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.)

Milton L. Robison

Funeral services for Milton L. Robison, 79, of Frankston, were held Thursday, October 1, 2015, at Assembly of God in Frankston with the Rev. Mike Griffin officiating.

Services were under the direction of Autry Funeral Home in Frankston.

Interment was at Fincastle Cemetery near Poynor.

Mr. Robison passed away Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, in Tyler.

He was born Oct. 29, 1935, in Henderson County to Lolis Elizabeth and Johnie Robison.

Milton was a loving, kind, and cheerful person, with a gentle spirit who cared for others unconditionally.

He had a generous, loving heart and touched many lives with his presence.

He loved God and his family. His family and friends are forever blessed to have the gift that was his life.

He was a deacon and an active member of the Assembly of God Church, where he greeted people almost every Sunday.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a grandson, Barry Reece.

Survivors include his beloved wife, Nancy Sue Robison of Frankston; daughters Laura Stone of Colorado Springs, Co., Lydia Holley and husband Bill of Frankston, Johanna Glover of Colorado Springs, Co.; a brother Johnny Malcolm Robison and wife Sue; and sister Mary Frances Richardson and husband Jimmy, all of Frankston.

He is also survived by seven grandchildren who affectionately called him Partner, Andy, Cathlyn, Michelle, Susan, Savannah, Bryant, and Meric; eight great-grandchildren Mylah, Lily, Cormac, Andrew, Katie, Jada, Odin and Jace; and several nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Andy Wright, Brant Glover, Jesse Funkenbush, Bill Holley, Charles Peterson, David Richards, and D.P. “Shep” Shepherd.

Brandon Wall

Funeral services for Brandon Wall, 40, of Frankston, were held Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, at First Baptist Church in Frankston with Rev. Scott Wiley and Bro. George Folmar officiating. Services were under the direction of Autry Funeral Home in Frankston. Interment was at Frankston City Cemetery.

Mr. Wall passed away Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, in Frankston.

He was born Aug. 19, 1975, in Ft. Worth.

Brandon worked for KLX services as a line engineer. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Frankston.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather Bill Weiterman and grandparents, LL and Ruth Wall.

Survivors include his parents Lee Roy and Laura Kaye Wall of Frankston; wife April Wall of Chandler; children Dylan, Bryce, Chloe, Riley and Ashlyn Wall, Christian and Preston Burgess; brothers Sheldon and Colby Wall both of Frankston; grandmother Imogene Mullins of New London; several aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were Jeh Holsomback, Jeremy Fail, Mike Wheeler, Chip Foster, Josh Demichele, Jeremy Miller, and Tim Kincaide.

Steven Brown

Funeral services for Steven Brown, 50, of Chandler, were held Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, at the Frankston Assembly of God Church. Services were under the direction of Autry Funeral Home and Rev. J.A. Griffin officiated.

Mr. Brown passed away Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in Tyler.

He was born Aug. 31, 1965, in Nacogdoches. He was a donut baker for many years and short- order cook.

He was preceded in death by his father, Melvin Brown, and brother, David Brown.

Survivors include his mother, Barbara Brown of Chandler; granddaughter, Bayley Garcia; grandson, Anthony Garcia; step-daughter, Chrystal Duke, all of Jacksonville; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Memorials may be made in honor of Steven to Hospice of East Texas, 4111 University Blvd. Tyler, Texas 75701.

Irvin Hassell ‘Hack’ Lambright

Funeral services for Irvin Hassell “Hack” Lambright, 80, of Palestine, were held Friday, Oct. 16, at Bailey and Foster Funeral Home, with Pastor Matthew Timmons of Norwood Heights Baptist Church in Palestine officiating.

Burial followed at Carroll Springs Cemetery on County Road 4601 near Athens under direction of Bailey and Foster Funeral Home.

Hack passed away in the early morning hours of Oct. 13 at his home. He was born Aug. 28, 1935, the fourth of five sons born to Tom and Leether Lambright of Athens.

He grew up on his family's farm and learned the meaning of an honest day's work, which he would carry into his adult life.

He married Shirley Joyce Holcomb on Dec. 23, 1955. The couple settled in Palestine, where they raised three children: Sherry (1958), Rhonda (1960) and Ricky (1963).

Hack worked several jobs in his early days, but in January 1963, he purchased a small bulldozer and went into business for himself.

For the next 40 years, he ran Lambright Construction. He approached his business the same way he did everything in his life—honestly and with respect for those he came in contact with—and in so doing, he earned the respect and admiration of his friends and associates.

Throughout his 40 years in business, he made many lifelong friends. He used his dozers and other heavy equipment in a number of ways—clearing land, building house pads and driveways/roads in many rural parts of Anderson and the surrounding counties—but his specialty was building private lakes and ponds, which dot the landscape of his little part of the world.

Hack was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers

Hack is survived by his wife of 59 years, Shirley; a brother, Lester Lambright and wife, Pat, of South Carolina; two daughters, Sherry Pike and husband, Jim, of Palestine, and Rhonda Farley and husband, Bob, of Punta Gorda, Belize; a son, Ricky Lambright, of Palestine; and five grandchildren: J.C. Lambright of Colorado Springs, Colo., Meredith Farley of Arlington, Jacob Lambright of Palestine, Mandy Lambright of Abilene, and Hannah Farley of Punta Gorda, Belize.

