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Joyce Henderson Irwin, DHS Class of 1953
Joyce Irwin, 74, died Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Joyce was born Sept. 27, 1935, in Pottsboro. She was loving, confident and
genuinely honest. Joyce loved her family and friends, whom she loved to visit
with, and all of God's creatures. Her grandchildren were her heart. She played,
colored and sang with them.
Survivors: Her loving husband of 57 years, Richard; children,
Janet Henson and husband, Bobby, Roger Irwin and Rick Irwin and wife, Michelle;
six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and siblings, Jerry Don Henderson,
Paul Michael Henderson, Ruby Wasden, Imogene Gillian and Lucille Boren.
Sue S. Carroll, DHS Graduate
Services for Sue S. Carroll of Colbert were held June 21 at the
First Baptist Church in Colbert. Interment followed at Fairview
Cemetery in Denison with Roy Vinson officiating.
She is survived by her husband, Buddy Carroll; daughters, LeAnn Day
and Lynda Read, both of Orange; sister, Norma Kelly; four
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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Roy
"Butch" Sims Goodman, Jr., DHS Class of 1957
Roy "Butch" Sims Goodman, Jr., age 71, passed away
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at Texoma Medical Center after a battle with cancer.
Mr. Goodman was born December 3, 1938 in
Cherokee, Okla. the son of Roy Sims and Rosie Goodman. Butch graduated from
Denison High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin. Butch
married Carol Huber on August 25, 1962 in Austin.
After college, Butch worked with his father at R. S. Goodman Company for 27
years. He served on the Denison School Board. Later he worked for the City of
Denison in the Athletic Department for 15 years. He served as head of the board
for Denison Parks and Recreation and umpired girls' softball for many years.
Butch was a lifetime member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. He was a faithful
servant in several areas of the church for many years. Butch was always willing
to serve where ever he was needed. It didn't matter if it was Junior Warden on
the Vestry, hosting the youth at his home or mowing the yard. He was a great
athlete and played football for UT. Butch was inducted into the Denison Alumni
Association Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Mr. Goodman is survived by his loving family: wife of 47 years,
Carol Goodman of Denison; daughter, Cindy Kasson and husband, Dave of Melissa
and son, Dan Goodman and wife, Emily Unkefer of Broomfield, Colo.; two
granddaughters, Nicole and Caroline Kasson and two grandsons, Thomas and Sam
Goodman; uncle and aunt, Jason and Louise Goodman, aunt, Mary Bennett and
several cousins. Butch was preceded in death by his parents.
James Blankenship, DHS Class of 1949
Rev.
James Russell Blankenship, of Lubbock, TX, passed away from this life to be with
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on April 15, 2010.
Rev. Blankenship was born on January 7, 1932 in Denison, TX. At the age of 12,
he preached his first sermon at
First Church of the Nazarene in Denison, TX. He married his
childhood sweetheart,
Christine Barnard, on August 16, 1951. In 1953, he graduated from what is now
Southern Nazarene University
with a degree in Theology. During his pastoral career, Rev. Blankenship served
at Pawhuska (Oklahoma), Tulsa Regency Park (Oklahoma), Austin Grace (Texas), and
St. Louis Webster Groves (Missouri). In 1973, he became superintendent of the
Northwestern Ohio District,
where he served until 1980 when he became superintendent of the
San Antonio District. He
served in this capacity for 22 years. In 1978, he was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate from Mt
Vernon Nazarene University.
Preceding Rev. Blankenship in death were his parents, Christine Weist
Blankenship and Lee Harold Blankenship; and sister, Rosemary Sullivan.
Those left to cherish his legacy include his wife of 58 years, Chris; daughter,
Karen Donnerberg and husband John of
Lubbock; granddaughters, Emily Rowin and husband Ty of Lubbock; Amy
Donnerberg of Lubbock; siblings Betty Lynch and husband WM of Nashville, TN;
Harold Blankenship and wife Doris of Oklahoma City, OK; Jacob Blankenship and
wife Helen of Olathe, KS; Carolyn McNeil and husband Don of Denison, TX; several
nieces, nephews, and extended family.
Judge R.C.
