OBITUARIES
Verna Mae Brashear
March 29, 1935 – January 8, 2022
BOWIE – Verna Mae Brashear, 86, passed away, Jan. 8, 2022, in Fort Worth, TX.
A funeral service will take place at 2 p.m. on Jan. 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Bowie. Burial will follow at Salona Cemetery in Bowie.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 13, at the White Family Funeral Home in Bowie.
Verna was born on March 29, 1935, to Albert Sidney Johnson and Cora Mae (Pillow) Johnson in Mount Vernon, TX. She always said she was lucky number seven of 10 children growing up in a big family with ties to history in Fort Worth and raised in Henrietta.
She graduated from Henrietta High School in 1953 where she later met Bobbie Brashear, Sr. at a rodeo dance, and they married 3 months later in Henrietta on Sept. 4, 1954. They moved to Houston while Bob attended Rice University where they begin their lives and 62-year history. They lived in Bowie for the rest of their lives raising three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Verna Mae spent many years as a rancher’s wife raising her kids acting as a leader in parent teacher association, Cub Scouts and Camp Fire girls, as well as participating as a field census enumerator. Verna Mae was then inspired to go to college and became an educator. She graduated from Midwestern State University receiving a bachelor degree in education in 1972.
She had a lifelong passion both for teaching and learning and taught in the Bowie Independent School District for 28 years. She started her career teaching at South Ward spending most of her time in third grade and finishing as a sixth-grade math teacher. She always said both grades were so impressionable and loved both the creativity and working with numbers. She always advocated for furthering your education. Texas history was her favorite subject to teach.
She had many creative passions including quilting, crocheting, collecting and dealing in western art and cooking for her family. She also spent many years feeding the Brashear Brother ranch hands and crisscrossing the state as a basketball coach’s wife.
Verna Mae was involved in several quilting guilds. She had quilting blocks selected as part of fundraising efforts for 9/11 families as well as a block in the Texas Department of Agriculture’s “Common Threads of Texas” exhibition at the 1997 State Fair.
She was well known for making her signature chocolate chip cookies for coaches, teachers, athletes and students. She also had an annual tradition of crocheting custom ornaments for her students, grandkids and great-grandkid’s classes and storytime kids at the library.
The family was her life. Verna Mae’s pride in her family was extraordinary. She was very proud and loved watching her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids over the years participating in all their endeavors such as sports, band, rodeo, one-act play, and most importantly their academics.
She was very civic-minded and loved her community and giving back. An avid supporter of the Bowie education system and the community as a whole, she contributed to “The Bowie Knife Project” along with her husband, Bob as well as the Bowie Education Foundation and the Bowie Mission. Contributions to Rice University’s higher education scholarship program were also an important priority.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bobbie Brashear, Sr.; parents, Albert Sidney and Cora Mae (Pillow) Johnson; and siblings, Calvin, Hollis, Bobby, Buddy, Victor, and Bill Johnson, Joann Bachman, Katherine Nunez; and grandson, Matthew Brashear.
Verna Mae Johnson is survived by her children Bobbie Brashear, Jr., Jan Browning and husband Kevin, and Lance Brashear, all of Bowie; grandchildren, Jennifer Glover and husband Lyal Glover, Northlake; Tiffany and Clay Egenbacher, Vashti; Brandon and Jana Brashear, Snyder; Casey and Chelsea Brashear, Burleson; Chance Browning, Washington D.C.; Julia Hilker, Wichita Falls; Mikaela Neubauer, Arlington; great-grandchildren, Caleb, Stryker, Maverick and Marli Brashear, Cy and Tess Egenbacher, Stormy Brashear, and Claire and Ava Frederiksen and brother, Sidney Johnson, Wichita Falls.
Arrangements entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home of Bowie, Texas.
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(940) 872-9993 www.thewhitefamilyfuneralhome.com
November 28,1928 – June 9, 2026
DENTON – Imogene Dalton Evans, 97, passed away on June 9, 2026.
A visitation will begin at 1 p.m. on June 20 at DeBerry Funeral Home and at 2 p.m. the funeral service will follow. A grave side service will immediately follow at Roselawn Memorial Park 3801 Roselawn Dr., Denton.
