Virginia Mowell

Virginia was born January 20, 1934, in a small three-room house on her grandfather’s land southwest of Mount Pleasant, Texas in Titus County to Alfred Merle Redfearn and Vera Mae Moulton Redfearn. She departed this life December 7, 2021, at the age of 87 and was received into the arms of her Heavenly Father where her new and eternal home awaited her in Heaven.

Virginia grew up on a farm where she milked cows and sold milk. The money they earned from the sale of the milk went to take the family on a vacation including one to Washington D.C. in 1948. The family also had a large and fruitful garden. She graduated from high school at 16 years old and moved to Dallas for a time but eventually returned to Mount Pleasant and got a job at Ordinance Aero Physics just south of Daingerfield. It was there she met and then married Daymon Graham on November 26, 1955. Two daughters were added to this family, Sylvia in 1957 and Greta in 1960. Sylvia and Greta both recall with fondness how their mom sewed beautiful clothes so that they always had a new outfit to wear on their birthday. Virginia especially loved Christmas Eve service at South Cliff Baptist Church and a neighborhood Christmas ride to see the lights that all enjoyed. Virginia started working toward an Education degree at TCU in 1965 when Greta began kindergarten. She completed this over the next 6 years as she only did classes while the girls were in school. She graduated in 1971 and worked at W.M. Green Elementary for 24 years before she retired. She loved teaching third graders and especially loved tutoring students in reading. Virginia valued family, education, and the church.

Virginia loved her Lord Jesus and especially loved Christmas with her two daughters and two grandsons, Chris and Carlton Lemley. A “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake was a holiday tradition. Treasured memories with her grandsons were reading Dr. Seuss books, trips to Boston and to Whistler, Canada skiing. Virginia was always teaching, so trips to the Fort Worth Zoo and the Children’s Museum were a staple on a visit with Grandmother for Chris and Carlton. Both Chris and Carlton could count on receiving books and toothbrushes in their stockings for Christmas. When the grandsons went to college Grandmother made sure that she sent a generous stipend toward their tuition each semester. Carlton says "I think something I always saw with Grandmother is that you could see how much she cared by how much she prepared. Every time Chris and I visited she would have a Viennetta ice cream ready, two new toothbrushes laid out, and a whole plan of what we would be doing during our visit (usually including the Omni Theater). You could always see how much effort had gone into the preparation to make sure everything was perfect and I think it was one of her love languages."

Virginia later met a man at South Cliff Baptist Church who was a recent widower and had moved to the area to be closer to his adult children. Virginia married Robert Mowell on October 5, 2002. Virginia and Robert enjoyed traveling to many locations including Hawaii, Panama Canal, Mexico, Canada and Canadian Rockies, Bahamas, Germany, France, and Italy. Robert was an ordained Baptist minister who had a precious and kind heart for the Lord and was known for his huge smile, gentle spirit, and practical jokes. Robert recently went to his heavenly home July 4, 2021.

Virginia is survived by one brother, Max Wayne Redfearn of Hurst Texas; two daughters, Greta Graham (Bennett Hare) of Benbrook, Texas, and Sylvia Graham Lemley (Bob) of Lorena Texas; grandsons, Chris Lemley (Megan) of Temple, Texas, and Carlton Lemley (Abigail) of Dehradun, India; great-grandsons, Graham and Noam Lemley of Temple, Texas; a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly. Virginia is also survived by bonus children, Rhonda Jackson (Philip) and Bobby Mowell; and 17 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services: 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 11, 2021 at Winscott Road Funeral Home, 1001 Winscott Road, Benbrook, Texas 76126. Visitation: 9-10:00 a.m., Saturday, prior to her funeral at 10:00 a.m.  Burial: 3:00 p.m., Saturday in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Mount Pleasant, Texas.

Special thanks to the Sunrise Senior Living of Fort Worth nurses and staff, and Encompass Hospice nurses and staff, who gave her such loving care these last years when things were hard.

Memorials: If desired, memorials may be sent honoring Virginia Graham Mowell to Crossroads Fellowship at 405 Estates Drive, Waco, Texas 76712, (254-848-9789), (Please put “Crossroads in India” in the memo line.), or to the Alzheimer's Association.