Vaughan, DHS Class of 1931
Senior District Judge (retired)
R.C. Vaughan, 94, of Sherman, died early Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at Wilson N.
Jones Hospital in Sherman. Judge Vaughan served Sherman and Grayson County for
more than 30 years as judge of the 15th District Court, and was a Grayson County
historian, newspaper columnist, author and in more county endeavors that any
other person.
Family visitation will be Friday from 6 until 8 p.m. at Dannel Funeral Home in
Sherman. A graveside service for family and friends will be held at 1 p.m.
Saturday at Cedarlawn Memorial Cemetery on Texoma Parkway.
Judge Vaughan was born Nov.18, 1915, near Hollis, OK, where his parents, Samuel
Benton Vaughan and Anna Armilda Hendrix Vaughan farmed for eight years before
returning to Grayson County.
He attended Golden Rule, Cherry Mound and Denison schools and graduated from
Denison High School in 1931 at the age of 15. He enrolled in the University of
Texas in September 1932, taking pre-law courses and was a member of the Longhorn
Band while a student there. He received his Law degree from UT in May 1938 and
opened a law office in Denison in 1939. He was appointed city attorney of
Denison in 1941.
That same year he married Ona Sutherland of Winnsboro, a registered nurse at the
Katy Hospital. They had been married 65 years when she died on Dec. 19, 2006.
He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1942, then was accepted for training at
the Army Counter Intelligence School and later was appointed a special agent
with the CIC in South Texas, New Mexico, and the Solomon Islands in the South
Pacific. While on the Island of Guadalcanal he was promoted to first lieutenant
and later served as Judge Advocate in the Judge Advocate General Corps.
When he was discharged from the Army in 1946 he returned to his law practice
with Hal M. Rawlins in Denison. In 1948 he was elected Judge of the Grayson
Court at Law, then in 1952 he was elected judge of the 15th Judicial District
Court and served in that office until his retirement in 1985, the longest tenure
of any elected public official in Grayson County history. Even after retirement
he was a “traveling judge,” spending many days on the bench in Gainesville and
Dallas.
In 1992 the Grayson County Law Library in the Sherman courthouse was named in
his honor. Through the years he was active in many programs, including the Boy
Scouts, the Optimist and Kiwanis clubs, Juvenile Board of Grayson County for 32
years, Juvenile Alternatives and was an organizer of the Grayson County Family
Clinic. His service to the community stretches across many organizations
throughout the county.
He was a past president of the Grayson County Historical Society, a member of
the Grayson County Historical Commission and the Texas Historical Commission. He
was a trustee of the Old Settlers Association, past president of Grayson County
Frontier Village, a 50 year member of Lone Star Lodge 403, AF&AM in Denison and
held district and grand lodge positions.
In 1984 he was named chairman of the Grayson County Sesquicentennial Committee
and in 1989 was chairman of the county’s bicentennial celebration and later
co-chairman of the county Millennium Committee. In 1990 he was awarded the
Outstanding Jurist Award by the Texas Bar Foundation.
Judge Vaughan began writing a weekly column in the Herald Democrat about Grayson
County’s colorful history in 1985. Twenty-five years later, his column is still
appearing in the newspaper and the number has grown to almost 1,000 columns.
In 2007 the Herald Democrat and the Grayson County Millennium Committee
co-sponsored the publishing of a book of his columns, “The Life & Times of
Grayson County, Texas.” The book sold out in one month and has been reprinted.
The Judge was preceded in death by one son, James Benton Vaughan; his parents,
former County Commissioner Ben and Anna Vaughan; and one sister, Inez Vaughan
Hord and his dear friend, Neilson Rodgers.
The family would like to thank his special caregiver, Nelda Burks of Sherman for
her kindness with Judge Vaughan.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Susan Vaughan of
Sherman; four grandchildren, Chris Vaughan of Greenville, Laura Kesler and
husband, Chris of Washington, D.C., Kristi Butler and husband, Cody, of Keller,
and Elizabeth Porras of Dallas; six great-grandchildren, Austin and Emily Butler
of Keller, Megan, Lauryn, Cody, and Shannyn Kesler of Seattle, WA; two special
nieces, Donna Hord Hunt and husband, David of Denison and Monna Hord Buckley and
husband, Newton,
of McKinney; and several other nieces and nephews.
