OBITUARIES

James Oliver Willoughby

Published

1 year ago

01/29/2025

May 7, 1938 – January 6, 2025
INDIANA – James Oliver Willoughby (Jim), 86, went to his heavenly home on Jan. 6, 2025
The funeral service will be 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at the Bowie First Methodist Church with fellowship after.
Jim was born May 7, 1938 in Erick, OK to Dorothy and Ralph Willoughby. He was born into a family of horsemen and cattlemen. The family ranched in the Texas Panhandle until moving to Central Missouri in the mid 1940s. He spent his youth learning and honing horsemanship skills, rodeoing and tending cattle. Jim was the Valedictorian of his Booneville High School class in Booneville, MO. Shortly after Jim’s graduation, he was hired by Mr. E Paul Waggoner of Waggoner Ranch fame.
At 18, Jim left home for the life of a professional horse trainer. He carried with him lessons from his Dad and his uncles. With this knowledge, Jim went on to become one of the top trainers in the country. Jim has left a very visible legacy of accomplishments in life and in his chosen profession: the world of western performance horses.
Jim trained horses for every western discipline. He was partly or wholly credited for qualifying 34 head of horses for their American Quarter Horse Association championships between 1956 and 1967. He was one of the formative members of the National Reining Horse Association. Jim’s accomplishments here included Futurity Champion, Reserve Champion and placings of third, two fifth and two seventh, ninth and a 13th. In open competition, he was a champion and also had two third place finishes.
His futurity and open championships came in the same year (1971), a nearly unheard of feat. Possibly his most important NRHA accomplishment is as the author of “A. General,” the definition of a reining horse. This rule has been the defining standard of a reining horse for more than 50 years. Jim was inducted into the NRHA Hall of Fame in 1992 for his vision and leadership.
Jim’s first love was the cutting horse. Essential to cattle management, a cutting horse is trained to separate a single cow from a herd of cattle and prevent it from getting back to the herd. Jim trained hundreds of cutting horses, including National and Affiliate Champions and Reserve Champions, and National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Finalists and Semi-Finalists. With amazing skill, insight, and wisdom, Jim salvaged even more horses from quitting and running off in the cutting pen. Each salvage horse takes steady patience on the part of the trainer and a willingness to recognize and appreciate each horse as an individual. Jim’s dad always said, “Every horse has a key. The trainer just has to be smart enough to figure out what the key is.”
Jim Willoughby found the keys to understanding and training countless horses. Jim never looked at his profession as simply a money-making career. He loved horses, they were his passion. Even as his life was drawing to a close, a conversation about a horse brightened his face and his voice became stronger; authoritative and eager. Jim carried himself with honor and integrity throughout his career. His word was his bond. He left a legacy that one might consider unmatched.
Jim was preceded in death by his mother and father, Dorothy (Dot) Feilner Willoughby and Ralph (Tex) Oliver Willoughby; sister, Glenna Jo Willoughby Wing; brother-in-laws, Larry Wing and Steve Schumaier; and former wife, Lolly Willoughby.
Jim is survived by his wife, Cara Lea; sons, Bronc, Mark (Shorty) and Bruce Willoughby; daughters-in-law, Patti and Dee Dee Willoughby; grandchildren and their spouses, Justin and Michelle Willoughby, Kisten and Levi Jackson, Cassie and Dustin Mitchell; great-grand children, Madison and Hunter Willoughby, Emma and Lucchese Jackson, Laramie and Leddy Mitchell; his brother, Gene Willoughby; sister-in-law, Mary Ann; sister, Jill Willoughby Schumaier; and nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
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

6 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

6 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.