Duard Wilson Sheffy

     Duard Wilson Sheffy died Sunday, Nov. 18, 2001, at the age of 84. He was born on Sept. 19, 1917, in Ballinger, Texas, the second child of Clifford and Zeneath Smith Sheffy. He was preceded in death by brothers, Franklin and Cary L. Sheffy.
     After serving his country in World War II, he entered the plumbing supply business in Carlsbad, N.M. Moving to San Angelo in 1950, he continued his association with the plumbing supply business until his retirement in 1990. D.W. served for many years as an elder of St. Paul Presbyterian Church.
     He was a past president of the Business Men's Bible Class. His retirement years were spent in writing poetry, woodworking and an acute interest in genealogy. He was extremely proud of his efforts in refurbishing the World War II Memorial at Angelo State University. He was loved by all and will be missed by everyone who was fortunate enough to come in contact with this gentle man.
     Survivors include his wife, Ella Mae of San Angelo; son, Ralph Sheffy and his wife, Jan, of Beaumont; daughter, Carla Sheffy-Throop and husband, Tom Throop, of Austin; son, Cliff Sheffy and wife, Cindy, of San Antonio; grandchildren, Ward Sheffy and wife, Frances, of Beaumont, Wes Sheffy of The Woodlands, Caleb Duncan and wife, Jeri, of Dallas, Rachel Duncan of San Fransisco and Laura and John Kyle Sheffy of San Antonio.
     Service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, at St. Paul Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens. The family received visitors at Johnson's Funeral Home from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20. Memorials may be made to St. Paul Presbyterian Church in San Angelo or to a favorite charity of choice.

Dorine Oatman Young Shuler       Sunday, Nov. 8, 1964    (San Angelo Times)

     MARATHON--Funeral services for Mrs. Dorine Shuler, 43, Hayward, Calif; former Marathon resident, are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in Marathon Baptist Church with burial in Marathon Cemetery under direction of Geeslin Funeral Home of Alpine.
     Mrs. Shuler died Sunday in a Hayward Hospital.  A native of Balmorhea, Mrs. Shuler moved to California from Marathon 8 years ago.
     Survivors include her husband, Everett Shuler, Hayward; three daughters, Mrs. Patsy Mink, Hayward; Mrs. Nancy Lee, Alpine; Mrs. Kay Folk, Philadelphia, Pa.; and John Arthur Shuler, Hayward; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Oatman, Marathon; two sisters, Mrs. Charles Smith, Marathon; Mrs. Bain Bomar, Odessa; two brothers, Arthur Oatman, El Paso; and W.A. Oatman, Sweetwater.

James Leo Smith   Date:12/21/1999 from Brady Standard-Herald

     James Leo Smith, 89, of Hoover Valley died Friday, Dec. 17 in the North Austin Medical Center.
Funeral services were held Monday, Dec. 20 at 10:30 a.m. at Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Richard Johnson officiating. Graveside services followed at 3 p.m. at Marion Cemetery in Lohn.
     Born Nov. 13, 1910, in Nine, he married Frances Louise Winstead on July 14, 1940, in Brady. He was a salesman for Exxon Oil.
     He moved from San Antonio over 25 years ago to Burnet County. He was of the Methodist faith and a member of the Highland Lakes United Methodist Church in Buchanan Dam. He was a member of the Optimist Club at San Antonio and a member of the Hoover Valley Volunteer Fire Department and EMS. He loved hunting and fishing.
     Survivors include his wife, Frances, of Hoover Valley; a son, James Larry Smith and wife, Sandra, of Austin; a daughter, Lou Ann Davis and husband, Billy, of Premont; a sister, Vivian Hurd, of Brady; four grandchildren; a great-granddaughter and numerous nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother and a sister.

