Maebeth O'Banion

MAEBETH MITCHELTREE O’BANION passed away on August 8, 2019, at her residence in Winnsboro, TX. She was 92 years old. She is survived by her husband of 72 years, John Hugh O’Banion; sons John Hugh, Jr. (Mora), David Michael (Linda), Dana Clifton (Pam), and Kenneth Eugene; seven grandchildren; fourteen great-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She will be lovingly remembered by all who knew her for her devotion to her family, above all else. Born Lyndall Maebeth Mitcheltree, in Port Arthur, Texas, on January 22, 1927, she graduated from South Park High School, in Beaumont. She was persuaded by her sister, Mary Jane, to go on a blind date with one of Mary Jane’s co-workers, a young man named John O’Banion, to a Jose Iturbi concert. The date apparently went rather well, for they were married on December 26, 1946, and that marriage would last, as the sages say, “for as long as they both shall live”. Maebeth and her husband, John, lived in Huntsville while he attended Sam Houston State Teachers’ College, but they eventually settled in Pasadena, where she devoted her life to caring for her family, which included four sons, two of them twins. They moved to the Livingston area after retirement, but would ultimately return to Huntsville, to settle at Cline’s Prairie. She embraced her role as wife and mother with enthusiasm, and with a spirit of adventure that inspired all who knew her – although it did not surprise any of them; such achievements came to be expected of her. It was with this unique spirit of adventure that she embraced every aspect of her life: when she took an interest in something, she pursued it; and she excelled at it. Whatever the challenge – cooking, sewing, cake-decorating, even shopping – she embraced it, and made it one of her trademarks! Indeed, her cooking became legendary across several generations of family and friends, and she turned shopping into a sport, often playing ‘catch-and-release’! (As the song says, “It’s not the kill; it’s the thrill of the chase!”) But her most important, and enduring, accomplishment was the example she set – for her children, and their children, and even their children – of a life well and truly lived, and loved. She inspired. Funeral observances will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 17, 2019, at Northside Baptist Church, 1207 FM 980, in Huntsville, with interment at Cline’s Prairie Cemetery.

Maebeth O'Banion

January 22, 1927 - August 8, 2019