Ethel Modena Wilson

White Settlement -- Ethel Wilson, 91, passed away Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, with her daughter, Mary Virginia, by her bedside. Graveside service: 2 p.m. Tuesday in Annetta Cemetery. Visitation: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at White's Funeral Home, 130 Houston Ave., Weatherford. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the Wilson family suggests consideration of contributions in Ethel's memory to Vitas Innovative Hospice Care, 2501 Parkview Drive, Suite 600, Fort Worth, Texas 76102-5822; or, Mary Lou Reddick Public Library, 7005 Charbonneau Road Lake Worth, Texas 76135-3509. Ethel Modena Wilson was born Dec. 25, 1919, in the Bethany Community near Ravenden Springs, Ark., daughter of the late Frank and Virgie Kellett Rickman. She walked barefoot in the snow to school, later picked cotton for 50 cents a day; each day with the dream of leaving that hard life. As fate would have it, she married Garland Wilson, a young Marine, in 1942 in San Diego, Calif., and they lived kind of happily ever after for 63 years. Ethel was an avid reader and was especially fond of Elmer Kelton, a Texas-born author. She read everything he had ever written. Ethel was so thrilled one year to have received a Christmas-Birthday card from Mr. and Mrs. Kelton. Mary Virginia said, "Mother once told me she would like for her obituary to say 'I was here and now I'm gone.' I never was good at minding mother, but I sure did love her." Ethel was preceded in death by her husband, Garland Wilson, on May 29, 2006; grandson, Paul Eric; a great-grandson, Anthony; her parents, Frank and Virgie Rickman; brothers, Noal and Jedd; beloved poodle, B.B.; and precious granddog poodle, Rebel. Survivors: Those left to cherish wonderful memories of Ethel are her son, Doug; daughter, Mary Virginia and husband, Tommy; granddaughter, Laney; great-grandson, Michael; and numerous nieces and nephews. White's Funeral Home Weatherford, 817-596-4811