Ector Co. TX - Obits from the Odessa American Online 27 April 1999 Submitted by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp cbodessa@classicnet.net Thanks to the Odessa American Online http://www.oaoa.com/ ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OA Online Obituaries. April 27, 1999 Permian Basin Obituaries _________________________________________________________________ ODESSA -- Dayton Sparkman Wester, 85, of Andrews died peacefully at home on Saturday, April 24, 1999. Services will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27, 1999, in the First Baptist Church in Andrews. He was born Sept. 14, 1913, in Pickwick. He attended school in Padgett, but following the death of his father, chose to quit during his senior year to support his mother, two brothers and two sisters. After attempting to join the military services and failing due to a childhood injury, he used his mechanical talents to support the World War II effort by working as a machinist supervisor and millwright in the shipyard in Long Beach, Calif. He returned to Texas to marry Maezelle Gray on May 25, 1942. While they resided in California, Dayton joined the Masonic Lodge in 1944. After returning to Texas in 1945, they lived in Olney until they moved to Andrews in 1951. He served the Andrews community in many ways. He was a member of First Baptist Church, was a member of the evening Lions Club until it disbanded and a past member of the Sheriff's Posse. He was a licensed pilot and loved to fly. Because of his love for the automobile industry, he worked in some capacity with cars for the largest part of his working career. He sold Fords at Johnny Smith Motor Company for 30 years, retiring at age 74. His wife, Maezelle Wester survives him; as well as his children, Jimmy Dan Wester, Gayle Dobbs and son-in law, Dwayne Dobbs, Chuck Wester and daughter-in-law, Julie Wester. He had eight grandchildren, Jana Inderhees and husband, Marc Inderhees, Michael Wester and wife, Shannon Wester, Wendy Wester, Spencer Dobbs and wife, Cary Dobbs, Kristy Winchell and husband, Scott Winchell, Mia Means, Jana Wester and Nicholas Wester. He had one great grandson, Nathan Means. One sister, Jerry Austin, of Burleson also survives him. The family suggests memorials to Home Hospice of Odessa, Mission Dorado Baptist Church building fund or First Baptist Church, Andrews. _________________________________________________________________ ODESSA -- Mass for Jaime Alba Ramirez Sr., 71, of Odessa, will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph Catholic Church with Father Frank Chavez officiating. Interment will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery. Rosary will be said at 7 p.m. today at Martinez Funeral Home. Public visitations will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Wednesday at Martinez Funeral Home Chapel. Mr. Ramirez died Sunday, April 25, 1999, in Odessa. He was born Feb. 29, 1928, in Ozona to Ester Alba Valdez and Eugenio Ramirez Sr. He was preceded in death by his father, Eugenio Ramirez Sr., and his stepfather, Roman Valdez. Mr. Ramirez was a self-employed tile setter and was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Survivors include his wife, Edna Ramirez of Odessa; his mother, Ester Valdez of Odessa; his stepmother, Felicita Ramirez of Haltom City; sons, Jaime Ramirez Jr. and his wife, Cathy, and Roland Ramirez and his wife, Jerri, all of Odessa; daughters, Gilda Jimenez and her husband, Ralph Jr., Leonor Reyes and her husband, David S., and Stella Lee and her husband, Ron, all of Odessa; brother, Eugene Alexander Ramirez Jr. of Oklahoma; sisters, Esperanza "Ester" Flores of North Carolina, Rosa Garcia and Margaret Shannon, both of Odessa, and Eloisa Flores of Midland; stepsister, Melissa Zenteno of Haltom City; 17 grandchildren; and 15 great-greatgrandchildren. Pallbearers will be his grandsons. Martinez Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. _________________________________________________________________ ODESSA -- William Virgil "Bill" Jones, 93, of Odessa died April 25, 1999, at Avalon Nursing Center. He was born March 24, 1906, to Burkley and Cordie Jones in Eastland County. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, I999, in the chapel of Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors with the Rev. Terry Pugh officiating. Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Arrangements are by Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors. He married his wife, Cora, in 1927. Mr. Jones moved to Odessa from Big Lake in 1963. He was a member of First Baptist Church in both Crane and Big Lake. He loved to play dominos, checkers and baseball; he also loved to swim and had swum the Brazos River. He is preceded in death by his wife, Cora Lee Sanders, in 1985; brothers, Wylie, Chester, Roy Lee and Leonard Jones; and a sister, Bula Mae Willis. Mr. Jones is survived by his son, Virgil (Spike) Jones Jr. of Midland; daughters, Dorothy Jones Stroud and Patricia Sanders Kelley, both of Odessa; brother, Burkley N. Jones of Odessa; sister, Cordie Mae Jackson of O'Brien; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be Glenn Turnbow, J.W. Willis, Troy Kelley, Paul Price Jr., Adrian Hamilton, Ronnie Sanders and Cletus Turnbow. Memorial gifts may be made to Vista Hospice. _________________________________________________________________ Gertrude Marie Byrne Forsythe ODESSA -- Gertrude Forsythe, 71, of Arlington, Mass., died April 26, 1999, at Medical Center Hospital. She was born Dec. 5, 1927, in Arlington, Mass. Services will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, 1999, in the chapel of Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors with the Rev. James Otterness officiating. Interment will be in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Arlington, Mass. Arrangements by Frank W. Wilson Funeral Directors. Trudy was the 12th of 13 children born to John B. Byrne and Mary Winifred Fitzgerald Byrne of Arlington, Mass. She was a graduate of St. Agnes Grammar School in Arlington, Mass., and St. John High School in Cambridge, Mass. She was retired from the Arlington Visiting Nurses Association after 18 years. She was a lifelong member of St. Agnes Church in Arlington, Mass., and was also a member of St. Agnes Sodality and The Catholic Daughters. Trudy had loved to travel and had been many places in the world as well as all over the U.S. She also loved to read especially murder/detective mysteries. Trudy was the quiet one in her large family, but she was the one everyone else could turn to and count on. She will be sorely missed. If desired, memorials may be made to the Catholic Charities. Trudy was preceded in death by her beloved husband, James Thomas "Buddy" Forsythe Jr.; and siblings, Mary Perkins, Madeline Toussaint, Leona Daoust, Evelyn Byrne (died at age 2), John Byrne, Leo Byrne, Joseph Byrne and James Byrne; nephew, Stephen Byrne; nieces, Kathleen Forsythe and Donna Byrne Quiemire. They are all waiting to welcome her. She is survived by her two devoted children, Maureen Frances Forsythe Page and husband, William R. "Bill" Page Jr., of Odessa and John Kevin Forsythe and wife, Jennifer MacDonald Forsythe, of Alexandria, Va.; grandsons, Jason Bordeau, William R. "Trey" Page and Adam John Page; siblings, Dorothy Baron, Philip Byrne, Richard Byrne and Donald Byrne; and 51 nieces and nephews. Two sisters-in-law, in particular, were Trudy's close friends, Evelyn Byrne (married to her brother James) and Dorothy McDonald (her husband's sister). They all sadly will miss Trudy. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1999 Odessa American. All rights reserved.