifton conducted the service, befitting a life well-lived from March 23, 1915 until Jan. 8, 2006. Funeral services were provided by the Clifton Funeral Home. Leazar was born to Wiley Rufus Eppler, Sr. and Mary Jane Eckert Eppler in Gorman, Texas on March 23, 1915. She was the 12 and final child born to this hard-working couple who settled in Gorman, founding the Eppler Mercantile Store in 1897. She was educated in the Gorman public schools where she met James Odell (Quail) Thompson. They had three children and shared 50 years in marriage. She devoted her life to her children and to working alongside her entrepreneurial husband as they established and managed numerous businesses across the state of Texas. She was a terrific cook and ever-present volunteer, making friends easily at every stop. She was grounded by Christianity and was a faithful member of several Methodist congregations. In recent years she settled at the First United Methodist Church in Clifton, Texas, where she enjoyed every opportunity she was able to serve. After Quail’s death, she married
Frank C. Leazar, her first childhood sweetheart. Having raised their families and survived their spouses, the couple celebrated ten wonderful years of marriage and friendship. Her passions for friendship, cooking and bridge were appreciated and enjoyed by many. She was able to continue these passions as a resident of various Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home facilities, from Luckenbach, to Rainbow Village, to the Sunset Home. She was preceded in death by her parents; her 11 siblings; her son, James Barton Thompson; and her husbands Quail and Frank. Leazar is survived by her daughters, Sara Jane Prague and Mary Dell Sanchez; five granddaughters, Ellen, Suellen, Denny, Diane, and Laura; and six great-grandchildren, Sara, Victoria, Jim, Sammi, Carson, and Emma. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Clifton, the Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home, or to an organization of your choice.
Thelma Eugenia Damron
Thelma Eugenia Damron, age 90, of Walnut Springs, passed away late Sunday night, Jan. 8, in the Lutheran Sunset Home in Clifton, where she had resided for the past several years. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 11, in the Lawson Memorial Chapel in Walnut Springs, with Rev. Rob Walls and Mr. Lonnie Malbert officiating. Burial was in the Fulton cemetery near Walnut Springs. She was born March 14, 1915, in Iredell, a daughter of the late James and Sarah Ann Loader Parker, and was raised and educated in that area. On May 15, 1936, she was united in marriage to Marshall H. Damron in Walnut Springs. The couple lived all their married
lives in Walnut Springs. Her late husband, Marshall, served as a Bosque County Commissioner for some 16 years. Damron was a active member of the Walnut Springs Order of Eastern Star, where she was a Past Matron and was presently a member of the Clifton Order of Eastern Star. She had been a member for over 50 years. Before her retirement, she worked for Walls Industries in Clifton and Cleburne for more than 25 years. She was a member of the Walnut Springs Baptist Church. She is survived by her daughters, Ann Morrison and her husband, Garland of Walnut Springs; Valdeen McCall and her husband, Doug of Iredell; grandchildren, Keith Morrison, Pam Ammerman, Susan Ferrence, and Thelma Graves; great-grandchildren, Robert Morrison, Laurie Morrison, Daniel Creekmore, Chris Creekmore, Valerie O’Connor, Taylor Lawson, Ethen Graves, and Emma Graves; brother, Ray Parker of Plano; and a number of other relatives and a host of friends. Pallbearers included William Offutt, Larry Pullin, Benny Damron, Keith Morrison, Kirk Graves, A.J. Stewart, Ethean Graves, and Robert Morrison. Lawson Funeral Home in Meridian was in charge of arrangements.
Eva Marchman Fincher
Funeral services were held for Eva Marchman Fincher, 100, on Saturday, Jan. 14, at the First United Methodist Church of Clifton, with the Revs. Tom Beaty, Cleon Flanagan, and Denise Rogers officiating. Interment
followed at the Clifton Memorial Park. Eva was born near Cayote on Jan. 1, 1906, to Herschel Hamlim Marchman and Lovey Belle Jones Marchman. Her mother died in Dec. 1914, when she was eight years old. Her father died in Feb. 1937. She and her brother lived first with her maternal grandparents near Clifton and then with a fraternal aunt and uncle in Dallas. She married
Jesse George Fincher III on July 4, 1926. At one time, he shod horses before going to Waco to learn welding. He then had his own shop in Clifton. The couple joined the First United Methodist Church of Clifton by a profession of faith and baptism on Dec. 22, 1935. Fincher worked in Waco as a stenographer, taking dictation and typing letters. She went to work in Waco one month before the big tornado hit and she spent all her time answering phones. She worked in Valley Mills for Fred Hall and Sons, then for Walls Company in Clifton, and finally for Gear Wrench for several years. Fincher entered the Clifton Lutheran Sunset Home in November of 2003, yet seldom missed a worship service. She is known for her kindness to others, making phone calls to check on those who have been ill, writing many loving and compassionate note of encouragement to others, and exhibiting a positive attitude, even in times of challenge. She was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by two daughters, Marinelle Freeman and husband Ross; and Joanne Robertson, all of Midland; four grandsons, Lanny Greeman of Beeville; Dr. G. Winston Freeman of Salado; Shawn Freeman of Midland; and George Robertson of Midland; four great-grandsons, two nephews, Joe Marchman of Meridian and Jim Marchman of Waco; and numerous cousins. Palbearers included Jim Jones, Jim Bill Harris, Bobby Joe Conrad, T.F. Crawford, Rick Rhodes, and Dick Owens. Honorary Palbearers include J.B. Darden, W.D. Nuckols, Fayrene Tharp, Billye Carol Owens, Dan Orbeck Wanda Sedberry, William Tharp, James Orbeck; Jerry Sedberry; and Lenora Symank. Services were under the direction of Clifton Funeral Home.