Marjorie Alice Oatman Smith                           

     Marjorie Alice Oatman Smith, 87, passed away at the Alpine Valley Care Center in Alpine, Texas, on November 8, 2004.  Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 13, 2004, at Marathon Baptist Church, with interment at Marathon Cemetery, under the direction of Geeslin Funeral Home.
     A 56-year resident of Marathon, Texas, Mrs. Smith was born in Marfa, Texas, on September 23, 1917, to William Arthur Oatman and Lessie Gertrude Odell Oatman.  She was reared in Balmorhea, Texas, where she met her future husband, Charles Triplett Smith.  They were married in Alpine at the old Methodist parsonage on July 28, 1933.  They lived in Balmorhea, Pecos, Marfa, Ft. Stockton, and Sierra Blanca briefly before settling in Marathon.  Mr. Smith passed away on September 11, 1995. They enjoyed 62 years of marriage.
     Mrs. Smith is survived by three children: Shirley Smith Rooney of Marathon; Charlene Smith Veltkamp and husband Bob, of Great Falls, Montana; and Bill Smith and wife Gail, of Midland, Texas. She is also survived by a sister, Dorothy Bomar of Euless, Texas, and a brother, W.A. Oatman of Maryneal, Texas.  She was preceded in death by two children: Margie Lee Smith Cowell (1984), and Tommy Smith (1963); and by a sister, Dorine Oatman Shuler (1964) and a brother, Arthur Odell "Goaty" Oatman (1999).  The Smiths were blessed with five children, 19 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren.
     Known to all as the little white-haired lady who cruised the streets of Marathon in her little white pickup truck, Mrs. Smith will be missed by many people.  The family wishes to extend its thanks to Dr. James Luecke and the staff of Alpine Valley Care Center, especially Dina Sledge, for the outstanding care and love they gave to our mother in her final months.  Friends are urged to donate to the charity of their choice in memory of Margie.

ZACHARIAH MARTIN WELLS

     Zachariah Martin Wells was born in 1829 in Maury County, Tennessee, the eldest son of John D. Wells and Rebecca Martin Wells. In 1848, Z. M., along with his parents and six siblings, moved to Hardin County, Tennessee, near the town of Olivehill, where Z. M's father had obtained a land grant from the state of Tennessee.
     In 1851 Z. M. was married to Elizabeth Moor, the daughter of Irish immigrants, in Obion County, Tennessee, the marriage license beingdated May 27, 1851. In 1857?1858 Z. M., his wife, and young son Freeman, aged two, migrated to Burleson County, Texas, where he was engaged in farming. The couple had two more sons: James, born in 1858, and Martin, born in 1860.
     In 1861 an epidemic killed Z. M.'s wife, and sons Freeman and Martin. He was left to raise their son James, until July 9, 1864, when he married Nancy Autry, a widow who resided in Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas.  The couple resided in Caldwell, where a daughter, Mary, was born in 1864. In 1875 the family moved to San Saba County, Texas, where Z. M. bought land on the San Saba River.
     The first mention of Z. M.'s ministry in West Texas is from the minutes of the Southern Baptist Convention, where in September of 1877, he is reported as the pastor of the Baptist Church in Richland (now Richland Springs, Texas). During the convention he is listed as Messenger for the Baptist Church in San Saba, Texas. During his ministries in West Texas, he was affiliated with the San Saba Association, although all of the old records of that association were destroyed in the flood of 1936.
     In 1878, Z. M. is listed as the pastor of the Baptist Church in Rock Springs, Big Valley, Lampasas County, Texas, as well as a messenger for the church in San Saba for the Baptist Convention during that year. In 1879 Z. M. was the pastor of the Baptist Church in Red Bluff, San Saba County, Texas. In 1880 Z. M. and his family moved to Menardville (now Menard) where he continued in various ministries with the San Saba Association.
     During 1880-1881, Z. M. founded the First Baptist Churches in Menard, Junction, and Paint Rock, Texas. In 1881, their daughter, Mary, married D. L. Murray, and the young couple moved to Eden, where they were charter members of the newly organized First Baptist Church in Eden.  Z. M. and his wife, Nancy, continued to live in Menardville, where he continued his circuit ministry. In the Baptist State Convention Annual Report dated October 6, 1884, it states, ''Rev. Z. M. Wells, in co?operation with the San Saba Association has labored in Santa Angela and vicinity fifty-two weeks, preached 190 sermons, baptized 20, received by letter 42, made 650 religious visits, and organized the First Baptist Church, July 22, 1884, Santa Angela." The church was organized in a small adobe schoolroom located where the old J. C. Penney store building now stands. It served as a community center. There were eight charter members of this organization.Apparently they did not meet very often as the pastor, traveling in a horse?drawn buggy, served a Paint Rock congregation and one in Menard where he lived.  Before the school year ended in 1884, the little adobe schoolhouse on the corner was declared unsafe and the site was sold. It was for this reason, no doubt, that in July, 1884, the Baptists met on John Dean's vacant lot (where the San Angelo Savings Association is located today). Why they did not meet on their own lot on East Beauregard Avenue is not clear. A box?like frame structure with canvas top was erected on the vacant lot, which was to serve until better arrangements could be made. In November, 1884, for $199.66, the Baptists bought from Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Harris (1827-1906) a piece of land which appeared to face south on College Avenue. In February, 1885, they gave the lot on East Beauregard Avenue to C. L. Broome, one of the members, for $200.00 worth of brick work on a new church.
     In the Baptist State Convention in 1885, the minutes state in part: "With headquarters at Menardville, Bro. Z. M. Wells has stretched out up the North and South Conchos and on the Kickapoo, preaching at Santa Angela, as opportunity offered ... Bro. Wells has been on the frontier many years and is a zealous servant of the Lord. "
     In 1886, at the age of 57, Bro. Wells returned to Central Texas, where he was the pastor of the Baptist Church at Mont Vale, (now Lometa, Texas). The next mention of Bro. Wells is in the Minutes of the San Saba Association on August 24, 1888, where he was the pastor of the Baptist Church in Hopewell, near Lampasas, Texas. During the annual meeting, he was appointed to committees to report obituaries and for mission work for the following year.
     In 1889 the great land rush in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) drew Bro. Wells northward. Here he filed a homestead claim in Guthrie on June 18, 1889. he settled on a 155 acre tract of land between present day Moore and Norman, Oklahoma. Life on the prairie obviously was harsh, as evidenced in a Testimony of Claimant statement in which he stated, "I built a house and established residence therein in May, 1889. That was blown away and I built another in 1893. It is a box house with three rooms. I have a crib, a cellar, and fenced 22 acres. I have 150 fruit trees." By this time, Bro. Wells' second wife had died, and he married a woman named Lizzie They are mentioned in the 1890 census of Oklahoma Territory.
     During his later years, Bro. Wells established the Baptist churches of Moore and Norman, Oklahoma. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Moore from September, 1893 to December, 1895.  He must have been in falling health during this time, as he died in 1896 and is buried in Moore. Records from the church in Moore state his salary in 1894 was $7.50. One wonders what it was in 1884 in Santa Angela.  Bro. Wells was, in a very peculiar way, fitted for frontier life and the promotion of Baptist work in his chosen field of labor.

