Frankston Area Obituaries — 1999-Present

Here are the obituaries posted for the current month from information provided courtesy of local and area funeral homes and published on their websites or those submitted by families. If an obituary is overlooked and it is desired that it be posted, please inform us at frankstondepotlibrary@gmail.com . Families may request changes or additions, if required. If you have an obituary for a person who has connections with someone or some family in the Frankston-Poynor-LaRue or Lake Palestine area that you want posted to this month or to the archives, and is not currently posted, please let us know at frankstondepotlibrary@gmail.com . Obituaries selected or submitted should follow a format which is essentially consistent with other obituaries posted here or by funeral homes and follow standard grammatical style. Through arrangements with funeral homes and/or the families, we will publish pictures with current obituaries. We will add pictures to archived obituaries from the print version of The Citizen newspaper prior to September 2019 when available. Pictures with archived obituaries posted after that will be added in cooperation with funeral homes or on requests from families.  As was the tradition of the Citizen newspaper, obituaries are published at no charge.

(Obituaries listed chronologically by date of death or funeral service.)

Jesse W. Smith Sr.

Funeral services for Jesse Woodrow Smith Sr., 89, of Frankston, were held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3, at First Baptist Church in Frankston with the Revs. Eddie Hilburn, J.A. Griffin, Grover Talbert and Louie Barron officiating.

Burial was at the Frankston City Cemetery under the direction of Thompson Funeral Home, Frankston.

Mr. Smith died Sunday, Dec. 1, in a Tyler hospital.

He was born Oct. 20, 1913 in Trinity County, Texas to the late Rolland Rivers and Lelia Smith and he moved to Frankston in 1936. Mr. Smith was the owner of Jesse Smith Grocery & Feed Store for 40 years and retired in 1976. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was stationed at Camp Fannin near Tyler. Mr. Smith was a member of the First Baptist Church, Frankston, where he served as a deacon from 1946 to the date of his death.

He was preceded in death by an infant son, Jon Rolland Smith in 1940; and a daughter, Suzanne Smith Dickerson in 1990; four brothers and two sisters.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Jack Hardee Smith; a son and daughter-in-law, Jesse Jr. and Sheila Smith of Frankston; grandsons, Lee Smith Dickerson and Blake Rivers Smith, both of Frankston; granddaughters, Cheryl Anne Dickerson of Frankston and Meredith Cameron Smith of Dallas; great-grandchildren, Heather LeeAnne Stringer, Shelby Suzanne Stringer and Jon Dillon Reynolds, all of Frankston; brothers, Harold Smith of Houston and Billy Smith of Pasadena; a sister, Sybil Smith Fagan of Houston; several nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Dana Bizzell, Joe Dale Dickerson, Larry Lloyd, Mike Cook, Larry Q. House, Jimmy Westbrook, Johnny Wofford and Ronny Smith.

Honorary pallbearers were Richard McLane, Jane Austin Chapman, Buster Hicks, Pete Westbrook, George Tipton, Baptist Men’s Bible Class, J.C. Hicks, T.J. Coker, Jerry Beard, Jerry Boles and Johnny Hardman.

Mary Natalie Fisher Richie

Funeral services for Mary Natalie Fisher Richie, 88, of Frankston will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, in the Thompson Funeral Home Chapel in Frankston with Rev. J.A. Griffin officiating.

Burial was held at the Liberty Hill Cemetery, near Frankston.

Mrs. Richie died Sunday, Dec. 1 in a Frankston nursing home.

She was born May 23, 1914 in Poynor and was a homemaker. Mrs. Richie was a member of First Baptist Church, Poynor.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Roland Richie in April of 1995.

Survivors include daughters and son-in-law, Barbara Richie Crawford, Sue Richie McSpadden and Mac McSpadden, all of Frankston; five grandchildren, William Roland Crawford, Susan Crawford, Cindy McDonald, Nanette Villaneuva and Tina Meadows; 12 great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Henry Yarbrough, Cliff Coleman, Richard Benavides, Jim McGowan, Cecil Andy Anderson and Bob Jennings.

Honorary pallbearers will be Jim Dent and Tommy Brumley.