Pallbearers and honorary pallbearers were some of Hack's favorite people: Gordon Broughton, Gerald Gant, Frank Morton, Kenneth Buchanon, Herman Morton, Billy Bennett, Jerry Starkey, Rob Roberts, Billy Mcglaun and Harold Vandeghe.

To view online leave condolences or sign the guest book, go to www.baileyandfosterfuneralhome.com.

J. Tom Graham

The Frankston Citizen owner, publisher and sweep-out boy J. Tom Graham died Friday, Oct. 16, after a long battle with cancer.

Graham, age 73, retired to Frankston and bought the paper in November of 2006.

His newspaper career began at the age of eight in Knox City, Texas.

He would often tell of how he was offered a quarter for a day’s work, pulling the papers off the press. That seemed like far better money and less work than his toil in the cotton fields that he had been used to.

He worked at the paper in Knox City until he graduated high school in 1960.

His boss and publisher of the Knox City paper took him to Denton and introduced him to the owner of the paper there saying that the young North Texas State University freshman would be an asset to that paper as well.

Graham graduated North Texas State in 1964 with a journalism degree. While attending college, he worked his way up to the position of editor of the Denton Record Chronicle.

After graduation, he became the managing editor of the Gonzales Inquirer and then joined the Abilene Reporter News in 1966. He served as AP wire editor and later state editor before being drafted into the Vietnam War in the Army in the fall of 1966.

In the Army, he served as news bureau chief of Pacific Stars and Stripes’ Korea bureau.

He also worked with Stars and Stripes in its Tokyo headquarters and wrote a history of the 7th Infantry (Bayonet) Division.

After his two-year service in the Army, Graham traveled throughout the Far East and spent a year working at two Australian newspapers before returning to the U. S. and rejoining the Abilene Reporter News. There, he worked his way to the position of Assistant Managing Editor.

Graham next became the publisher of the Huntsville Item where in 1974 he led a news team in covering the Carrasco hostage situation in the prison which would later earn the team a national press award and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize.

Also in Huntsville, Graham began a series of articles that gained nationwide fame covering a competition between a weather-forecasting cow and the National Weather Service.

Graham served as publisher in numerous cities including Del Rio, Burnett, Mineola, Lindale, New Boston and Pasadena.

He loved the challenge of getting a community newspaper teetering on bankruptcy and making it relevant to the community which it served.

After taking the reins in Pasadena in 1998, he worked to merge Westward Communications and Houston Community Newspapers into one company. He became the chief operating officers for AP Westward where he oversaw more than 60 newspapers in the areas of Houston, Austin, East Texas and Colorado.

He has served on numerous press association committees and has written several books, plays and songs. In 2013, Graham was presented a Golden 50 Award by the Texas Press Association.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jeff Thomas Sr. and Fay Graham; a brother Frank Graham and grandson Scott Mullins.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Graham of Frankston, son Jay Graham and wife Toska of Frankston, daughter Enid Graham and husband Robert Sella of New York, step-daughter Emily Fontenot and husband Bob of Frankston and Amy Burks and husband Gene of Weatherford; sisters Samantha Anderson and husband David of Oglesby and Timilu Latham and husband Angus of Rockport; grandchildren Bailey Burks, Hannah Burks, Julia Burks, Jeff Thomas Graham IV, Valentino Sella, Lorenzo Sella and Jean Michael Sella; great granddaughters Emma Mullins and Camryn Mullins and numerous nieces and nephews.

An informal visitation service was held with the family at Autry Funeral Home in Frankston on Monday, Oct. 19.

Billy J. ‘Bill’ Rash

Bill Rash passed away on Oct. 10, 2015.

He was born in Chandler, Texas, on March 8, 1924, to Odessa Garner Rash and Dez Rash.

Bill grew up in Frankston and graduated from Frankston High School where he played the clarinet in the band and participated in sports.

Bill particularly excelled at tennis which he played well into adulthood.

Bill enrolled at Texas A&M in 1941, but after two years duty called. He joined the Army Air Corps where he was trained as a bombardier.

Following the war, he returned to college and obtained his degree in business.

The opportunity for work took him to Odessa, Texas, in 1949. It was there that he met the love of his life, Betty Kathryn Duncan of Pecos. They were married February 10, 1950, and settled in Odessa.

Bill took his early appraisal training at TCU and later earned his MAI designation in May, 1959.

He was a member of the West Texas-New Mexico Chapter of American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers serving as its president in 1966 and 1967.

Bill was a charter member and one of the organizers of the Texas Plains Chapter where he served as director in 1979, 1980 and 1981 and then on the board as advisory director.

He was often referred to as “The Aggie of the Texas Plains Chapter.”

A member and past president of the Odessa Board of Realtors, Bill was also a recognized teacher of appraising at Odessa College.

In addition, he served for many years as chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission of Odessa and vice-chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. He was a long time member of the Odessa Rotary Club.

Bill was predeceased by his parents and his wife of 59 years.

He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Manda Rash and Dan Wittliff and Kathryn and Bud Moose. He is also survived by one nephew, Matt Brooks, numerous cousins as well as cherished friends.

Memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.

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