OBITUARIES

Jaylene Savage Lovette

Published

3 years ago

06/02/2023

March 22, 1930 – May 21, 2023
BOWIE – Jaylene Savage Lovette, 93, died on May 21, 2023 in Bowie.
A funeral service was conducted at 10:30 a.m. on May 26 at The First Christian Church in Bowie with Kristy Hand as the officiant. Visitation was prior to the service at 9:30 a.m. Interment followed at Elmwood Cemetery after a brief graveside service. Pallbearers were her grandsons.
Born in Baily, TX on March 22, 1930 to Jasper Jehu and Mildred Victoria Freeman Savage, Jaylene was the youngest of seven children. Her mother passed away 29 days after her birth.
Life was going to be a struggle, but some stability came when she became the foster child of Mel and Clementine Clayton of Baily at the age of 12. She remained in their care, off and on, until she started college at North Texas State University in Denton. While there, during a summer session in 1949, she met Lum Jack Lovette and the two were married in Baily on Sept. 11, 1949.
The future was bright. Jack decided to become a lawyer and they made their first home in Austin as they both attended the University of Texas. In June of 1953, upon Jack’s completion of his doctorate of jurisprudence, the couple and infant daughter, Linda, moved to Jack’s hometown of Bowie where they established a home and law practice. The choice to move to Bowie was given to her. She yearned to be part of a large family and it was there waiting for her.
Their family grew with the additions of Vicki, Claire, and big surprise, Benjamin Jack.
Jaylene became a member of The Amity Club, a General Federation Club and was active in that club’s project of The Mother’s March for The March of Dimes. That is a service club and she worked on many of the club’s projects and in different capacities/offices within the club. She was active in Parent Teacher Association, Maids and Matrons (another GFWC Club), Bowie Band Parents, Camp Fire and a local square dance club. She and Jack were members of the First Christian Church and worked along with others to build a new church.
She was supportive of Jack when he was president of the Bowie Chamber of Commerce in the early 1960’s, when he ran for county judge in the early 1950’s and again later in the 1990’s when he ran for district judge. They had a cattle business with registered Herefords and Angus cattle, along with holdings as Mobil Oil consignee for Montague County after the death of Jack’s father Lum Lovette.
She and Jack were members of a bi-weekly Saturday night bridge club with other young couples in Bowie. They all remained in that club for years and watched their children grow up, graduate high school and college and marry.
Jaylene worked as a bank teller, a deputy county clerk and secretary in Jack’s law office from time to time. She loved to paint and became quite accomplished. Traveling worldwide, she made trips to England where she would visit her foster brother John Powell Clayton at the University of Lancashire and Cambridge University, and her childhood pen pal, Jill Brown and family. The Browns reciprocated and visited the U.S. and the Lovettes. She loved reading about the “royals” and could answer many questions regarding that topic.
Jaylene was preceded in death by her parents; husband; brothers, Glen Estell Savage, Emmit Durward Savage, John Hamilton Savage, Howard Ray “Jack” Savage, Otis Freeman Savage, Bernard Weathersby Clayton, Gene Lemacks Clayton and John Powell Clayton and sister, Billye Hope Savage Brackett.
She is survived by a brother, Joe D. Clayton, Tyler and children, Linda Mesler and husband Tracy, Nocona, Vicki Jones and husband Tony, Bowie, Claire McWilliams, Irving and Ben Lovette and wife Mary, Wichita Falls. She was blessed with 16 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to the Montague County Child Welfare Board, P.O. Box 343, Montague, TX, 76251.
Arrangements entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home.

Paid publication

OBITUARIES

Imogene Dalton Evans

Published

5 days ago

06/19/2026

bowienews

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

OBITUARIES

Mark Dean Hancock

Published

7 days ago

06/18/2026

bowienews

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.

OBITUARIES

Minnie Allen Walker

Published

7 days ago

06/18/2026

bowienews

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.