Carlton C. Shirah

Graveside services for Carlton C. Shirah Sr., 54, of LaRue were held at 3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30, at the LaRue Cemetery with Rev. Matthew Thomas officiating. Services were under direction of Thompson Funeral Home, Frankston.

Mr. Shirah died Tuesday, Nov. 26, in an Athens hospital.

He was born Aug. 24, 1948 in Pensacola, Fla. He was a self employed carpenter and served in the U.S. Navy.

Survivors include his wife, Patricia Shirah of LaRue; a son, Carlton C. Shirah Jr. of LaRue; daughters, DeAnn Mewbourn of Rusk, Susan Shirah of Poynor and Tracie Shirah of LaRue; his mother, Evelyn Shirah of Poynor; eight grandchildren, several nieces and nephews.

Nettie Selman

Funeral services for Nettie Selman, 102, of Fincastle were held at 1 p.m., Monday, Dec. 9, at the United Methodist Church of Frankston with Rev. Mark Pedersen officiating.

Burial was in Fincastle Cemetery under direction of Thompson Funeral Home, Frankston.

Mrs. Selman died Saturday, Dec. 7, in Frankston.

She was born Sept. 23, 1900 in El Dorado, Okla. Mrs. Selman was a housewife and a member of the United Methodist Church of Frankston.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Selman, in May of 1983; and two sons, Dan and Dicky Selman.

Survivors include a son, Joe Selman of Chandler; a daughter, Ann Willingham of Frankston; a sister, Edith, of Dallas; 12 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Ken Locke, Jerry Beard, Bobby Walker, Joe Tindel, Tony Herrington, Don Fitzgerald, Mike Dennis and Thomas Pagitt.

Memorial contributions may be made to the United Methodist Church of Frankston at P.O. Box 355, Frankston, TX 75763.

Estelle Ousley

Funeral services for Estelle Ousley, 96, of Gallatin were held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Gallatin Baptist Church with Rev. Robin Parsons and Rev. Randy Penney officiating.

Burial was in Taylor Cemetery under the direction of Thompson Funeral Home.

Mrs. Ousley died Sunday, Dec. 8 in Jacksonville.

She was born April 21, 1906 in Jacksonville. Mrs. Ousley was a retired seamstress and a member of Gallatin Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by husband of 60 years, Kellogg Ousley.

Survivors include a son, G.V. “Bo” Ousley of Frankston; daughters, Marie Odom and Sue Chandler, both of Gallatin; 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren and four nephews.

Pallbearers were Mark Ousley, Billy Roden, Greg Porter, Rex Chandler, William Blankenship, Anthony Gideon.

Honorary pallbearers were Tommy Gibson, Bruce Gibson, Ray Gibson, Lynn Gibson, Albert Evans.

Clarence N. Conaway

Funeral services for Clarence N. Conaway, 69, of Flint, formerly of Palestine, were held Thursday, Dec. 19, at 10 a.m. at Thompson Funeral Home in Frankston with Rev. Jerry Stanger officiating.

Burial was in Frankston City Cemetery under direction of Thompson Funeral Home of Frankston.

Mr. Conaway died Monday, Dec. 16, at his residence.

He was born Nov. 8, 1933 in Elmwood Community in Anderson County. Mr. Conaway retired after 35 years with Glass Containers, Palestine and was recently employed by T.E. Con Water Service, Lake Palestine. He attended Berryville Community Church.

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Margaret Conaway of Flint; a son and daughter-in-law, Rev. Harold W. and Beckie Conaway of Kingsland; a daughter, Deborah Rivers of Lake Palestine; five brothers and five sisters including, Mrs. Levi (June) Clakley of Noonday, Laverne Harding of Palestine, Mrs. Tommy (Linda) Pickrell of Quanah, and Bobbie Hilton of Palestine; three granddaughters, Christina Parker of Lake Palestine, Crystal Conaway of Kingsland and April Rivers of Lake Palestine; and several nieces and nephews.

Nephews served as pallbearers.

Honorary pallbearers were employees of T.E. Con Water Service, Lake Palestine.

(Obituaries posted contain information posted by funeral homes and/or families. Families may request changes or additions, if appropriate or required.)