Patricia Ann Franklin
Patricia Ann Franklin, age 53, of Valley Mills passed away Monday, Jan.16, in Waco. Graveside services were held at 1 p.m., Wednesday, at the Valley Mills cemetery, under the direction of Foss Funeral Home. Franklin was born May 25, 1952, in Waco. She was the daughter of Clarence and Ruthie (Taylor) Gober. She had attend school at Richfield and had lived in the Waco area most of her life. She married
Benjamin (Sarg.) Franklin on April 8, 1997, in Bosque County. Survivors include her husband, Benjamin Franklin of Valley Mills; two brothers, Gary Gober and wife, Donna of Waco; Marvin Douglas Gober and wife, Debbie of Ft. Worth; three nieces; a nephew, and two great nephews; four step-sons, Roy Franklin, Marvin Franklin, Robert Franklin, Danny Franklin, and a step-daughter, Georgie Waldrop.
Lucille Gonce
Lucille Gonce, 74, passed away Jan. 11, in Waco. Services were held on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 11 a.m. at the Lawson Funeral Home. Visitation with the family present was held on Friday at the funeral home. Burial followed in the Old Gordon cemetery in Gordon. She was born Dec. 8, 1931, to the late Foster and Maggie Valentine. She married
Louis F. Gonce on No.v 11, 1954 in Clovis, N.M. He passed away Dec. 7, 2004. She was a seamstress and a Baptist. She was preceded in death by three sisters, Ruby, Joyce, and Dorothy; her parents; and her husband. Gonce is survived by her daughters Linda Nottingham of Waco; Sheila Morgan of Gatesville; Charla Dvorak of West; Sharon Bomar of Gatesville; and Cammie Moody of Texarkana, Ark.; her sons, SSG. Charles Gonce of Ft. Hood; Stephen Gonce of Valley Mills; her sister, Carolyn Prather of Crowley, La; her brother, Jimmy Jernigan of Taylorsville, Miss.; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Eunice Clark
Eunice Clark, 92, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 5, in Clifton. Interment
took place on Monday, Jan. 9, in Farest Park Lawndale in Houston. She was born in Walnut Ridge, Ark. on May 20, 1913, to Nick and May Copeland. She later moved to Houston, where she met and married
Hulon Pope Read in 1943. During their almost thirty years together, the couple made their home in Pasadena, where they were active in the Masons and Eastern Star lodges. They were also active members of Park Place Lutheran Church in Houston. After the death of her husband, Eunice moved to Meridian to be closer to her daughter and family. Several years later, she married
her former school sweetheart, Armol Clark, and spent fifteen years as a retired homemaker in Cornig, Ark. Upon the death of Armol, She returned to Texas and has resided at the Rainbow Village in Clifton for the past five years. Clark is survived by one sister, Nixine Harpole of Alton, Ill.; an adopted daughter, Kathy Radde and her husband, Kenneth of Meridian; five stepsons, Floyd, Gerald Joe, Alvan, and Clyde Clark of Ariz., Ohio, and Ark.; and one stepdaughter, Kathy Berry of Ill.; lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren; several cousins; and a host of friends. Pallbearers included Karl Radde, Glenn Adams, Jerry Cash, Henry Radde, Hugh Gaither, and Kenneth Radde. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Clifton Funeral Home.
William Payne
William Payne, age 63, of Valley Mills passed away Thursday. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 8, at the Valley Mills cemetery with military honors and under the direction of Foss Funeral Home. Payne was born on Dec. 14, 1942, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He joined the military at the age of 17 and served 2 tours in Vietnam. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1981 and was a 32nd degree Mason. Payne had previously worked 10 years at the Chemical Lime Plant in Clifton and also had worked for the Director of Logistics (DOL) Maintenance Division until his recent illness. Payne loved to fish, camp, complete in BBQ Cook offs, where he has won many awards. He was a loving husband, father, step-father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and a friend to many. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Alice Faye Payne of Valley Mills; daughter Angie Ann Gonzales and husband, Enrique of Colorado Springs; son Ralf F. Payne of Killeen; granddaughters Demitria Gonzales, Angie Schmitz; step-children Cheryl Young, Teresa Young, Rayleen and Allen Evans, Ollie King, Billy Young; step-grandchildren Brandi Lynn and Krystal Young, Jimmy Jam Johnson, Cody Evans; step-great-grandson Le Bron Lockhart; in-laws Pat, David, Mike, Donnie, and Richard Brinegar; many nieces, nephews and cousins throughout Texas and Virginia, and many friends at DOL.
