Ila Faye (Lee) Magee was born in Ingram, Texas on March 26th, 1933. Ila died peacefully in her sleep, at home, on April 2, 2024 at 1:15 am. She had just celebrated her 69th wedding anniversary and 91st birthday.
Visitation with the family will be at Memorial Funeral Chapel in College Station on Thursday April 4th at 6-8:00 pm. A Celebration of Ila’s life will be Friday, April 5th, 2024 at 11:30 am at Living Hope Baptist Church, College Station, TX. A private family graveside service will be held in the College Station Cemetery on Friday.
Along with her husband, Bill, and children, Reagan and Leah, Ila moved to College Station in July 1977. Bill came to be the first pastor of Parkway Baptist Church. During over fifty years of Christian ministry, Ila served faithfully alongside of Bill in ministering to people. They complemented each other in serving in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. She had a unique sense of humor that communicated to the most introverted person that they were a person of value and dignity.
She easily loved people making them each feel seen and valued.
A native of Kerr County, Texas, Ila graduated from Tivy High in Kerrville in 1951.
She attended Schreiner Institute for one year on an academic scholarship before transferring to Texas State University in San Marcos. Having worked and paid her way all through college, she graduated in 1955 from Texas State with a B.S. in Elementary Education. Upon graduation in January 1955, she married Bill (Billy) Henry Magee in March 1955 and moved to Norfolk, Virginia where Bill was serving aboard a U.S. Navy ship.
Ila enjoyed a very successful teaching career beginning in Norfolk, Virginia and continuing in Beaumont, Fort Worth, Seabrook, and College Station, Texas.
In 1997, she concluded her forty-year teaching career with a twenty year outstanding record as a first grade teacher at College Hills Elementary in the College Station Independent School District.
Upon retirement, Ila became a volunteer Educational Docent at the George Bush Presidential Library and served in that capacity for several years. Additional volunteer services were working in the Discovery Program at First Baptist Church of College Station for five years. This was a ministry to International wives and children. An avid and tough tennis player up until just 3 years ago, Ila played many years in the Bryan College Station ladies Tennis League, playing three days a week in the heat of summer and the coldest days of winter.
Another ministry that was very close to her heart was a weekly visit for over ten years to the Hudson Creek Alzheimer’s Care Center to lead a group of the residents in a period of singing a variety of songs, ranging from hymns to patriotic songs to nursery rhymes.
Ila is survived by her husband, Bill, to whom she was married for 69 years; Reagan and Laura Magee, her son and daughter-in-law of Franklin, Texas; Leah and Daniel Villarreal, her daughter and son-in-law of Madeira Beach, Florida; six grandchildren, Mallory (Magee) Ortiz and husband Samuel, Brandon Magee and wife Liz, Caroline Magee, Maria (Magee) Schams and husband Ben, Susanna (Magee) Strong and husband Eli, and Caleb Oropeza and wife Courtney; three great-granddaughters, Kennedy Magee, Jordan Magee and Charlotte Schams; two great-grandsons, Luke Magee, and Noah Oropeza; brother, David Lee, of Ingram, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Dan and Mattie Lee, and sisters, Lena Cole and Henrietta Gabler.
Memorials may be given to Hope Pregnancy Center, 205 Brentwood Drive East, College Station, TX 77840 or to the Mission Fund of Living Hope Baptist Church, 4170 SH 6 South, College Station, TX 77845 or to Save Our Streets Ministry, P.O Box 2866, Bryan, TX 77805
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