Carol Ann Nestor Gulihur

     ALPINE - Carol Ann Gulihur, 57, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 1997, in a local hospital.Graveside service will be at 2 p.m. today in Marathon Cemetery in Marathon. Arrangements are by Geeslin Funeral Home.
     She was born June 28, 1940, in Hondo, had been a lifetime resident of Brewster County and an Alpine resident since 1974. She was a Catholic. 
     Survivors include her husband, Jerry Gulihur of Alpine; a daughter, Lori Skillern of Alpine; a son, Gary Gulihur of McCamey; two brothers, Lynn Nester of Houston and Kenny Nester of New Braunfels; two sisters, Mary Bryant of San Antonio and Betty Bryant of Harper; and four grandchildren.

Ted L. Henderson (former husband of Midge McKinney Gooch)

     ALPINE - Ted L. Henderson, 84, of Marathon died Thursday, March 22, 2001, in a Robert Lee nursing home. Military graveside service will be at 4 p.m. today in Marathon Cemetery with arrangements by Geeslin Funeral Home.

     Survivors include three granddaughters and two grandsons.

Mrs. S. A. Whitehurst (Sytha Ann Locklear Davis Whitehurst, sister of Sidney Locklear Smith Queen Morrow Lopez)

     Funeral services were held here last Friday morning at 11 o'clock for Mrs. S. A. Whitehurst who passed away Thursday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. John Trotter.  Mrs. Whitehurst, who was nearly 100 years old, had been ill for several weeks. She was the mother of 12 children four of whom survive, namely: Mrs. John Trotter of this city; Mrs. Annie Grubert, of Kerrville; Ambrose Davis of Kerrville, and Dan Davis of Gatesville. She is also survived by 100 grandchildren and an number of great grandchildren.  The funeral services were held at the graveside with R. N. Allen, Elder of the Church of Christ, holding the services. The deceased was born in Arkansas but spent most of her life in Texas, living for a number of years at Sheffield, Texas, where her husband, the late Dr. Whitehurst, practiced medicine. She has made her home with her daughter, Mrs. John Trotter, for the past twenty years. 
     The many friends of the family extend their heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved ones in the loss of their loved ones.
Sanderson Times Dec. 29, 1933