Willa Dean Ormsby Obituary
Willa Dean Ormsby (nee Brightwell) died at Oakwood Assisted Living Center in Stephenville on January 9th, 2017 due to complications
following a stroke she suffered on January 1st. She was 90.
Willa was born on June 5, 1926, in Desdemona, TX, to her parents, Odie and Minnie Brightwell. She married Joe Ormsby in 1947 in Las Vega, New Mexico,
just before he shipped out for his overseas service in World War II.
Their first son, Jerry Reid, was born in Gorman in 1947, but the Ormsbys soon moved to Borger where Joe worked for Phillips Petroleum. While
There, they had their second son, Randy, in 1951. After moves with Phillips to Waco and the Old Ocean refinery, they finally settled again in Gorman, where
Joe took over the management of Ormsby’s Grocery from 1958 to 1964.
After a move back to Old Ocean to rejoin Phillips, Joe and Willa split up and Willa moved to Waco to work for McLennan Community College.
By This time, Randy was in high school and Jerry in college. She finally wound
up in Stephenville working for Texas A&M Extension Service and later the
Coco-Cola distribution center. She retired for good in mid-70s.
During retirement, Willa reconnected with an old friend, Ross Wilson, and shared the last years of her life taking him to lunch daily from his place at Oakwood Assisted Living.
She joined him there in January of 2015 and they spent all their time together looking after one another.
Willa was known as a spirited story teller, a great grandmother and a great cook. She loved her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren and she was
loved by everyone who knew her.
Willa is survived by four siblings: Jimmy Brightwell, Myrna Smith, Zella Mae Wright and Beth Compton, plus four grandchildren: Cory and Todd Ormsby (from her son Jerry and
his first wife, Charlotte) and Kendalh Kelly (from Jerry and his second wife, Pam) and Eric Ormsby (from her son Randy and his wife, Judith). Grandchild Cory and his wife Michelle
have two sons, Beckham and Carter and Grandchild Todd and his wife Ember have a son Walker. Willa is preceded in death by her former husband, Joe Ormsby; her sister,
Betty Smith; her twin brothers Gale and Dale; her brother, Tommy; her son, Jerry; and her mother and father, Minnie and Odie Brightwell.
A VISITATION WILL BE HELD AT THE Higginbotham Funeral Home in Gorman at 10:00 a.m. till noon on Saturday, January 14, followed by a burial that afternoon for family only in
Oaklawn Cemetery in Gorman. A memorial service for all will follow on Sunday, January 15, at 2:00 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church in Stephenville, 422 W. Washington St.,
Stephenville. All are welcome to attend and celebrate with memories of Willa’s long and loving life.