Born in Aubrey, Texas on January 1, 1951 to Opal Marie and John Herbert Dean, she received special recognition as being the county’s first baby of the year. She met and married James Edward Willburn (1944-2003) in 1984 in Clovis, New Mexico. They lived in Amarillo, Texas until his transfer with Santa Fe Railroad in 1988 to Wichita, Kansas. Soon after, they relocated to North Richland Hills, Texas, where they would each live out their lives with family, pets, gardening, and occasional camping vacations in the mountains of Colorado.
Sally had three primary loves. As a first grade teacher for 40 years, teaching children how to read and experience the natural world was her specialty. An education, including a Bachelor of Science in Education from University of North Texas (fka North Texas State University) and a Master of Education from West Texas State University (West Texas A&M University) fostered her passion for teaching and learning. In the classroom at schools including Eastridge Elementary (Amarillo, TX) and W.T. Francisco (Watauga, TX) she was an experimenter, inviting children to love learning through exploration, adventure, and storytelling. She loved her gardens. Every weekend and throughout each summer she was in the gardens, pruning, planting, and otherwise fussing over the details. She was primarily interested in flowering plants that would attract and sustain wildlife, specifically birds, butterflies, and bees. One of her favorite plants was a lily she had nurtured and propagated since its origin in her own mother’s garden. Her greatest love—after the death of her husband—was her sweet dog Ferris, a Pekingese mix. Every morning, Sally and Ferris could be found at Tipps Canine Hollow Dog Park in North Richland Hills. Any conversation with her would quickly turn to Ferris or other dogs, and the occasional neighborhood stray cat she would feed.
She is survived by her stepdaughters Belinda Rogers and her husband Robert and their children Cristi and Steven and their children, Kimberly Gerber and her husband Don and their children Trey, Michael and Ashton and their children, and stepsons James Willburn, and David Willburn and his husband David Kline; sisters Janie Law and her husband Jim and their children Andrea and Kris, Judy Smith and her husband Doyle and their children David and Paula, and her beloved dog Ferris.
She is preceded in death by husband James Edward Willburn, her parents John and Opal Dean, her sisters Mary Owens and Dorothy Gaines, and her brothers Don Dean and Henry Dean.
Sally’s interment will take place in a private ceremony at Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to Humane Society of North Texas or W.T. Francisco Elementary (Watauga, TX) for library funds or student lunch debts.
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