Imogene Dalton Evans was born on Nov. 28, 1928 in Coleman County Texas to Samuel and Effie Clara Dalton. She was raised on the family farm and ranch near Gouldbusk attending local schools and graduating high school from Mozelle High School.
Growing up she worked in the fields and with the cattle and sheep alongside her brothers. She gained a great work ethic that stayed with her throughout her life. She felt blessed to have three careers. She worked with her husband Joe Evans in their plumbing, heating and air conditioning business. After it was sold because of Joe’s health, she returned to college to finish her education, receiving a BS degree from North Texas State University (now UNT) and a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University. She began work as a county extension agent in Montague County, retiring in 1991. She moved back to Denton and began a career in real estate in 1993.
Family was extremely important to her. After working all day she would work at night canning and freezing food from the family’s garden. One of her sayings she will be remembered for is a quote “waste not, want not.”
She was proceeded in death by her husband, Joe B. Evans in 1991; daughter, Regina Pitt in 2011; son, Joe B. Evans Jr. in 2015; daughter, Sharon Griffith in 2023; parents and three brothers.
She is survived by her grandsons, Scott Griffith, Fort Worth, Chad (Milly) Griffith, Dallas and “Trey” (Julie) Joe B. Evans III, Bowie; granddaughters, Lindsay (Kyle) Coker, Dallas, Shannon (James) Mares, Krum, and Lydia Evans, Bowie; great-grandchildren, Case Janopoulos, Krum, Emarie Evans, Bowie, Harper and Ellis Griffith, Dallas, Jack Griffith, Fort Worth, Berkleigh and Reagan Mares, Krum, and Collins and Myer Coker, Dallas; sister, Anna Walker, Saginaw; and nieces and nephews.
Arrangements entrust to DeBerry Funeral Home, Denton.
Paid publication
June 21, 1958 – June 10, 2026
NOCONA – Mark Dean Hancock, 67, died on June 10, 2026.
A memorial service will be from 2-4 p.m. on June 28 at the Turquoise Owl in Nocona.
He and his twin, Mike, were born on June 21, 1958, in Gainesville to Harvey F. Hancock and Jean (Hancock) Shears. He graduated from Nocona High School in 1976. He also attended North Texas University. He had several careers in his lifetime—the Boys’ State School in Gainesville, Tucker Rocky Distributing and numerous oilfield companies.
He is preceded in death by his parents; a half-sister and grandparents.
He is survived by two sons, Ben Hancock and Sam Hancock; brothers, Harvey Hancock and Mike Hancock; sisters, Kathy Tomlinson and Patty Crabtree; two grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews; and great-nieces and nephews.
Arrangements entrusted to Jerry Woods Funeral Home, Nocona.
January 20, 1938 – June 12, 2026
BOWIE – Minnie Allen Walker, 88 years, 4 months, and 23 days old died June 12, 2026.
There was a visitation from 5-6 p.m. on June 14 at Jerry Woods Funeral Home Chapel.
A funeral service took place at 2 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church on June 15. Interment followed in Ringgold Cemetery.
She was born Jan. 20, 1938, to Clarence and Eunice Allen in Ardmore, OK on what had once been reservation land. She was the only one of nine children to be born in a hospital. She graduated from Prairie Valley High School, where she played basketball and volleyball.
In 1959, she married her soulmate, Jerry Walker, and they built their extended family over the next 56 years. She worked for Dude’s Duds briefly, and at the Ford dealership in Nocona for many years. She served as Nocona City secretary and then as Nocona City manager, retiring in 2005 after a total of 23 years. The Walkers lost Jerry in 2018, and she moved to Independence Hall in Bowie a few years ago.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Jerry Walker; parents; and siblings, Alice Harper, Sam, Doie and David Allen.
She is survived by her three daughters, Karen Walker, Linda Wickersham and Kathy Sayers; three step-daughters; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; sisters, Joan Tettleton and Barbara Ice; and many nieces and nephews.
She had a lifelong love of flowers, so flowers to remember her are welcome or donate to the Carpenter Shop, 400 Boston St., Nocona, TX 76255.
Arrangements entrusted to Jerry Woods Funeral Home, Nocona.
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