Nina Ray Edwards, DHS Graduate
Nina Ray Edwards, 90, of Calera, Okla. passed away Monday night Jan. 11, 2010 at Texoma Medical Center in Denison.
She was born Feb. 14, 1919 in Preston Bend, and was the daughter of the late Grover T. and Grace Jackson Caddell. She attended Denison schools and was a Denison High School graduate. She married Roger Edwards in 1938 and he preceded her in death in 1983.
She was a homemaker and a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Colbert. She was also preceded in death by a daughter Rebecca Kerney in 2005; a sister Lorene Linville in 1991 and a brother-in-law, Worley Linville in 2003.
She is survived by her son, Layne Edwards and wife Brenda of Calera, Okla.; son-in-law, Henry Kerney of Dallas; grandsons, Marcus Kerney of Dallas, and Brandon Shivers of McKinney; nephew, Danny Linville and wife Joan of Cobb, Okla., and niece, June Linville of Littleton, Colo. Numerous other nieces and nephews also survive.
Noel
D. Wall, DHS Graduate
As an executive with the federal government, a dedicated
family man, and an avid rancher, Noel D. Wall never wasted a minute. He had high
standards, and with every success, he looked for the next challenge. If he
couldn't get something done as quickly as he'd hoped, he'd often say with a
smile, "Time just ran out on me." The same could be said for the morning of New
Year's day. Mr. Wall died at his home in Bells after a brave battle with ALS.
Nancy (Monroe) Wall, his high school sweetheart and wife of 49 years, was by his
side.
Mr. Wall was born in Sherman on Oct. 21,1938, and grew up on his parents' dairy,
outside Pottsboro, milking cows every morning and evening. He met Nancy, the
love of his life, at church, and they were married in 1960. To pay for her
engagement ring, he joked that he had milked 12,000 cows.
After graduating from Denison Senior High School, where he was named "Most
Dependable" in the senior class and received the Hi-Y Cup of Complete Manhood,
he earned a business degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, in
Durant, Okla., and a master's of public administration from the University of
Oklahoma, in Norman, Okla. He was later named a distinguished alumnus of both
Denison Senior High and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Mr. Wall began his four-decade career with the Social Security Administration in
1960 and was appointed to his first executive level job at the age of 30. From
1985 to 1997, he served as the regional commissioner of SSA serving Texas, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. This territory was later expanded to
include Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Over the years, he won numerous honors for his leadership, including the
Presidential Rank Award, which was awarded by President Bill Clinton, and the
Ewell T. Bartlett Award for Humanity in Government, which he received in part
for his tireless efforts after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building, in Oklahoma City, where sixteen SSA employees lost their lives.
His commitment to helping others extended beyond his government service. Mr.
Wall was on the Texoma Regional Advisory Council on Aging and was active at
Western Heights Church of Christ, where he served as an elder for nine years.
Yet he was as comfortable in his Wranglers and boots as he was in a suit and
tie. He had a lifelong love of horses and especially enjoyed raising and showing
cutting horses. And he passed his love of the outdoors along to his six-year-old
granddaughter Madeline, whose pony, Dandy, is named for Mr. Wall's father.
Mr. Wall is survived by Nancy, their daughter Shelley Parks, of Plano, their
daughter and son-in-law Noelle and Brian Sweany, of Sachse; his four
grandchildren, Greg Parks and his wife Andrea, of Rowlett, Dustin Mitchell, of
Chattanooga, Tenn., and Madeline and Colin Noel Sweany, of Sachse. He is also
survived by his sister, Danna Beth Schleuse, of Denison, his cousin, Rick
Fawcett, of Denison, his father-in-law, R.E. Monroe, of Denison, his
brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Bob and Shirley Monroe, of Flower Mound,
numerous nieces and nephews, and a life-long friend who was more like a brother,
Frank Darrow and his wife, Irene, of Sachse. He was preceded in death by his
daughter, Jennifer Wall Mitchell, his son-in-law Bill Parks, and his beloved
parents, J.F. (Dandy) and Mildred Wall.
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