Lena Faye Lynch

Lena Faye Parkey Lynch, age 100, passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2014, at her beloved Baptist Memorials in San Angelo, Texas. Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in Johnson's Funeral Home chapel, followed by burial next to her late husband, Has, in Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens. A lunch will be held at noon at the High Rise Main Street Cafe where we can celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to her beloved Immanuel Baptist Church bus fund. Lena was born in Blake, Greer County, Oklahoma, on Nov. 1, 1913, to W.C. Parkey and Mary Thompson Parkey. At age 1, Lena's family moved in a covered wagon to homestead, a section of land, in Roosevelt County, New Mexico. Three years later, the father was called to military in World War I and he moved the family back to Oklahoma. The armistice was signed before he was inducted into the Army, but the family stayed in Oklahoma, then moved to Texas before Lena was a teenager. Lena Faye graduated from high school in Plainview. She attended Wayland Baptist College, then a two-year college and graduated from Central Oklahoma College in Edmond, Oklahoma, with a degree in education, working part-time in her cousin's bookstore. Her first teaching job was back in the Texas Panhandle at Hart Camp School, Lamb County, Texas. While in Hart Camp, Lena met Has V. Lynch, owner of an auto garage, where he claimed she invented a car problem to meet him. They were married on Feb. 7, 1934, in Plainview, honeymooning by driving a Model A Ford on a dirt road, known as Route 66, to the Grand Canyon and California camping along the way. Upon returning, Lena and Has built their home in Hart Camp, making a life in cotton farming, growing and canning most of their own food in the process. They never lost a crop to tornadoes but had their share of dust storms. During World War II, Lena ran the whole farm by herself when Has volunteered for Army Air Corps. Has was discharged from the service and together they grew crops for the war effort. They were never able to have children, so they "adopted" all kinds of kids: Hart Camp kids, South Texas Children's Home kids and kids from Wayland. They donated the land and helped build the Hart Camp Baptist Church and Lena taught and led Vacation Bible School for 20 years. During the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's, they farmed, wintered in Phoenix and the Rio Grande Valley, winning numerous shuffleboard contests and becoming experts in citrus; and gave generously to Wayland and the South Texas Children's Home where they met one of their "adopted" kids, Rodney Gillespie, in 1958. They prospered throughout this time with rising cotton prices. In 1985, Lena and Has retired to Baptist Memorials in San Angelo. There they volunteered for the Baptist Auxiliary, working and visiting others, Lena sewing in the sewing room repairing clothes for fellow residents and making dolls and dresses to give to kids at Christmas. She and Has were devoted members of Immanuel Baptist Church and rarely missed Sunday school. Lena joined Joy in the Morning, a women's service group at church. They celebrated their 72nd wedding celebration before Has' passing in 2008. Lena continued her lifelong love of making art, cooking, canning, visiting and worshipping after Has' passing. Lena celebrated her 100th birthday this past November. She kept a sign on her door, "If I am asleep, please wake me, I want to visit"; and visit she did. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; and two sisters, Marie Bier of San Angelo, Texas, and Thelma Marks of Edmond, Oklahoma. She outlived many friends and relatives, redoing her address book at least three times and going through many church directories from Immanuel. She is survived by her "adopted" son from the South Texas Children's Home, Rodney Gillespie, his wife, Catherine Gillespie; granddaughter Anne Marie Cude and her husband, Josh Cude; and great-grandchildren, Lily, Cora and Merritt Cude; two nieces, Mary Marie Robinson of Austin, Texas, and Marsha Vernon of Vancouver, Washington; two nephews, Larry Marks of Edmond, Oklahoma, and Jamie Marks of Moore, Oklahoma; and a special cousin from Durant, Oklahoma, Mary Ann Craig. She had numerous cousins, nephews and nieces from the Parkey family, who she watched grow up. She had wonderful friends in Christ at Immanuel and Baptist Memorials; and she had three very special friends who helped her in her last years, Jerrel Isbell, Virginia Lane and Suzanne Perry, all of San Angelo. Lena wanted to thank the staff at Division 5 for their care, concern and love for her for more than five years; and to the staff that cared for Has several years at Sagecrest. And she wanted to thank the Lord for letting her celebrate her 101st birthday with Him.